Tag: Kyoto Racecourse

History Awaits Liberty Island In Shuka Sho

The last time the G1 Shuka Sho was staged at Kyoto Racecourse in 2020, Daring Tact (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) validated a quote of 1.4 (2-5) favouritism to become the fifth winner of the Japanese Fillies Triple Tiara in the modern era. Closed for two years for reconstruction, racing returned to Kyoto this spring and Sunday afternoon, the fans will pack the grandstand to watch Sunday Racing's Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) try to add her name to the list at what will be a similarly skinny price, if not shorter.

The daughter of two time Australian champion and dual Group 1 winner Yankee Rose (Aus) (All American {Aus}) is sparingly raced to date, having made just five trips to the post and having tasted defeat on only one occasion, a desperately unlucky runner-up effort to the re-opposing Ravel (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) when badly held up for a run in the G3 Artemis S. last October. Liberty Island locked up champion 2-year-old filly honours in the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in December and returned to action in the Apr. 9 G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas), coming from a seemingly unlikely position to defeat Kona Coast (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) (video, SC 3). The G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) was a much more straight-forward task, as Liberty Island turned on the afterburners in the final 200 metres to score by a half-dozen lengths from Harper (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) and Dura (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) (see below, SC 5).

 

 

Liberty Island reportedly won the Oaks at 468kg, but was a reported 520kg when she returned to training in September. She recently tipped the scales at 490kg, but jockey Yuga Kawada remains bullish on his ride.

“I'd heard so many reports about how big she'd gotten, so I'd been thinking she was going to be too big, but she wasn't,” the leading rider commented this week. “In a good way, I found it hard to even feel the difference. She didn't feel heavy either when she started working, but since it was a week out, I did think she would improve from then.

“Since she's so talented, it's always hard to find a training partner,” he added. “This week, so call it a partner or a pacemaker, we put another horse in front and worked this one, being careful to keep her in good balance. I did feel improvement from last week.”

Dura was better than 100-1 when rallying from far back in the Oaks and went on to frank the form of the race with a one-length success when favoured in the G3 Queen S. (1800m) at Sapporo July 30.

“She had a prep that should tie in nicely with the Kyoto 2,000 meters, and physically she's much more powerful than she was in the spring,” said assistant trainer Atsushi Nishioka. “I hadn't been confident she'd do well in either the Oaks or the Queen S., but this time I'm looking forward to her performance. On top of that, I'm looking forward to seeing how close she can get to Liberty Island.”

Shadai's Masked Diva (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) is one of the more progressive types in the field, with three wins from her four starts, including a convincing 1 1/2-length success in the G2 Rose S. in her group-stakes debut last month. As of this writing, the dark bay is the second choice in the markets at better than 17-1, such is the expected dominance of Liberty Island.

Moryana (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) was well-beaten in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies and was absent from the first two legs of this series, but gained a berth in the Shuka Sho with a half-length defeat of Oaks sixth Hip Hop Soul (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) in the G2 Shion S. over Sunday's trip Sept. 9.

 

 

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Contrail Takes Kikuka Sho, Becoming’s Japan’s Third Undefeated Triple Crown Winner

Odds-on favorite Contrail joined his sire, the Sunday Silence stallion Deep Impact, as one of three undefeated Japanese Triple Crown winners by capturing the Grade 1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) over 1 7/8-miles at Kyoto Race Course on Sunday in Kyoto, Japan.

Ridden by Yuichi Fukunaga and trained by Yoshito Yahagi, Contrail was all out to beat Aristoteles and Christophe Lemaire by a neck in the final leg of a series that began April 19 with the 1 1/4-mile Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) and continued one month later with the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), contested at 1 1/2 miles. All three races are on turf.

Another son of Deep Impact, Satono Flag, finished third of the 18 runners, all but one of which – Godolphin's Irish-bred Turkish Palace (14th place) – were bred in Japan.

Contrail is Japan's eighth Triple Crown winner and the first to be sired by a previous Triple Crown winner. Deep Impact won his crown in 2005. The third horse to exit the series undefeated was Symboli Rudolf in 1984.

Contrail broke smoothly and settled between horses in mid-pack as Chimera Verite set a moderate pace. Fukunaga allowed Contrail to gradually move toward the front and took the lead after entering the stretch. But he could not shake Aristoteles, a 22-1 longshot, who raced alongside Contrail the length of the stretch, falling just a neck short at the finish.

