Christophe Lemaire | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Of A Different Class’: Gran Alegria Concludes Her Career With Mile Championship Title In Japan

Race favorite Gran Alegria successfully defended her G1 Mile Championship title on Sunday at Japan's Hanshin Racecourse to become the first back-to-back winner since Daiwa Major (2006-07) and sixth overall. The classy daughter of Deep Impact ended her stellar racing career which saw her win six G1 titles—she won the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) as a 3-year-old; the Yasuda Kinen, the Sprinters Stakes and the Mile Championship when four; the Victoria Mile and the Mile Championship this year as a 5-year-old—while also becoming the sixth female runner to exceed a career earning of ¥1.0 billion (over US$8.7 million).

Trainer Kazuo Fujisawa scored his 34th JRA-G1 victory—his first since the Victoria Mile with Gran Alegria—while the Mile Championship title was the sixth after with Shinko Lovely (1993), Taiki Shuttle (1997, 98), Zenno El Cid (2001) and Gran Alegria (2020), rewriting his own record for most Mile Championship titles won. Jockey Christophe Lemaire who also enjoyed consecutive Mile Championship victories along with Gran Alegria was last seen winning a G1 title in the Takarazuka Kinen with Chrono Genesis and has now reached a duo of milestones of 40 JRA-G1 victories and 1,500 JRA wins.

Gran Alegria was unhurried early and was rated a little further back than mid-division and just off the rails behind a slower than moderate pace led by Ho O Amazon. Making headway between horses from the 600-meter marker, the Deep Impact mare was angled out rounding the final turn for a clear path. While still having to make up ground along the widest lane, the multiple-G1 winner responded beautifully, edged closer with each stride and exploded into gear with a sharp turn of speed that timed 32.7 seconds in the last three furlongs to cross the wire by a 3/4-length margin.

“I am relieved and happy. The most important mission for me in her last run of her career was to bring out the best performance, her true form and she did just that. We were positioned a little further back but it didn't worry me much and she has this really good finishing speed at the stretch like she showed today. She's been a special horse since a 2-year-old, winning all those big races and today she showed us again that she's of a different class. I will miss her,” commented jockey Christophe Lemaire.

Schnell Meister was sharp out of the gate and eased back to mid-field while saving ground along the rails, was caught behind horses at early stretch and was angled out slightly before the Kingman colt picked up to join the eventual winner to rally for the lead passing the furlong pole, overtaking the tired early leaders on the inside and holding gamely for second while missing by less than a length.

Danon the Kid broke smoothly from gate 13 and moved up to along the outside to sit three-wide in mid-division. The Just a Way colt made his move as the eventual winner passed by on his outside and while Gran Alegria shifted further out rounding the final turn, Danon the Kid pushed his way between horses and turned in a sharp turn of speed that was still not good enough to deter Gran Alegria on his outside and Schnell Meister on the inside but enough to out-rally the rest for third place.

Other Horses:
4th: (7) Indy Champ—hugged rails around 5th, rallied for lead, held on well while overtaken by top finishers before wire
5th: (1) Ho O Amazon—set pace and led until 300m out, remained in contention, weakened in last 100m
6th: (4) Salios—settled around 3rd, took a command 300m out, weakened in last 100m
7th: (8) Darlington Hall—sat around 10th, responded well but lacked needed kick in last 200m
8th: (5) Sound Chiara—traveled around 5th, showed effort up to 200m marker
9th: (11) Catedral—was off a slow, ran around 14th, circled wide, lacked needed kick
10th: (6) Cadence Call—saved ground around 13th, angled out, showed belated charge
11th: (16) Rainbow Flag—trailed in rear, passed tired rivals at stretch
12th: (10) Lotus Land—settled 4-wide around seventh, checked 200m out, never threatened
13th: (9) Grenadier Guards—chased leaders around 3rd, ran gamely up to 200m marker, fell back
14th: (2) Kurino Gaudi—tracked leader in 2nd, faded after 200m pole
15th: (14) Ripresa—raced 3-wide around 10th, never fired at stretch
16th: (15) Sound Kanaloa—traveled 3-wide near rear, no factor

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Gran Exit For Alegria in Mile Championship

Japanese champion Gran Alegria (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) signed off her career with her second consecutive G1 Mile Championship victory, her sixth top-level score, at Hanshin on Sunday. She is the first horse to win back-to-back Mile Championships since Daiwa Major (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) in 2006/07.

