Oisin Murphy bids to dethrone unbeaten Loves Only You in QEII Cup

6.40 Sunday, Kyoto

Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Grade 1) 3yo+ fillies & mares | 1m3f [Turf]

Japanese-trained fillies and mares have spread out across the globe this season, with Almond Eye triumphant in Dubai and now set for Hong Kong – where she could be joined by Glorious Goodwood heroine Deirdre – while Lys Gracieux has just made off with Australia's most important all-aged race, the Caulfield Cup.

Yet Lys Gracieux's trainer, Yoshito Yahagi, enjoys the luxury of a second star filly back at home, with the unbeaten Loves Only You likely to be sent off a short-priced favourite to maintain her perfect record against 17 rivals.

Loves Only You has not been seen since coming with a sustained run from off the pace under Mirco Demuro to claim Japan's version of the Oaks, the Yushun Himba.

The daughter of Deep Impact won twice at right-handed Kyoto as a juvenile and has two and three-quarter lengths in hand from that Oaks win over the likely second favourite Chrono Genesis.

Yahagi said: "A lot of people are worrying about the long time between races but she returned to the training centre early and everything has gone well. I think she’ll be able to show us her best."

The highlight of Oisin Murphy's stay in Japan last winter was a Grade 3 win on the Tokyo dirt with Copano Kicking.Credit: Masakazu Takahashi

Oisin Murphy will bid to add to his three Group 1 victories in Europe this season when climbing aboard the Makoto Saito-trained Uranus Charm, who is the third choice in early betting despite being winless in six attempts at Graded level.

Murphy begins his stint in Japan on Saturday and will be looking to build on his total of 25 winners last winter, a spell which led directly to the link-up with connections of Nassau Stakes heroine Deirdre.

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