Rushing Fall Aims to Continue Keeneland Reign in QEII

She got off a van after arriving from the East Coast. She settled into her temporary confines in Keeneland's Barn 27. And if all goes as hoped for Rushing Fall this weekend, she figures to be back in her New York-based stall by this time next week.

Technically, the daughter of More Than Ready  will be aiming to pull off another road victory Oct. 13 when she breaks from the outside post 8 in the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes presented by Lane's End (G1T). History, however, suggests the Chad Brown trainee couldn't be any more at home than she is in her current surroundings.

Rushing Fall may not be running out of her stall Saturday, but the Keeneland course has basically doubled as her home turf during her still burgeoning career. The bay filly is 2-for-2 at the Lexington oval, sporting eye-catching victories in last year's JPMorgan Chase Jessamine Stakes (G3T) and April's Appalachian Stakes Presented by Japan Racing Association (G2T), both of which came over rain-soaked ground.

Her run in the Jessamine Stakes last fall was a come-from-clouds outing which signaled there was yet another vicious turf distaffer being honed within the Brown shedrow. She used that effort as a springboard to victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) in November and then put her time in Lexington to good use again during her season debut when she took the Appalachian Stakes by a length.

"Keeneland is like her adopted home track," said owner Bob Edwards of e Five Racing Thoroughbreds. "She's 2-for-2 there and looking to try and run well again. I think that (jockey) Javier (Castellano) knows the horse, and Chad has does a phenomenal job building condition into her. She's breezing with some of the best horses in the country that Chad has in his stable, so every time she breezes,  it's like a play race."

Still, there is a tinge of love-hate with the Bluegrass for Rushing Fall.

Her lone defeat in six starts came at Churchill Downs in May when she rushed up to the lead down the backside— in direct contrast to her off-the-pace ways—and ended up being caught late by Toinette in the Edgewood Stakes presented by Forcht Bank (G3T). She missed a planned start in the Lake George Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga Race Course when she spiked a fever, but when she returned in the Aug. 18 Lake Placid Stakes (G2T) over 1 1/8 miles, she showed some versatility in rating second off the early fractions before scoring a 2 3/4-length win over fellow QEII entrant Capla Temptress.

"She ran well, better than expected at Saratoga after a long layoff," Edwards said. "We just had a series of little issues to get her ready to run, and she performed phenomenally. The way she performed at Saratoga, she came back as a fresh horse and really showed great ability. Javier kind of coasted with her, he really didn't ask her for much. She kind of did it on her own."

Edwards added that regardless of Saturday's outcome, they are not looking to wheel Rushing Fall back in the Breeders' Cup.

"(The distance of the Filly & Mare Turf) is just too long and too quick of a turnaround," he said. " We're looking forward to a solid 4-year-old career where she keeps getting better and better."

Team Valor International's Capla Temptress will be taking her third shot at Rushing Fall, having finished seventh in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and second in the Lake Placid. The bay filly won the Natalma Stakes (G1T) in her North American debut last September but has lost her past five races and was most recently seventh in the Sands Point Stakes (G2T) at Belmont Park Sept. 15.

Fatale Bere was fifth in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf  but has successfully elevated her game during her sophomore season. The bay filly took the April 7 Providencia Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita Park in her 2018 debut and enters off a neck victory in the Aug. 18 Del Mar Oaks Presented by The Jockey Club (G1T).

"It was more sensible to keep her with 3-year-old fillies, and she runs well fresh," trainer Leonard Powell said. "She is really good on firm, but she is inbred to (1985 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe  winner) Rainbow Quest, and he liked soft turf. So that gives me hope (potential soft ground) will not be an issue."

Entries: Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. presented by Lane's End (G1T)

Keeneland, Saturday, October 13, 2018, Race 9

• Grade IT
• 1 1/8m
• Turf
• $500,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 5:30 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Nyaleti (IRE)	Corey J. Lanerie	121	Mark Johnston	5/1
2	2Princess Warrior (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	121	Kenneth G. McPeek	15/1
3	3Fatale Bere (FR)	Kent J. Desormeaux	121	Leonard Powell	5/1
4	4Daddy Is a Legend (PA)	Robby Albarado	121	George Weaver	6/1
5	5Mission Impassible (IRE)	Florent Geroux	121	Jean-Claude Rouget	6/1
6	6Secret Message (KY)	Jorge L. Vargas, Jr.	121	H. Graham Motion	12/1
7	7Capla Temptress (IRE)	Julien R. Leparoux	121	William I. Mott	8/1
8	8Rushing Fall (KY)	Javier Castellano	121	Chad C. Brown	7/5