Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) - Preview

Kamunyak

Juryoku Pierrot

Queen’s Walk

Jocelyn

Laughterlines

The spotlight will be on the fillies and mares this week, as Kyoto Racecourse hosts the 51st running of the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Sunday, Nov. 8. The turf event is open to fillies and mares 3 years old and up, held over 2,200 meters on the right-handed course and carries a purse of over JPY326 million, with JPY150 million going to the winner.

Nominations closed Nov. 1 with 23 horses entered and only 18 of them will make the cut. The finalists will likely range from 3 to 5 years of age and there is talent galore, with youth and experience expected to go head and head the whole way in heated battle.

Not just one name, but a handful, is attracting the most attention for Sunday’s big event. Three Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) champions are competing - 2024 winner Cervinia, 2025 champ Kamunyak and this year’s winner Juryoku Pierrot. Next in popularity is likely to be the stately Queen’s Walk, who brings consistency to the mix. The stunning gray Aqua Vernal looks to be coming into full bloom, while Jocelyn and Laughterlines carry the flag for the 11 entries from the eastern training ground of Miho.

There is heated competition in the saddles as well, with 23-year-old Seina Imamura going up against 17 male jockeys, all of them older, all with far more experience. Yuga Kawada is set to ride Kamunyak and Imamura will pilot Juryoku Pierrot, who, with her win of the Oaks, wrote Imamura into the history books as the first JRA female jockey to win a Grade 1 event. Also two non-JRA jockeys are expected in the final lineup -Cristian Demuro and Tom Marquand.

The Kyoto 2,200 meters starts in front of the grandstand packed with a G1 crowd, can seriously test tense and nervous runners as they load into the gate. The last three years since renovations at Kyoto were completed have seen the QE2 race favorite win twice and those racing on or close to the pace have fared well. The previous race of the Top 3 finishers has been no earlier than September.  

Three-year-olds will have the weight advantage at 54kg. All others will carry 56kg. The Queen Elizabeth II Cup is the 11th race at Kyoto on the Sunday card of 12. Post time is 15:40 JST.

Here’s a look at some of the standouts:

Kamunyak: This Black Tide daughter streaked through three graded races in the spring of 2025, capturing all three, including the Grade 1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks). She fell from the dizzying heights in the Shuka Sho, leaving only two horses of 18 behind her at the finish line. Returning to the track in April, she has been back at her best, scoring two seconds and one win in graded company (all at distances shorter than 2,000 meters), including a second 1 1/4 lengths behind Embroidery in the Victoria Mile at Tokyo in May. With her biggest rival Embroidery out of the picture this time, the spotlight is on Kamunyak. This will be her first distance over anything longer than 2,200 meters since the Oaks, but the extra ground is considered a plus. She is in good shape, but the biggest hurdle may be getting her calmly to the gate, positioned smack center of the grandstand, as it was for the Shuka Sho. “She has matured a lot mentally, so I’m hoping she’ll get over that hurdle,“ trainer Yasuo Tomomichi said. If Kamunyak wins, it’ll be only the third Oaks champion to land this race as a 4-year-old. Yuga Kawada, who pocketed five races in a row last Saturday at Kyoto, is expected up. Kawada has ridden all but two of Kamunyak’s 10 career starts, but has yet to win with her in a G1.

Juryoku Pierrot: After beginning her career over dirt, Juryoku Pierrot was switched to grass three starts in and from there streaked unbeaten to the Oaks winner’s circle another three starts later. Her Oaks victory was history-making for her rider, Seina Imamura, who will be entered into the history books as the first female JRA jockey to win a Grade 1 event. Illness forced Juryoku Pierrot to pass on the Shuka Sho and she’ll be returning Sunday without a prep race after a spell of over five months. Her biggest weapon is her late speed. In the Oaks, it took her from 14th position at the top of the stretch to reach the finish line in first with a final three-furlong time of 33.1 seconds. Once her engine is revved, this filly is world class and the long homestretch at Kyoto is a plus. She will be up against older fillies and mares, but is expected to rise to the challenge with all sights solidly on her second G1 victory. Trainer Ryo Terashima commented: “Her tension level is still quite high, but in a good way, she’s on her game. I think the conditions this time will work well for her.”

Aqua Vernal: Debuting in the summer of 2023, this 5-year-old gray was still rising through the condition races until this year, when she went from an open-class win to a second in the Grade 2 Hanshin Daishoten over 3,000 meters. Next out in the Tenno Sho (Spring), the daughter of Epiphaneia missed the Top 3 in fourth by only 0.2 seconds. In the autumn, she returned for a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Kyoto Daishoten over 2,400 meters. Raced predominately over distances of 2,400 meters and up since the spring of 2025, this time she may be a furlong short, but amid an all-female field Aqua Vernal should still measure up. Word is she’s more versatile of late and not to be ignored. If the trip allows her to draw on her stamina, her first G1 win may be in sight. Hirofumi Shii, still eyeing his first G1 victory as a trainer, said, “I think she’s more than up to it. I’d like her to have a fast track.” As a jockey, Shii won this race aboard the 4-year-old Dance Partner in 1996.

Queen’s Walk: A standout among the near dozen 5-year-olds nominated for this year’s QEII Cup is Queen’s Walk by Kizuna, who has competed solely in graded company in her last 12 starts, six of them at the top level. Though she has yet to score a G1 win, Queen’s Walk has landed two G2s and a G3 and made the Top 3 in two G1s (second in the 2025 Victoria Mile, third this year in the same). Raced predominately in the 1,600-2,000 meters range, this will be her first race over 2,200 meters. Returning in mid October, her eighth place in the Grade 2 Ireland Trophy over 1,800 meters at Tokyo was somewhat of a surprise, but given it was her first race in five months surely no cause for alarm. A big horse weighing 544kg last out, Queen’s Walk should take well to the Kyoto outer course and could rewrite JRA history as the heaviest horse to win a top-level race if she’s over 540kg on race day. She has also yet to win a graded race over a clockwise course. New partner Cristian Demuro is expected up.

Jocelyn: A 4-year-old by Epiphaneia and out of Katies Heart, Jocelyn is a full sister to the 2021 Horse of the Year Efforia. The Miho-based filly leapt from her debut to a graded stakes and since, except for one condition race immediately following that, has continued to compete only in graded events. Last out, in the Grade 2 Ireland Trophy, she held the front gutsily but was no match for Kamunyak. She lost by half a length to her, but put a good 2 lengths between her and third-place finisher Lavanda. Jocelyn has scored one G3 win and two seconds at the G2 level, and holds a 4-8 record, respectively, from her two G1 bids, the Shuka Sho and the Victoria Mile. Distance-wise, Jocelyn’s results would indicate her best range to be 1,800-2,000 meters, but she has yet to be asked to go further than 10 furlongs. This will be her first time at Kyoto. Christophe Lemaire is expected to have the ride on Sunday. Their partnership thus far has brought two seconds and a win.

Others to watch are:

Voulezvous is responding well to a change in distance and may have found her sweet spot. She scored a third in the Grade 3 Queen Stakes and, most recently, a third in the Grade 2 Sankei Sho All Comers behind two older males. Being back in all-female company should be a plus. Laughterlines has taken an unusual route as she skipped the 2-year-old G1s and the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas), the first leg of the filly’s Classics. However, she has yet to finish out of the Top 3 in her three graded stakes bids, including the Oaks. It is her first race after returning from a fracture and more than five months off. She also has to weather the long trip west from Miho.

Comments: Keiba Book, Gallop