Godolphin’s homebred Mawj (IRE) grabbed the lead out of the gate and maintained her position all the way to post a half-length victory over Lindy (FR) in the 40^th running of the $501,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday afternoon at Keeneland. 

Trained by Saeed bin Suroor and ridden by Oisin Murphy, Mawj covered the 1 1/8 miles over a turf course rated as good in 1:48.06. It is the first Keeneland stakes victory for Murphy as well as for bin Suroor, who collected his 500^th career grade or group victory. 

Mawj was first out of the gate with Elusive Princess (FR) and Mission of Joy to her inside, but she assumed a clear lead going into the first turn. From there, she raced unopposed on the lead through fractions of :23.26, :47.72 and 1:11.89. 

Going into the final turn, Elusive Princess applied a little pressure only to have Mawj kick clear again. In the stretch, Mission of Joy passed a tiring Elusive Princess to challenge Mawj only to have the Godolphin runner fend off that bid and have enough left in the tank to hold off a final challenge from Lindy. 

Coming on the heels of a victory in the English One Thousand Guineas (G1) on May 7 at Newmarket, Mawj extended her 2023 undefeated streak to four and improved her overall record to 9-6-1-1. A daughter of Exceed And Excel out of the New Approach mare Modern Ideals, Mawj is a half-sister to champion and two-time Breeders’ Cup winner Modern Games (IRE). 

The victory was worth $294,500 and increased Mawj’s earnings to $956,585.  

Sent off as the favorite in the field of nine, Mawj returned $4.62, $3.14 and $2.74. Lindy, ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, returned $5.30 and $3.64 and finished a half-length in front of Mission of Joy, who paid $8.76 to show under John Velazquez. 

It was another 1½ lengths back to Elusive Princess, who was followed in order by Sounds of Heaven (GB), Liguria, Elounda Queen (IRE), Papilio (IRE) and Freydis the Red (FR).