“This may not have been his best performance, but I kept my faith in Contrail and he certainly showed how strong he is to have maintained his position up to the end of the 3,000-meter trip,” Fukunaga said.

Final time was 3:05.5 on firm turf, well off the course and race record of 3:01.0 set by Toho Jackal in 2014.

Contrail, who is now 7-for-7, paid 110 yen on a 100 yen bet for the win. Owned by Shinji Maeda and bred by North Hills Co. Ltd., he was produced from the Kentucky-bred Unbridled's Song mare Rhodochrosite, who was bred by the Robert and Beverly Lewis Trust and sold for $385,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The Lewises bred and raced Rhodochrosite's dam, the Tiznow filly Folklore, Eclipse Award winner as outstanding 2-year-old filly in 2005 when she won the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies for trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

While on-track attendance was limited to just over 1,000 people, wagering on the Kikuka Sho day program from Kyoto totaled $286.9 million, a 27.3% increase from 2019 when a Triple Crown was not on the line. Wagering on the Kikuka Sho race itself was $202.8 million, up 30% from 2019.

 

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A Japanese Triple Crown Double?

One week removed from Daring Tact (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn})’s Fillies’ Triple Crown-sealing score in the G1 Shuka Sho, Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) will on Sunday attempt to provide Japanese racing with a unique double when he goes for the colts’ Triple Crown in the G1 Kikuka Sho. He looks to join a list of just seven other colts, including his sire, and in fact his path this season has been almost identical to Deep Impact’s: Contrail, who is unbeaten in six starts, justified champion 2-year-old honours with a first-up victory in the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) in April before adding the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) six weeks later. After a traditional summer break, Contrail warmed up for this assignment with a seamless victory in the G2 Kobe Shimbun Hai, one of the key prep races for the Kikuka Sho.

Confidence is emanating from Contrail’s stable, with Assistant Trainer Yusaku Oka saying, “It was a good win last time and we were relieved by that. That race was enough to get him switched on and so we don’t need to worry about anything. He’s come out of it well and has been at the stable in the three-week period since.”

On paper it seems that either Contrail will need to regress or any of his 17 rivals will need to take a step forward to dethrone him over this 3000 metre trip. Among those looking to play the spoiler are Weltreisende (Jpn) (Dream Journey), who was eighth behind Contrail in the Satsuki Sho but third and second, respectively, in the Tokyo Yushun and Kobe Shimbun Hai. Weltreisende, however, has not won since taking a listed stake at Kyoto last October.

Another coming into this race off a win streak is Babbitt (Jpn) (Nakayama Festa {Jpn}), who has won all four starts at three. Babbitt didn’t break his maiden until after the Satsuki Sho had been contested, and has since progressed up the ranks, most recently winning the G2 Asahi Hai St. Lite Kinen over 2200 metres on Sept. 21 from Satono Flag (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), a Group 2 winner earlier this year who was putting in an improved effort after faltering in the earlier Classics.

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Fans Welcomed For Daring Tact Bid

Sunday’s G1 Shuka Sho will mark the first time since February that limited fans will be permitted to attend a Group 1 race in Japan, and it is fitting that it coincides with a fillies’ Triple Crown bid by Daring Tact (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}). Daring Tact is unbeaten in four runs including the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) over a mile and the G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) at 2400 metres. There is little that appears to be causing fear for connections-she recorded the fastest-ever final three furlongs in the Oka Sho, indicating that a drop back in trip to 2000 metres here shouldn’t pose a problem. While fillies typically prepare for this race with a sharpener off a summer break, trainer Haruki Sugiyama said it is by design that Daring Tact is going straight to the Shuka Sho from the Yushun Himba.

Among those looking to thwart Daring Tact’s bid for history is Ria Amelia (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Silk Racing’s daughter of the American champion 2-year-old filly Ria Antonia (Rockport Harbor). Ria Amelia was herself a Group 3 winner at two and though she faltered when 10th over the yielding ground in the Oka Sho, she was a good fourth after a slow break in the Yushun Himba and put in a seamless prep when winning the G2 Sho Rose S. over this trip at Chukyo on Sept. 20. This will be her first time running at Kyoto but she broke her maiden at Hanshin, also a right-turning track.

The Yushun Himba second and third Win Marilyn (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}) and Win Mighty (Jpn) (Gold Ship {Jpn}) are back to re-oppose, as is Maltese Diosa (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), who was unplaced in both prior Classics but won a key prep for this, the G3 Shion S., over 2000 metres at Nakayama on Sept. 12.

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