Almond Eye (Jpn) | Horse Racing Free Tips

Champion Almond Eye Elected To Japanese Hall Of Fame

Dual Japanese Horse of the Year Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) has been elected to the Japanese Horse Racing Hall of Fame, the Japan Racing Association (JRA) announced.

The former Silk Racing Co., Ltd.'s colourbearer is the 35th member of the exclusive club after garnering 200 votes (96.6%) of the 207 available. Fellow Japanese Triple Crown Winner Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) gained 155 votes, one short of the minimum requirement for entry.

Trainer Sakae Kunieda said, “It is a great honor to have Almond Eye selected for the award. From her debut in 2017 until her retirement at the Japan Cup in 2020, she won the Triple Crown for fillies and nine Group 1 races and was also the representative Horse of the Year twice.

“Almond Eye is outstanding both physically and mentally and has always lived up to our high expectations and kept dreaming about what kind of performance she will show in the next race.

“I have nothing but gratitude for the owners who entrusted me with such a famous horse… and the fans who supported me together. Being involved with Almond Eye as a horse trainer has been a great asset for me and the stable staff, and I will continue to devote myself to it.”

Bred by Northern Racing, the bay electrified the racing world with seven straight victories after breaking her maiden at second asking as a juvenile. In her third start and 3-year-old bow, she won the G3 Shinzan Kinen, her last appearance below Group 1 level. After sweeping the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown (Oka Sho, Yushun Himba, Shuka Sho) in the spring and autumn of 2018, Almond Eye claimed her first Japan Cup and earned her first Horse of the Year title. Sent to Meydan for the Dubai Turf at four, she won again and was third in the Yasuda Kinen back in her native land before taking the Tenno Sho (Autumn). Uncharacteristically off the board in the G1 Arima Kinen at the end of her 4-year-old season, she won the Victoria Mile, ran second in the Yasuda Kinen, and won both the Tenno Sho (Autumn) and Japan Cup at five, good for her second Horse of the Year laurels. Almond Eye was retired with a mark of 15-11-2-1 and over $17.6 million in earnings.

The daughter of Fusaichi Pandora (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) has colts by Epiphaneia (Jpn) and Maurice (Jpn) born in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

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Champion Almond Eye Foals a Colt

Dual Japanese Horse of the Year Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) delivered her first foal shortly after midnight on Jan. 13, Silk Racing Company Limited announced. The bay foal is a colt by Shadai Stallion Station's Epiphaneia (Jpn).

Bred by Northern Farm and raced by Silk Racing, the 7-year-old claimed nine Group 1 victories throughout her career. Ridden all bar one race by Christophe Lemaire and trained by Sakae Kunieda, the bay won the 2018 Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown and G1 Japan Cup. Named the Champion 3-Year-Old Filly and Japanese Horse of the Year that year, she returned at four to win the G1 Dubai Turf at Meydan. Third in the G1 Yasuda Kinen later in 2019, she signed off with a G1 Tenno Sho Autumn title and was the champion older horse in the UAE from 7-9 ½ furlongs.

Kept in training at five, Almond Eye added the G1 Victoria Mile to her haul in May of 2020, and was second to Gran Alegria (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G1 Yasuda Kinen a month later. Taking her second Tenno Sho Autumn in November of that year, she retired with a 1 1/4-length victory over Japanese Triple Crown Winner Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown Winner Daring Tact (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) in the Japan Cup, her second.

Out of the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup winner Fusaichi Pandora (Jpn) (Sunday Silence), who later placed in that race when it was promoted to Group 1 status, Almond Eye is a half-sister to the Japanese listed-placed Unakite (Jpn) (Johannesburg). This is the extended family of blue hen mare Sex Appeal (Buckpasser) and her sons and successful sires El Gran Senor (Northern Dancer) and Try My Best (Northern Dancer).

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Japanese Champion Almond Eye In Foal to Epiphaneia

Dual Japanese Horse of the Year Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}-Fusaichi Pandora {Jpn}, by Sunday Silence) was scanned in foal to Epiphaneia (Jpn) (Symboli Kris S) on her sixth birthday, Nikkan Sports reported on Wednesday. A winner of the G1 Japanese St. Leger and G1 Japan Cup, Shadai Stallion Station's Epiphaneia is the sire of 2020 Japan Fillies' Triple Crown heroine Daring Tact (Jpn) and more recently, Efforia (Jpn) in the G3 Kyodo News Hai among his four black-type winners.

Bred by Northern Racing and raced by Silk Racing Co. Ltd., Almond Eye now resides at Northern Farm on Hokkaido after retiring at the end of 2020. The Sakae Kunieda trainee captured the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown in 2018, as well as that year's G1 Japan Cup and earned the first of her Horse of the Year titles. She was also named the Japanese Champion 3-Year-Old Filly.

At four, Almond Eye traveled to Dubai for a victory in the G1 Dubai Turf and also captured the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) on her home soil. Kept in training in 2020, she padded her resume with Group 1 wins in the Victoria Mile, another Tenno Sho (Autumn) and a second Japan Cup en route to Horse of the Year and Champion Older Mare honours. In the 2020 Japan Cup, she defeated Japanese Triple Crown hero Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Daring Tact.

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People’s Choice Award Voting Closes Mar. 6

Voting for the People's Choice Awards closes on Mar. 6, the Dubai Racing Club announced on Tuesday. The nominees for the most compelling moment in racing since the 2019 G1 Dubai World Cup are: jockey Hollie Doyle, 2020 G1 Prix du Cadran heroine Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}), Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn})'s second G1 Japan Cup, and Messi's victory in the $1.9-million G1 Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown for Purebred Arabians. Fans may visit www.hhracingawards.com/vote to cast their vote.

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