Tabbed the heavy favourite at 70 cents on the dollar, the 5-year-old mare was content to race near the rear of the field as Ho O Amazon (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) sped through fractions of :23.70 and :47.60. Jockey Christophe Lemaire had a ton of horse under him at all points in the race, and steered Gran Alegria out widest of all as the field entered the straight. Asked for her run, she responded under confident handling and steamed home to win easily by three-quarters of a length as much the best. Group 1 winner Schnell Meister (Ger) (Kingman {GB}) closed from midpack to report home second, a half-length to the good of Danon the Kid (Jpn) (Just a Way {Jpn}).

“I am relieved and happy,” said Lemaire, who was winning his 40th Japan Racing Association Group 1 and 1,500th race in the JRA's jurisdiction. The most important mission for me in her last run of her career was to bring out the best performance, her true form and she did just that. We were positioned a little further back but it didn't worry me much and she has this really good finishing speed at the stretch like she showed today.

“She's been a special horse since a 2-year-old, winning all those big races and today she showed us again that she's of a different class. I will miss her.”

A group winner at two and third in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. against males in December of 2018, Gran Alegria made just three starts at three, taking the G1 Japanese 1000 Guineas in the spring and the G2 Hanshin Cup at the end of the year and was named Japanese Champion 3-Year-Old Filly. At four, Gran Alegria won three of her four appearances, starting with a second in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen in March. She ended her year with three straight Group 1 wins-the June 7 Yasuda Kinen, Oct. 4 Sprinters S. and Nov. 22 Mile Championship en route to year-end honours as the Japanese Champion Sprinter/Miler. In 2021, she returned with a fourth in the Apr. 4 G1 Osaka Hai, prior to a victory in the G1 Victoria Mile on May 16. Second defending her Yasuda Kinen title in June, she ran third in the 2000-metre G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) on Oct. 31.

Pedigree Notes
Gran Alegria is, in terms of Group 1 wins, the second most decorated progeny of the late Deep Impact (Jpn) after Gentildonna (Jpn), who has 53 Group 1 winners in total. The Northern Farm-bred is among his 179 worldwide black-type winners and 144 group winners. Tapit's broodmare sire career is going from strength to strength, and he also has the listed stakes winner and Group 3 placed Arusha (Jpn) by Deep Impact. Fifty-three progeny out of his daughters have won a black-type race, 24 of them are group winners and his very best so far has been the Mile Championship heroine from his seven Group 1 scorers.

The first reported foal out of the dual Grade I-winning turf star Tapitsfly, who also won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf back when it was a listed race, Gran Alegria has a winning 4-year-old full-brother named Blutgang (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). Her dam sold for $1,850,000 to Katsumi Yoshida out of the Fasig-Tipton November Sale in 2012. Tapitsfly's full-sister Flying Tipat (Tapit) was stakes placed at Indiana Downs, while the fourth dam, the winning Pink Dove (Argument {Fr}) was a half-sister to the 1990 GI Arlington Million hero Golden Pheasant (Caro {Ire}), who also took the Japan Cup in 1991.

Other half-siblings to Pink Dove are Group/Grade 3 winners Seewillo (Pleasant Colony), and Trial By Error (Caro {Ire}). At stud, Pink Dove foaled two stakes winners-Moonshine Hall (Spinning World), third in the GIII Toronto Cup H. and Malli Star (Baldski), a dual stakes winner and runner-up in the GI Del Mar Invitational Oaks. The latter went on to produce Japanese stakes winner Bella Rheia (Jpn) (Narita Top Road {Jpn}), Classic-placed and third in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup.

