Buchu Returns to Keeneland With Sights on Grade 1 Glory

Rigney Racing's homebred Buchu  has not spent a lot of time at Keeneland, but when she does, she makes the most of it.

"We are going to do the same thing we've done the past two times and that is ship over the morning of the race," said trainer Phil Bauer. "I know we don't train there, but it is almost like a home-field advantage for her and it works well."

Buchu will come to Keeneland Oct. 12 for the $750,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (G1T) in her bid to remain undefeated at the track. She won the Jessamine Stakes (G2T) at the Lexington oval last fall and opened her sophomore campaign with a victory in the Appalachian Stakes (G2T).

Saturday's race will mark the first start for Buchu since a fourth-place effort in the Del Mar Oaks (G1T) Aug. 17.

"We felt like the East Coast horses were maybe a little better (than the West Coast horses)," Bauer said of the trip to Del Mar. "In the nominations, it looked like there was plenty of speed and then there was not. She was a victim of circumstance, something we couldn't control."

Buchu received a little time off after returning from Del Mar and has recorded three works since at Churchill Downs.

"She's doing well, and we freshened her after Del Mar," Bauer said. "(The Queen Elizabeth II) was our target all year. It's a lofty goal, but she's not that far off (from the top fillies). Maybe we could pick up the pieces with some early speed in there."

The late-running daughter of Justify   will look to capture her first grade 1 after finishing sixth in both the 2023 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) and the July 6 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T).