The Crown Fits: Liberty Island Eases Home In the Shuka Sho

Given a Yuga Kawada ride befitting a $1.10 (1-10) mortal, Sunday Racing Co. Ltd.'s Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) became the seventh filly to win the Japanese Triple Tiara with a deceptively easy one-length victory in Sunday's G1 Shuka Sho before a packed grandstand of better than 45,000 onlookers at Kyoto Racecourse. Masked Diva (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}), the 12-1 third favourite, flashed home for second ahead of narrow second pick Harper (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}).

Making her first start since smashing her rivals by six lengths in the 2400-metre G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Oaks) some 147 days ago, Liberty Island bounced away nicely from stall six and took up a position in and amongst rivals as the commonly owned Kona Coast (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) took them along over ground officially rated good, but perhaps riding softer given the clods of turf being kicked up. Leaving little to chance, Kawada had Liberty Island in about seventh position and in the clear four or five off the inside passing halfway and the duo was committed to an overland run around the second bend. Asked to circle her rivals with 600 metres standing between her and history, Liberty Island quickly went to the leaders five or six deep on the swing for home, accelerated sharply to put a gap on them at the entrance to the final furlong and reported home a comfortable winner. Masked Diva closed off her final three furlongs in a race-fastest :33.5–Liberty Island was home in :33.6–while Harper just got the better of a photo with Dura (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) to earn a second Classic placing, having finished the distant runner-up in the Oaks.

“I'm grateful that we were able to achieve the Triple Crown,” said Kawada, riding a 25th Group 1 winner on the JRA. “She is a horse with great ability, so I placed top priority on letting her run comfortably and finding a good path for her. I was confident of her victory when we had an open space at the third corner. She has great potential, and her dreams for the future are wide open, but first of all, I would like to praise her for achieving the Triple Crown.”

Named champion of her generation after winning the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies last December, Liberty Island returned in the Apr. 9 G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) and looked to have it all to do in the straight, but rattled home to score a touch cosily. There were no such worries when last seen in the Oaks, as she was waited with until the final 200 metres before blowing the race apart at Tokyo.

Should she have another run this season, options include the sex-restricted G1 Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup going 11 furlongs at Kyoto Nov. 12 or a potential clash of the titans with Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) in the G1 Japan Cup two weeks late.

Pedigree Notes:

The sadly departed Duramente joins Almond Eye (Jpn)'s sire Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) as sons of the late King Kamehameha (Jpn) to account for a Triple Tiara winner, while King Kamehameha was himself responsible for 2010 Triple Tiara heroine Apapane (Jpn). Duramente's daughter Stars On Earth (Jpn) was on a Triple Tiara bid of her own 12 months ago, but fell just short in third behind Sunday Racing's Stunning Rose (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}).

Yankee Rose, who cost just A$10,000 at the 2015 Inglis Sydney Classic Yearling Sale before going on to become a two-time champion and dual Group 1 winner, was acquired privately by the Yoshida family and her progeny have excelled in the sales ring and at the races. Her first foal, the filly Romneya (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), fetched ¥210 million (US$1.9m) from the latter's owner Makoto Kaneko as a foal at the 2019 JRHA Select Sale and her now 2-year-old colt by Lord Kanaloa was the second-dearest offering at the same event in 2021, selling to Danox Co. Ltd for ¥370 million ($2.6m).

Yankee Rose is also responsible for a yearling Kizuna (Jpn) filly and a weanling filly from the first crop of Triple Crown winner Contrail (Jpn). Each has been retained by their breeder.

