Budding star Magic Attitude makes second U.S. start in QE II

LEXINGTON, Ky. – It takes a certain kind of reputation to make a European shipper an even-money favorite when she is making her first American start in a Grade 1 stakes in New York.

Granted, Magic Attitude was facing only four other fillies when she cruised to a 2 1/4-length triumph at a $4.30 mutuel in her stateside debut in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks last month, thereby living up to her initial billing as a potential turf star. But the manner in which the Galileo filly sped clear in that Sept. 19 race is worth recounting not only for when she wheels back Saturday at fan-free Keeneland as the favorite in the Grade 1, $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, but also for the full 2021 racing season.

“She is a very exciting filly,” said her trainer, Arnaud Delacour.

Win, lose, or dead heat Saturday in the QE II, it’s very unlikely that Magic Attitude will run back four weeks later here in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. That’d probably be asking too much within a relatively short time frame, said Delacour, who assumed the training of the British-bred filly this summer, several months after she was bought privately in the spring by Roy and Gretchen Jackson, who kept her overseas with trainer Fabrice Chappet for two races under their familiar Lael Stables silks.

In all, Magic Attitude raced six times in France prior to coming to Delacour at the Fair Hill training center in northern Maryland. She won a Group 3 race in her fourth start in May, then was second and fifth in back-to-back Group 1 events at Chantilly following the Lael purchase.

The Belmont Oaks jaunt is what makes Magic Attitude clearly the one to beat in a field of nine 3-year-old fillies in the QE II, the sixth and last Grade 1 of the 17-day Keeneland fall meet. Restrained as the trailer for much of the 1 1/4-mile race by Javier Castellano, the filly passed them all in the blink of an eye after straightening for home, loping under the wire with something in reserve.

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“She had a nice rhythm,” said Castellano.

“It was a good effort from her, and I think she appreciated the firm ground,” said Delacour.

There’s some question as to what kind of going can be expected for Saturday. Clockings for turf races were inordinately quick earlier in the week here at Keeneland, with a stakes record smashed Wednesday when Aunt Pearl aired in the Grade 2 Jessamine. But the Saturday forecast calls for a high chance of showers, meaning there could be give in the ground when the QE II, the ninth of 10 races, is run at 5:30 p.m. Eastern.

How that affects the outcome is anyone’s guess. Magic Attitude, breaking from post 4, will be turning back to 1 1/8 miles in the QE II, but her way of going suggests her turn of foot will be there whenever Castellano calls on her. In any case, there should be ample pace up front to facilitate her kick, given the presence of the inside-drawn trio of Harvey’s Lil Goil, Sweet Melania, and Antoinette.

Harvey’s Lil Goil (post 1, Martin Garcia) has been a model of class and versatility throughout a 2020 campaign shrewdly managed by her Hall of Fame trainer, Bill Mott. On dirt, the gray American Pharoah filly won the Busanda and was third in the Grade 1 Alabama; on turf, she won the Grade 3 Regret and was a just-miss second behind Micheline as the favorite in her most recent start, the Dueling Grounds Oaks.

Sweet Melania (post 2, Flavien Prat) was a romping winner here last fall in the Grade 2 Jessamine for trainer Todd Pletcher and has raced just three times in the interim. Both of her starts at 3 have been solid, as she won the Grade 3 Wonder Again on the June 20 Belmont Stakes undercard following a layoff of nearly eight months, then was beaten a whisker in the Grade 3 Lake George at Saratoga in her latest Aug. 28.

Antoinette (post 3, James Graham), a second Mott trainee, was the 6-5 second choice to Magic Attitude in the Belmont Oaks. She led most of the way only to give way readily in the final furlong, holding the runner-up spot. The Godolphin homebred was a two-back winner of the $500,000 Saratoga Oaks.

The balance of the field is Lucky Betty, Hendy Woods, Micheline, California Kook, and Red Lark. Of those, Micheline may have the most upside, given the way she streaked home in her Dueling Grounds Oaks score last month.

This is the 37th running of the QE II, which was attended in person by Queen Elizabeth when the race was inaugurated in 1984. First post is the usual 1:05 p.m., with the Grade 2 Fayette (race 8) also being part of a solid card.

Three of the trainers in this renewal of the QE II have previously won the race. Mott won the 2014 running with Crown Queen, while Mike Stidham (Micheline) won in 2015 with Her Emmynency and Mark Casse (Hendy Woods) won in 2017 with La Coronel.