Third choice Stunning Rose, second in her previous Grade 1 attempt in the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks), put a stop to Stars on Earth's bid to secure Japan's Triple Crown for fillies in the Shuka Sho (G1) Sunday at Hanshin.
Stars on Earth was aiming to become the seventh filly Triple Crown winner in her autumn comeback after recovering from chip fractures in both forelegs.
Debuting in last June as a 2-year-old, Sunday Racing Co.'s Stunning Rose, a King Kamehameha filly, broke her maiden in her second career start but was third at best in her following three graded stakes starts.
Two wins in her 3-year-old debut, the Kobushi Sho and the Flower Cup (G3), the latter becoming her first graded victory, was followed by a runner-up effort in the Japanese Oaks and another graded victory in the Shion Stakes (G3) before registering her first Grade 1 title Sunday.
Trainer Tomokazu Takano scored his second Shuka Sho victory since winning with Shonan in 2014 and fourth JRA Grade 1 title while Ryusei Sakai who made his jockey debut in 2016 landed his first career Grade 1 victory in the race and 10th graded win overall.
Stunning Rose broke sharply and positioned nicely behind the leaders and two-wide in fourth along the backstretch. Making headway 600 meters out, she shifted out slightly entering the short stretch and wasted no time pinning Art House and Sound Vivace in the stretch while holding off a fast-closing Namur and Stars on Earth to a half-length victory.
Stunning Rose covered the approximate 1 1/4 miles on good to firm turf in 1:58.06.
“I was able to assess the filly's maneuverability the last time I rode her and I was able to position her near Art House during the trip,” Sakai said. “Her response at the straight was way much better than her last start and although I was aware of the horses coming strongly from behind, I felt her power under me would carry us to the wire in front.”
Namur was rated in midpack, made headway along the outside with 600 meters to run, circled wide into the homestretch, and showed a good turn of speed while having to make up ground to finish second.
Race favorite Stars on Earth missed a beat coming out of the gate, was pinched back and had to race near the rear up to the final corner where the Duramente filly split horses and get into contention inside the final furlong. While displaying the fastest finishing speed, she was short of reaching the top two, finishing a nose behind Namur, in her failed bid for Triple Crown glory.
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