Breeders' Cup Turf berth up for grabs in Queen Elizabeth Stakes
Adelaide, the winner of the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park last summer and the Group 1 Cox Plate in Australia last October, is among 13 runners in Saturday’s $3,076,000 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Australia.
The winner of the race receives an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31, provided the horse is nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program.
The Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes is run at 1 1/4 miles. The field is led by Contributer, a 5-year-old by High Chaparral who has won three consecutive group stakes in Australia this year. Contributer, who races for the Maktoum family’s Godolphin Racing and is trained by James McDonald, won the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill Racecourse in Australia on March 21.
Contributer won the Wolferton Handicap at Royal Ascot in England last June.
Other notable runners in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes are To the World and the well-traveled Red Cadeaux.
To the World was second in the Grade 1 Arima Kinen in Japan in December and second to Hartnell in the Group 1 BMW Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf at Rosehill on March 28. Red Cadeaux, a 9-year-old gelding, will have his 50th start in the Queen Elizabeth. He was second in the Melbourne Cup last November, and has raced in Australia, England, Hong Kong, and Japan in the last year.
Last Monday, the winners of two major stakes in Australia received berths to Breeders’ Cup races at Keeneland. Kermedec won the Doncaster Mile, earning a berth to the BC Mile. Chautauqua won the T.J. Smith Stakes, earning a berth to the BC Turf Sprint.