Jun Light Bolt unleashed a furious closing rally and snatched victory from front-runner Crown Pride in the final strides in the $2,254,000 Champions Cup (G1) Sunday at Chukyo Racecourse in Japan.
The 5-year-old King Kamehameha bay switched to dirt racing this year after winning four of 21 starts on turf and registered his first Grade 1 win Sunday in his only fourth dirt start.
Quick out of the gate, Jun Light Bolt eased back to settle around ninth from early leader Red Soldado. Though meeting traffic entering the lane, he waited until finding an opening outside T O Keynes 200 meters out, then unleashed a powerful burst of speed to overtake former U.S. classic starter Crown Pride nearing the wire for a neck victory.
Jun Light Bolt, trained by Yasuo Tomomichi for owner Junji Kawai, covered about 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.9 on a track rated as standard.
“I can't find any other word to describe this other than 'happy',” winning rider Yukito Ishikawa said of Jun Light Bolt, who was sent off the third choice in the 16-horse field. “I tried to feel the horse's rhythm and was confident that if we can find an open space after entering the lane, he would burst out. The colt responded so well that I knew we could win. Though I have yet to feel my first Grade 1 win, I would like to savor this joy from now on.”
Fourth pick and 2022 UAE Derby (G2) victor Crown Pride, subsequently 13th in the Kentucky Derby (G1), was keen to run early, tracked the leader in second, took the lead at the top of the stretch and, though upstaged at the finish by the fast-closing winner, held the rest of the field by 1 1/4 lengths for second.
Hapi broke sharply and eased back to settle behind Crown Pride in third of fourth position. The Kizuna colt overtook the tiring pacesetter 300 meters out but failed to close the gap between the runner-up and was passed by the winner in the last 100 meters while securing third place from T O Keynes by a neck.
Odds-on-favorite T O Keynes, seeking a repeat win in the Champions Cup, missed his break and traveled four wide approximately sixth from the front. He made headway entering the lane and advanced to third at the 200-meter pole but was unable to make ground and was overtaken by the winner in the last 100 meters to finish fourth.
Jun Light Bolt was bred in Japan by Northern Farm. He was produced by the Special Week mare Special Groove.
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