Betting With, and Against, She Feels Pretty in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

Grade 1 heroine #3 She Feels Pretty (5-2) has been installed as the morning-line choice for Saturday’s $750,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. (G1) at Keeneland. The 1 1/8-mile turf affair attracted a strong cast of 10 sophomore fillies in what promises to be an exciting contest. 

She Feels Pretty – With

• $1 superfecta key 3 with 5,6,7,9,10 ($60) 

She Feels Pretty – Against

• $1 exacta box 5,6,7,9,10 ($20)
• 50-cent trifecta 9,10 with 3,5,6,7,9,10 with 3,5,6,7,9,10 ($20)
• 40-cent superfecta 9,10 with 3,9,10 with 3,5,6,7,9,10 with 3,5,6,7,9,10 ($19.20)

Trained by Cherie DeVaux, She Feels Pretty closed her two-year-old season with a close third-place result in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) at Santa Anita, and the daughter of Karakontie has put in a trio of very good efforts this year, too. She romped in the Hilltop S. at Pimlico to commence 2024 and followed that score with placings in both the Belmont Oaks (G1) and Lake Placid S. (G2) as of late. 

The consistently very good chestnut will wear blinkers for the initial time on Saturday, and if the equipment change moves her forward, then the sophomore will be super tough to hold off in the lane with regular rider John Velazquez coming in for the ride. 

#9 Grayosh (8-1), one of two in the field for trainer Chad Brown, upended the favorite in the Lake Placid (G2) in her latest effort and continues to move forward in advance of her local debut. Yoshida filly has gone unplaced in both tries at 1 1/8 miles in her lifetime, but I still feel that the late runner will thrive at the voyage going forward. The Kentucky-bred has a measure of positional speed to stay in range in the early going, which will aid her in the contest with Flavien Prat retaining the mount. 

#10 Candala (9-2), one of two formidable European imports in the group, was third to subsequent Group 1 heroine Friendly Soul at Deauville in her latest run and seems poised to give a fine impression of herself in a first trek to the states. The Frankel filly will cut back to nine panels on Saturday, which could be to her benefit, and I envision her moving into contention approaching the turn for home with Florent Geroux picking up the mount. 

#7 Buchu (15-1) has earned a pair of Grade 2 wins from two tries on the Keeneland green for conditioner Phil Bauer, and she is a very generous price on this occasion. The dark bay daughter of Justify would be a bit of a surprise to win the race, but a top-three finish is well within her reach under the guidance of Junior Alvarado. 

Wild Applause S. vixen #6 Oversubscribed (6-1) and #5 Soprano (7-2), who was third in the Matron S. (G1) at Leopardstown behind the superb Porta Fortuna in her latest showing, both make sense in the competitive feature.