IT’S been a Group 1 every weekend recently in Japan and this week action moves from Tokyo to western Japan for the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Hanshin.

The Queen Elizabeth II Cup was opened to older females in 1996 and famously won by Snow Fairy in 2010 and 2011.

There are three Grade 1 winners in the field of 18 - last year’s winner Lucky Lilac, 2019 Japanese Oaks winner Loves Only You and the 2019 Victoria Mile victor Normcore.

Six three-year-olds are set to go up against those formidable older mares including this year’s Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) second and third Win Marilyn and Win Mighty, as well as the third-place finisher in last month’s Grade 1 Shuka Sho, Soft Fruit.

The Orfevre mare Lucky Lilac is the likely favourite.

The five-year-old mare suffered her only unplaced run since spring 2019 when sixth in this year’s Takarazuka Kinen. She had won the Grade 1 Osaka Hai over the Hanshin 2,000 metres before that and last out, in the Grade 2 Sapporo Kinen, she finished third to Normcore.

Lucky Lilac was runner-up in the last year’s Hong Kong Vase and back among fillies and mares, will be a hard one to beat.

The four-year-old Loves Only You, by Deep Impact, finished third here last year and had won the Japanese Oaks. The mile may be a bit short for her.

The Harbinger five-year-old Normcore beat the colts in the Group 2 Sapporo Kinen last time and put over two lengths between herself and Lucky Lilac in third in doing so.

The three-year-old Soft Fruit was third in the Shuka Sho after a slow break, and having to cover extra ground going into the stretch. She finished only 0.3 seconds behind winner Daring Tact, who clinched the filly Triple Crown. A better trip could aid her cause.