How to bet With, and Against, Mawj in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

A sensational field of 13 three-year-old fillies has been entered for the prestigious $600,000 Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup S. (G1) at Keeneland on Saturday. The nine-furlong affair on the green attracted a superb cast of both domestic and international runners, in what figures to be an exciting feature in Lexington. 

Mawj – With

• $5 exacta key 4 with 3,6,12 ($15)
• $.50-cent trifecta 4 with 3,6,12 with all ($15)
• $.50-cent trifecta 4 with all with 3,6,12 ($15)

Mawj – Against

• $.50-cent trifecta 3,6,12 with 3,4,6,12 with all ($45)

Trained by Saeed bin Suroor, #4 Mawj (2-1) is three-for-three in 2023 led by a game victory in the English One Thousand Guineas (G1) at Newmarket in her latest appearance. The Exceed and Excel filly showed a lot of potential at two and has built upon that promise this campaign, and she is two-for-two since stretching out to the one-mile distance as well. 

Mawj is a half-sister to brilliant, two-time Breeders’ Cup hero Modern Games and seems to be following in his footsteps to this stage of her development. She seems poised to handle the move to 1 1/8 miles with Oisin Murphy coming in to retain the mount, but the sophomore faces a plethora of talented turf performers, however. 

I’m intrigued by the French-bred #6 Lindy (6-1), who finished a nice second to a star in the French One Thousand Guineas (G1) three starts back. The dark bay La Havre filly had a stateside prep for Saturday when she easily defeated a small allowance cast at Kentucky Downs in September, and the Brendan Walsh trainee has posted a trio of morning moves in the interim. She has been consistently good with top-two finishes in all but one of her lifetime engagements to date, and Tyler Gaffalione will guide her once again, as well. 

Mark Casse’s #12 Papilio (10-1) bagged the Appalachian S. (G2) on this lawn in April and never runs a bad one. The talented late runner comes in fresh following a solid third-place result in the Saratoga Oaks (G3) most recently, and if she can navigate a sensible trip from the widest post, then I expect her to be a menacing foe inside the final furlong in the affair. Javier Castellano has the assignment. 

#3 Elusive Princess (3-1) was a going-away winner of the Saratoga Oaks (G3) in her stateside debut and will run for trainer Arnaud Delacour for the initial time on Saturday. This Group-1 placed bay did thrive on the soft turf in her latest showing, but if she handles firmer going, then her stout late kick makes her a prime contender in a race where the pace is expected to be honest at the very least. Flavien Prat will be in the silks once again.