LUSH LIPS (GB) ENDS QUEEN ELIZABETH II CHALLENGE CUP
JINX FOR HORGAN

There were a lot of smiles Saturday afternoon around the Brendan Walsh barn after Lush Lips (GB) delivered a 1¼-length victory in the $800,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana.

One of the brightest belonged to veteran exercise rider Roger Horgan, who had partnered Lush Lips here in the morning after she arrived early last week from Turfway Park.

“This has been a jinx race for me,” Horgan said Sunday morning. “I was here (in 2011) with Winter Memories for Jimmy Toner, and she was fourth as a big favorite, and then with Kiaran (McLaughlin) when he had Sentiero Italia, and she ran third as the odds-on favorite (in 2015).”

Owned by the partnership of Medallion Racing, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Hoffman Thoroughbreds, Mrs. Paul Shanahan and Mrs. M.V. Magnier, Lush Lips registered her first graded stakes victory Saturday after several near misses.

“I had a quiet confidence all week,” Horgan said. “When they feel like that (in the morning), it gives you confidence. Hats off to the boss for pulling it off.”

According to Walsh assistant Paul Madden, Lush Lips likely would return to Turfway Park the middle of the coming week.