The Estate of Harvey Clarke and Paul Braverman's Harvey's Lil Goil grabbed the lead at the top of the stretch and then held off all challengers to win the 37th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup for 3-year-old fillies by three-quarters of a length over Micheline at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.
Trained by Bill Mott and ridden Martin Garcia, Harvey's Lil Goil covered the 1 1/8 miles on a turf course rated as good in 1:48.72. The victory is the second in the race for Mott, who saddled Crown Queen to victory in 2014.
Sweet Melania set the pace with Harvey's Lil Goil lapped on her outside through fractions of :23.89, :47.75 and 1:12.16. The two hit the top of the stretch as a team only to have Harvey's Lil Goil quickly spurt away and open a daylight advantage.
Favored Magic Attitude (GB) made the first run at her and then Micheline finished fastest of all to grab second but unable to catch Harvey's Lil Goil. The result reversed the finish of the Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs Sept. 10 when Micheline prevailed by a neck.
“She has a lot of natural speed,” said Garcia. “She's fast – you can do whatever you want. After the break, I moved outside and she was really comfortable by herself. When it was time to go, I asked and she responded.”
Bred in Kentucky by Clarke, Harvey's Lil Goil is a daughter of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah out of the Tapit mare Gloria S. The victory was worth $300,000 and increased Harvey's Lil Goil's earnings to $561,529 with a record of 8-4-1-1.
“We were pretty confident with her,” said Kenny McCarthy, assistant to Mott at Keeneland. “She ran a super race for us at Kentucky Downs (finishing second to QE II runner-up Micheline in the Sept. 10 Dueling Grounds Oaks) in her last out and had trained really well in between. She's a little superstar. She pretty much goes on any surface for us. At least in my mind, I think the turf probably is a little bit easier for her to handle.”
Harvey's Lil Goil paid $9.20, $5.20 and $3.20. Micheline, ridden by Florent Geroux, returned $9.20 and $4.40 and finished a half-length in front of Magic Attitude, who paid $2.40 to show under Javier Castellano.
It was another half-length back to Red Lark (IRE), who was followed in order by California Kook, Hendy Woods and Sweet Melania.
Racing continues Sunday with a nine-race program beginning at 1:05 p.m. ET. Keeneland will offer a Pick 6 carryover of $34,998.45 and a Super High 5 carryover of $58,378.55.
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