Queen Elizabeth II Cup: Regaleira Victorious in Record Time

Race favorite Regaleira claimed her third G1 victory in the 50th Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Sunday, November 16.

At Kyoto Racecourse, Regaleria shaved 0.1 seconds off the record time to win in 2 minutes, 11.0 seconds and avenge her fifth-place finish in this race in 2024.

The Suave Richard filly registered her first G1 title in the Hopeful Stakes (G1, 2,000 meters) as a 2-year-old and added another G1 victory in the year-end Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500 meters) as a 3-year-old in 2024. But then she sustained a chip fracture in her right foreleg.

The 4-year-old bay returned to racing in the 2025 Takarazuka Kinen (G1, 2,200 meters) in June where she placed 11th. Then she regained her form to win her latest start, the All Comers (G2, 2,200 meters), on September 21.

On Sunday, trainer Tetsuya Kimura claimed his 14th JRA G1 title following his Tenno Sho (Spring) title with Redentor this year.

Keita Tosaki also registered his 14th JRA G1 victory, his first since December 2024's Arima Kinen win with this filly.

Regaleira Finishes Strong in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup

Breaking smoothly from stall seven, Regaleira traveled wide in mid-division, around 10th-11th from the front.

The Suave Richard filly navigated the final turns wide before unleashing a powerful charge in the final stretch with the tied-fastest closing speed (34.2 seconds over the final three furlongs). Regaleira nailed the front 50 meters out and easily pulled away for a 1¾-length victory with record time. (Watch the race on the JRA's YouTube channel.)

Queen Elizabeth II Cup — *Winning jockey Keita Tosaki (©SANKEI)*

"I'm truly delighted to have won with Regaleira again," Tosaki said.

"[And] I'm both happy and relieved that we were able to live up to everyone's expectations as the race favorite. The stable staff told me how good her condition was, and I could feel it too when I rode her."

Tosaki added, "She was calm during the post parade and jumped out of the gate on her own. The condition of the inner track wasn't very good, so I made sure that we didn't get stuck there. She responded well at the stretch. I'm confident that she'll do even better [in future races]."

The 50th Running of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup

Fourth choice Paradis Reine (Mirai Iwata's ride), breaking alertly from the innermost stall, hugged the rails in sixth-seventh, steered to the outside for a clear path entering the lane and overtook the frontrunner 200 meters out to assume command. But the filly was unable to hold off the fast-closing Regaleira and finished second.

Unhurried second from the rear, ninth choice Lilac (Yusuke Fujioka), runner-up in the 2022 edition of this race, angled out for the stretch run to launch the tied-fastest late drive. And while failing to threaten the top two finishers, Lilac pinned Lynx Tip just before the wire to secure third place by a head.

Second favorite Lynx Tip (Cristian Demuro) finished fourth and Coconuts Brown (Suguru Hamanaka) was fifth.