Sunday, Hanshin, Japan
MILE CHAMPIONSHIP-G1, ¥252,920,000, Hanshin, 11-20, 3yo/up, 1600mT, 1:32.60, fm.
1–GRAN ALEGRIA (JPN), 121, m, 5, by Deep Impact (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Tapitsfly (MGISW-US, $1,495,503), by Tapit
                2nd Dam: Flying Marlin, by Marlin
                3rd Dam: Morning Dove, by Fortunate Prospect
O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Kazuo Fujisawa;
J-Christophe Lemaire. ¥133,444,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. 3yo
Filly-Jpn, Ch. Sprinter-Jpn, Ch. Miler-Jpn, 15-9-2-2. Werk Nick
   Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Schnell Meister (Ger), 123, c, 3, Kingman (GB)–Serienholde
(Ger), by Soldier Hollow (GB). O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern
Farm (Jpn); ¥52,984,000.
3–Danon the Kid (Jpn), 123, c, 3, Just a Way (Jpn)–Epic Love
(Ire), by Dansili (GB). (¥100,000,000 Wlg '18 JRHAJUL).
O-Danox Inc.; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥33,494,000.
Margins: 3/4, HF, NO. Odds: 0.70, 3.60, 15.10.
Also Ran: Indy Champ (Jpn), Ho O Amazon (Jpn), Salios (Jpn), Darlington Hall (GB), Soind Chiara (Jpn), Catedral (Jpn), Cadence Call (Jpn), Rainbow Flag (Jpn), Lotus Land, Grenadier Guards (Jpn), Kurino Gaudi (Jpn), Ripresa (Jpn), Sound Kanaloa (Jpn).
Click for the JRA chart & video or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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Japan: ‘Big Three’ Ready For Sunday’s Tenno Sho Autumn Clash

Three Japanese equine heavyweights – Contrail, Gran Alegria and Efforia – share top billing in Sunday's G1 Tenno Sho Autumn (2000m, or 1 1/4 miles) in the latest renewal of one of the nation's most prestigious races.

Contrail seeks glory in the “Emperor's Prize” as successor to the mighty Almond Eye after finishing third in the G1 Osaka Hai (2000m) at Hanshin Racecourse, where he did not appreciate the heavy ground. Fortuitously, there is no rain forecast this weekend in Tokyo and stable expectations are high.

Contrail has thrived during trackwork over the past two weeks, needing no urging. Last week, under jockey Yuichi Fukunaga, Contrail looked strong working on the woodchip flat course.

“His heart and lungs were tuned up and last week we just checked his responses and turn of foot. Everything is fabulous,” Fukunaga said.

On Wednesday this week, the colt breezed up the hill.

“It was just to fine-tune his breathing,” trainer Yoshito Yahagi said. “His action is spot-on and in today's work you could really see his strong point, his suppleness.”

The Deep Impact colt's retirement has already been announced and the Tenno Sho will be his second-last start before his scheduled farewell appearance in the Japan Cup.

Gran Alegria, also by Deep Impact, is also a leading contender with five top-level wins to her name. Trained by Miho-based Kazuo Fujisawa, she's tackling the distance for only her second time. Her first attempt came in the Osaka Hai, where she followed Contrail over the line in fourth place. Gran Alegria, who along with Efforia, will enjoy a lighter weight of only 123lb in the race, returns to the track from a close second in the G1 Yasuda Kinen (1600m, Tokyo) in early June.

Regular rider Christophe Lemaire attributes Gran Alegria's loss in the Yasuda to breathing problems caused by an entrapped epiglottis. She underwent surgery to correct the issue during the summer.

“There'll be no problems with her throat this time,” Lemaire says. “I think she'll be able to give a best performance.”

With the 70-year-old Fujisawa's retirement just around the corner, this will be his last Tenno Sho.

“He's a superstar trainer, I want to win the race for him one more time.” Lemaire said.

The Frenchman, currently the leading jockey in Japan, has ridden the winner for the past three autumn versions of the Tenno Sho, including Fujisawa's Rey de Oro in 2018.

Efforia, a 3-year-old by 2014 Japan Cup champion Epiphaneia, went to the Triple Crown first leg Satsuki Sho on his fourth start and won it to remain unbeaten. He suffered his first loss in the Japanese Derby with a second by a mere nose. He returns straight from the May 30 Derby, but the distance and venue are familiar ground to the colt. He won over 2000m three times in his five-race career, with two wins at Tokyo.

Efforia is to be paired with young star Takeshi Yokoyama, who hails from a racing family and will be joined by both his father and older brother in Sunday's Tenno Sho. The 22-year-old Yokoyama won the Satsuki Sho aboard Efforia in April.

