Brown Aims for Fifth QEII With McKulick, Gina Romantica

A week ago, the last time Keeneland staged a grade 1 stakes for female grass routers, trainer Chad Brown ran 1-2-4 with In Italian , Regal Glory , and Technical Analysis  in the First Lady Stakes Presented by UK HealthCare (G1T) Oct. 8.

Now Brown is back Oct. 15 at the Lexington oval, again with strength in quality and numbers, this time running a pair in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes Presented by Dixiana (G1T). The duo—McKulick  and Gina Romantica —are an imposing 1-2 punch, with the former figuring as a short-priced favorite and the latter as one of the secondary wagering choices in the 1 1/8-mile grass race for 3-year-old fillies.

Inaugurated in 1984, the QEII has developed into one of the most prestigious grass races in the country in the sophomore filly division. It has long honored Queen Elizabeth II, who died last month as the United Kingdom's longest-serving monarch.

Though Saturday's lineup drew a grade 1 winner in McKulick, this year's seven-filly lineup would not otherwise appear to represent a vintage QEII renewal. Spendarella , one of the top 3-year-old grass fillies in the country, is sidelined, and Canadian star Moira  raced in the Oct. 8 E. P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine. Three of the 10 invitees to the race also skipped it, including 2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) winner Pizza Bianca , who alternatively goes Saturday in the $200,000 Sands Point Stakes (G2T) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

All of those circumstances suggest Brown could be positioned to win his fifth QEII with one of his duo. He is already the winningest trainer in the race's history, securing his four wins with Dayatthespa  in 2012, Rushing Fall  in 2018, Cambier Parc  in 2019, and Shantisara  in 2021.

Klaravich Stables' McKulick captured two legs of the New York Racing Association's lucrative Turf Tiara series this summer and fall, first taking the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) at Belmont Park July 9 and then most recently capturing the Jockey Club Oaks Invitational (G3T) at Aqueduct Sept. 17. Between those races, she was runner-up in the Aug. 7 Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga Race Course.

The daughter of Frankel , named after Brown's late bookkeeper and first employee Mary McKulick, is 3-3-1 in seven starts with race-high earnings of more than $1 million.

Irad Ortiz Jr., aboard in her last three starts, retains the mount.

Peter Brant's Gina Romantica isn't as accomplished for the four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer, though she is a restricted stakes winner and last out a runner-up in the Pebbles Stakes (G3T) at Aqueduct Sept. 18. The daughter of Into Mischief   stretches out to 1 1/8 miles for the first time and has Flavien Prat in the saddle.

New Year's Eve  finished in front of McKulick in one start from three matchups this year, beating her in the Edgewood Stakes Presented by Forcht Bank (G2T) on Kentucky Oaks Day at Churchill Downs. Although well beaten by her when eighth in the Belmont Oaks, the Brendan Walsh trainee later was just a neck behind her when she was edged in a place photo in the Saratoga Oaks.

The Kitten's Joy   filly, owned by Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel, and Fergus Galvin, then disappointed as the favorite in the Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Oaks over the unique Kentucky Downs course Sept. 5 in her last outing.

The QEII includes one invader from overseas in Glen Hill Farm's Paris Peacock , who will attempt to become the third European-trained 3-year-old filly to win the race.

Still a maiden after seven starts, sometimes losing with troubled trips, Paris Peacock has since won two in a row.

"She just kept running into a tough bunch of horses and the one time she was sixth, she could not get any daylight," said Niall "Bubba" Amond, traveling head lad for trainer Jessica Harrington. "She broke her maiden in a listed race against older and then won the group 3 against older."

Her trip to the states marks her first trip outside her native Ireland.

"She had to go from Dublin to Paris and then to Chicago, where she quarantined before coming here," Amond said, who said the filly will remain in the U.S. for racing after the QEII.

Paris Peacock has raced near the pace at times, which could prove key in a race with little apparent speed. The Brown duo has also remained close to slow fractions on occasion.

Entries: Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. Presented by Dixiana (G1T)

Keeneland, Saturday, October 15, 2022, Race 9

• Grade IT
• 1 1/8m
• Turf
• $600,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 5:16 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1California Angel (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	121	George Leonard, III	15/1
2	2Gina Romantica (KY)	Flavien Prat	121	Chad C. Brown	7/2
3	3She's Gone (KY)	Luis Saez	121	Victoria H. Oliver	30/1
4	4New Year's Eve (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	121	Brendan P. Walsh	9/2
5	5Bellabel (IRE)	Umberto Rispoli	121	Philip D'Amato	5/1
6	6McKulick (GB)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	121	Chad C. Brown	1/1
7	7Paris Peacock (IRE)	Florent Geroux	121	Jessica Harrington	10/1