Lys Gracieux scores one for the ladies in Takarazuka Kinen

Lys Gracieux, the only mare in a field of 12, won the richest race of her career in Sunday’s Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan, pulling clear in the final furlong for a comprehensive win by three lengths.

Lys Gracieux earned a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 2, although it was not immediately clear if she would be sent to the United States. The Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup for fillies and mares at Kyoto Racecourse on Nov. 10 or the Grade 1 Japan Cup against males at Tokyo Racecourse on Nov. 24 are other possibilities. Lys Gracieux won the 2018 Queen Elizabeth II Cup.

In the $2.7 million Takarazuka Kinen, Lys Gracieux (4-1) stalked pacesetter Kiseki to the final furlong before drawing away. Kiseki, the 8-5 favorite, finished second, two lengths in front of 7-1 Suave Richard.

Lys Gracieux, a 5-year-old Heart’s Cry mare, was ridden by Damian Lane for trainer Yoshito Yahagi. A winner of 5 of 20 starts, Lys Gracieux is owned by U. Carrot Farm.

In the past six months, Lys Gracieux has started twice in Hong Kong and twice in Japan. Last December, Lys Gracieux was second in the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase. She began her 2019 season with a second in the Grade 2 Kinko Sho at Chuyko Racecourse in Japan in March before a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong in April.

Lys Gracieux is the fourth horse to qualify for the BC Turf, preceded by Il Mercato, who won the Carlos Pellegrini Stakes in Argentina last December; George Washington, who won the Grande Premio Brasil in Brazil on June 9; and Crystal Ocean, the winner of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in England last Wednesday.

The next international race with an automatic berth for the BC Turf is the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on July 27. The first domestic race this year with an automatic berth is the Grade 1 Arlington Million at Arlington Park on Aug. 10.