Sent off at 37-10, Ecoro Bloom soon cruised up to sit in third behind Yukino Royal (Jpn) (Dee Majesty {Jpn}) and Clean Air (Jpn) (Real Impact {Jpn}) before drifting back a bit to the fence while saving ground. Full of run with 600 metres left, he ranged up to within a length of the leaders, but was forced to alter course in early stretch as a hole closed. A gap opened a few strides later and Takeshi Yokoyama directed the colt through, before the duo kicked past a stubborn Yukino Royal, who lost the battle for second with Bond Girl by a head.

Third on debut over soft ground going this trip at Tokyo in October, the chestnut claimed a similar affair at that course over a firm surface in November. Making his 2024 bow, Ecoro Bloom was a close second in the G3 Nikkan Sports Sho Shinzan Kinen at Kyoto on Jan. 8.

Pedigree Notes

The winner is the 47th stakes winner for his sire, who was pensioned after breeding a handful of mares in 2023.

American threads run through the dams of both Ecoro Bloom and Bond Girl, as the former's dam, Sugar Shock, a winner of the 2014 GIII Fantasy S., was picked up for $360,000 out of the Fasig-Tipton November Sale in 2015 by Katsumi Yoshida. Stakes winner Coasted (Tizway), the 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf runner-up and the dam of Saturday's runner-up, was sent to Japan after making $1.3 million at that same sale two years later, also on the bid of Yoshida.

At stud, Sugar Shock delivered the winning Admire Metis (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) as her first foal. Four more winners followed, including G3 Kisaragi NKH Sho hero Lagom (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) and Saturday's victor. After foaling the New Zealand Trophy hero, she produced a 2-year-old filly to the cover of dual Saturnalia (Jpn), a yearling full-brother to Lagom and she visited Kizuna (Jpn) last spring.

Saturday, Nakayama, Japan
NEW ZEALAND TROPHY-G2, ¥105,100,000, Nakayama, 4-6, 3yo, c/f, 1600mT, 1:34.40, gd.
1–ECORO BLOOM (JPN), 126, c, 3, Daiwa Major (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Sugar Shock (GSW-US, $475,619), by Candy Ride (Arg)
                2nd Dam: Enthusiastically, by Distorted Humor
                3rd Dam:  Unbridled Hope, by Unbridled
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. 1ST GROUP WIN. (¥84,000,000 Ylg '22
JRHAJUL). O-Masatoshi Haramura; B-Northern Farm (Jpn);
T-Yukihiro Kato; J-Takeshi Yokoyama; ¥55,120,000. Lifetime
Record: 4-2-1-1, ¥78,606,000. *1/2 to Lagom (Jpn) (Orfevre
{Jpn}), GSW-Jpn, $1,287,497. Click for the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Bond Girl (Jpn), 121, f, 3, Daiwa Major(Jpn)–Coasted, by
Tizway. (¥210,000,000 Ylg '22 JRHAJUL). O-Susumu Fujita;
B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥22,320,000.
3–Yukino Royal (Jpn), 126, c, 3, Dee Majesty (Jpn)–Yukino
Queen (Jpn), by Taiki Shuttle. 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP
   BLACK TYPE. O-Motoyuki Inoue; B-Hattori Farm (Jpn);
¥14,160,000.
Margins: 3/4, HD, HF. Odds: 3.70, 2.20, 36.50.
Also Ran: Kazu Mikulase (Jpn), Dreaming Up (Jpn), Clean Air (Jpn), Aim For Ace (Jpn), Awesome Stroke (Jpn), Enya Love Faith (Jpn), Spark Richard (Jpn), Rouge Suerte (Jpn), Shines On You (Jpn), Satomino Kirari (Jpn), David Tesoro (Jpn), Bright Man (Jpn), Captaincy (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video.

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