Rushing Fall Much the Best in QEII Challenge Cup

On a crisp Autumn afternoon in the bluegrass, Rushing Fall continued her love affair with Keeneland.

The 3-year-old More Than Ready  filly is undefeated in three starts at the Lexington track, where she put another top-level win on her résumé with ease Oct. 13 in the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes Presented by Lane's End (G1T).

"The filly's phenomenal," said owner Bob Edwards of e Five Racing Thoroughbreds. "We've had an unbelievable run with her. Super happy to be here at Keeneland. It's all about the team. I had a Hall of Fame rider (Javier Castellano) give a Hall of Fame ride."

Slightly reluctant to load, the Chad Brown trainee broke alertly from the outside post and quickly took over from Fatale Bere as the field of seven 3-year-old fillies headed into the clubhouse turn. Racing uncontested on the lead, Rushing Fall cruised through leisurely fractions of :23.91, :49.22, and 1:14.82, with Fatale Bere in closest pursuit.

"I didn't see much speed, that's the reason I dictated the pace with slow fractions," Castellano said.

Fatale Bere faded as the field turned for home, and Prix de Sandringham (G2) winner Mission Impassible loomed the only threat with a sustained bid from fourth in her North American debut, but Rushing Fall had more to give and drew off to a 1 1/4-length victory.

"She was looking around a little bit to the grandstand," Castellano said of the stretch run. "I asked her a little bit, and she responded. She put it back together, and the way she finished was really impressive."



Mission Impassible easily earned second under Florent Geroux, 4 3/4 lengths in front of Nyaleti, who completed the trifecta.

"I had a great trip," said Geroux. "She was nice and relaxed. I thought for a minute that I was going to win it. Turning for home, I came head to head with Rushing Fall, but she was just the best at the end. My filly couldn't quite get the distance. Rushing Fall is a really nice filly, one of the top three in the country, so no shame in getting beat by her."

Mission Impassible, saddled by Rodolphe Brisset for Jean-Claude Rouget, will remain in the United States.

"This filly will be staying with me in America, so they asked me to help today and the last few days that she has been here," Brisset said. "Her (racing) form in France was very good. The idea was to bring her here and try to win a grade 1. We will try again. We don't know yet what race we will aim at, but she will be with our barn at Payson Park (in South Florida) for the winter. Maybe (we'll) look for a race on the West Coast.

"She ran good today. The 1 1/8 miles was the question (after racing in shorter races). She was second to the best American 3-year-old grass filly. Everybody should be happy."

Rushing Fall finished the 1 1/8-mile test on a firm turf course in 1:50.42. Favored at odds of 2-5, she returned a $2.80 win payoff that was the lowest in the history of the race, eclipsing the $3.20 payoff from Sintra in the inaugural running in 1984. Her previous wins at Keeneland came in the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine Stakes (G3T) last fall and in the Appalachian Stakes Presented by Japan Racing Association (G2T) this spring, and her second grade 1 tally joins a win in the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) at Del Mar.

Bred in Kentucky by Fred W. Hertrich III and John D. Fielding out of the Forestry mare Autumnal, Rushing Fall was a $320,000 purchase by agent Mike Ryan from Taylor Made Sales Agency's consignment to Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale in 2016. She now owns a 6-1-0 record from seven starts, with earnings of $1,308,000.

"(She's) an unbelievable filly picked by Mike Ryan, trained by Chad Brown—the connections are phenomenal," Edwards said. "She's well-bred. Fred and his team have done a great job breeding horses. Just really happy to be here."