On Wednesday, Yokoyama rode Efforia among a trio of horses over six furlongs on the Miho flat course. The colt displayed excellent acceleration in the final furlong.

“I've ridden him all along in work and in his races.” Yokoyama said. “And I'd say this week's work was his best yet.”

Efforia will compete against older horses for his first time, but Yokoyama says: “I'm not worried about the others. The main thing for me to remember is to not get in his way and he'll be fine.”

Sixteen horses are nominated in the turf event that carries a 150-million-yen first prize. Names most cited as capable of an upset are the highly consistent Sakae Kunieda-trained Curren Bouquetd'or, winner of this year's Tenno Sho Spring World Premiere, and the up-and-coming Potager, taking on his first G1.

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‘Rising Star’ Rounds Out Deep Impact Double In Tokyo

Less than an hour after Profondo (Aus) stamped his authority on the G1 Spring Champion S. at Randwick at just his third career start, 'TDN Rising Star' Command Line (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) followed suit in the G3 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup (1600mT) at Tokyo Racecourse in his second trip to the races and first appearance graduating stylishly over the course and distance June 5.

Sent off the marginal favorite in advance of Sternatia (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), a half-sister to Group 1-winning miler Stelvio (Jpn), the athletic colt was allowed to find his feet beneath Christophe Lemaire and settled in fifth position of the seven runners, but noting that longshot Lord Reliable (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) was galloping them along at a walking pace, the Frenchman slipped Command Line a bit of rein and the duo advanced be second through an opening half-mile in :50 flat. Settled nicely in spite of the moderate tempo for the run around the turn, Command Line was held together into the long straight, was felt for with a bit more than 300 metres to travel and outsprinted Sternatia to the line, then galloped out powerfully. Stunning Rose (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) made it a clean sweep for the Sunday Racing colours and breeder Northern Farm.

Pedigree Notes:

While Profondo was becoming the 52nd top-level scorer for Deep Impact in Sydney, Command Line took the late sire's tally to 178 black-type winners and 144 graded/group winners.

A $72,000 purchase by Kim Valerio and Michael Dubb at Keeneland September in 2013, Condo Commando, the 'splash-tastic' winner of the 2014 GI Spinaway S., is a daughter of MGSW Yearly Report who is also the dam of MGSP Checklist (Gone West). Command Line is the third foal from Condo Commando, who was acquired by Katsumi Yoshida for $1.5 million at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Unsurprisingly, the mare's first cover was the legendary Shadai stallion and the result was Al Jannah (Jpn), who fetched nearly $1.5 million as a foal at the 2017 JRHA Select Sale and who has since placed four times at group level. The 3-year-old full-sister, Torre de Mando (Jpn), is a maiden winner from seven runs and Condo Commando is the dam of a yearling filly by Heart's Cry (Jpn) and a weanling Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) filly that was hammered down for $761,188 at this year's foal sale.

Saturday, Tokyo, Japan
SAUDI ARABIA ROYAL CUP-G3, ¥62,960,000, Tokyo, 10-9, 2yo, 1600mT, 1:36.40, gd.
1–COMMAND LINE (JPN), 121, c, 2, by Deep Impact (Jpn)
1st Dam: Condo Commando (GISW-US, $758,600), by Tiz Wonderful
2nd Dam: Yearly Report, by General Meeting
3rd Dam: Fiscal Year, by Half a Year
'TDN Rising Star' 1ST STAKES WIN. 1ST GROUP WIN. O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm; T-Sakae Kunieda; J-Christophe Lemaire; ¥33,252,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, ¥40,252,000. *Full to Al Jannah (Jpn), MGSP-Jpn, $661,781. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Sternatia (Jpn), 119, f, 2, Lord Kanaloa (Jpn)–L'Archetto (Jpn), by Falbrav (Ire). O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm; ¥13,072,000.
3–Stunning Rose (Jpn), 119, f, 2, King Kamehameha (Jpn)–Rosa Blanca (Jpn), by Kurofune. O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm; ¥8,336,000.
Margins: HF, NK, 1. Odds: 1.20, 1.30, 4.40.
Click for the umanity.jp chart. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.

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