Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes Preview

We've got a very competitive field in the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes at Keeneland this Saturday as a talented group of three-year-old fillies take to the turf at this venerable Kentucky racetrack. The chase is on to determine the best grass filly at 1m1f as we head into the 2012 Breeders' Cup and there is certainly a lot to like about this race from a value standpoint.

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The race doesn't boast any genuine stand-out shippers crossing over from Europe as it looks like the bulk of them will be heading towards the Breeders' Cup as opposed to an out-and-out prep race. This is effectively the last reasonable chance for American-based horses to get in a prep before the big two day event at Santa Anita.

A stand-out performance will likely see a filly pointed towards the Breeders' Cup Mile or, more reasonably, the Breeders' Cup Fillies & Mares Turf.

The one to watch heading into this contest is definitely Dayatthespa who lines up for the white hot Bradley Thoroughbreds outfit. She has rattled off four victories since a disappointing run in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Her victories have come across a wide variety of tracks and one has to appreciate hoe the filly has been campaigned selectively. She conquered the ungraded Sweetest Chant Stakes at Gulfstream back in late January then she followed that up with a slim neck victory over Whotelottashakin in the Herecomesthebride Stakes.

She then conquered the Riskaverse Stakes on the Keeneland Turf before capturing an ungraded stakes contest at Saratoga back at the end of August. Punters had more or less caught onto her by that point and she was sent off at a short 1/2 price tag.

Javier Castellano is booked for the steer and has been up since she got off to winning ways in January. Prior to that Dayatthespa had been piloted by top NY jock Ramon Dominguez but he's heading over to Samitar for this contest as they look to build on the victory they teamed up for against Somali Lemonade in the Group 1 Garden City Stakes. Stringing together back to back Grade 1 level victories would certainly be a feather in the cap of this talented daughter of TRock of Gibraltar.

Somali Lemonade has been beaten by a few of these aforementioned entries but she hasn't missed by much even though she hasn't won for quite a while. She switches to apprentice handling for this one as Joel Rosario opts for another mount which should set off alarm bells for punters who had been previously thinking this three-year-old miss was due.