 

 

 

Sunday, Kyoto, Japan
SHUKA SHO-G1, ¥215,520,000, Kyoto, 10-15, 3yo, f, 2000mT, 2:01.10, gd.
1–LIBERTY ISLAND (JPN), 121, f, 3, by Duramente (Jpn)
1st Dam: Yankee Rose (Aus) (Ch. 2yo & 3yo Filly & MG1SW-Aus, $1,627,487), by All American (Aus)
2nd Dam: Condesaar (Aus), by Xaar (GB)
3rd Dam: Condescendance, by El Gran Senor
O-Sunday Racing Co Ltd; B-Northern Farm; T-Mitsumasa Nakauchida; J-Yuga Kawada; ¥113,864,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. 2yo Filly-Jpn, 6-5-1-0, ¥543,336,000. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.
2–Masked Diva (Jpn), 121, f, 3, by Rulership (Jpn)
1st Dam: Mask Off (Jpn), by Deep Impact (Jpn)
2nd Dam: Behind The Mask (Jpn), by White Muzzle (GB)
3rd Dam: Vain Gold, by Mr. Prospector
1ST G1 BLACK-TYPE. O-Shadai Race Horse; B- Shadai Farm; T-Ysauyuki Tsujino; J-Mirai Iwata; ¥45,104,000.
3–Harper (Jpn), 121, f, 3, by Heart's Cry (Jpn)
1st Dam: Seresta (Arg), by Jump Start
2nd Dam: Serata, by Carson City
3rd Dam: Maliziosa, by Dynaformer
(¥86,000,000 Wlg '20 JRHAJUL). O-M's Racing; B-Northern Farm; T-Yasuo Tomomichi; J-Christophe Lemaire; ¥28,552,000.
Margins: 1, 2HF, NO. Odds: 0.10, 12.00, 11.90.
Also Ran: Dura (Jpn), Moryana (Jpn), Malaki Naia (Jpn), Emu (Jpn), Kona Coast (Jpn), Hip Hop Soul (Jpn), Doe Eyes (Jpn), Ravel (Jpn), Kita Wing (Jpn), Mississippi Tesoro (Jpn), Pipiola (Jpn), Grand Bernadette (Jpn), Festes Band (Jpn), Soleil Vita (Jpn), Conch Shell (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart.

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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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Could Another Double Triple Crown Be On The Cards in Japan?

We are poised midway between Japan's Oaks (Yushun Himba), which took place last Sunday, and Derby (Tokyo Yushun) this coming Sunday. What is not in doubt in the country that has led the way at so many international meetings in recent years, is that those two races over 2,400m are still very much targeted and revered by owners and breeders. In Japan, there is no shortage of horses bred specifically for that distance, or further. 

In any country, it takes a special horse to win the Triple Crown. For the first time ever in Japan, there was a colts' and a fillies' Triple Crown winner in 2020, courtesy of Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Daring Tact (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}). For the fillies, that special quest does not end in the Japanese St Leger in late October, but a week earlier in the Shuka Sho, in which they return to 2,000m.

This year, the Triple Crown is already on the cards again for one filly, with the vaunted Liberty Island (Jpn) having blasted past her rivals to a six-length victory in Tokyo on Sunday after taking the Oka Sho (1,000 Guineas) at Hanshin in April. 

The unbeaten Sol Oriens (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), winner of the Satsuki Sho (2,000 Guineas), is almost certain to start favourite for the Derby on Sunday for what will be just the fourth run of his life. His name, incidentally, translates from Latin to 'Rising Sun', an apposite moniker for a top-class Japanese galloper if ever there was one.

Both Liberty Island and Sol Oriens exemplify what has become a common theme in Japanese breeding in that they are by domestic stallions who are proven at the top level over a number of seasons, and often with form up to two miles, and out of classy international race mares. It is no accident that Japan has become a dominant force in world racing: they set out to breed horses with that all-important blend of class and stamina, prizing form highly for both stallions and broodmares.

Yankee Rose (Aus), by Red Ransom's son All American (Aus), may have had humble origins, and was famously bought for just  A$10,000 at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, but she earned her way to the top. Following her Group 1 victories at two and three, not to mention her runner-up finish in the prized Golden Slipper, she was duly bought privately by Katsumi Yoshida. Mated initially to two Derby winners in her first two seasons in Deep Impact (Jpn) and Duramente, she has struck gold with her second foal, Liberty Island. 

In the case of Skia (Fr) (Motivator {GB}), the dam of Sol Oriens and his Grade 2-winning half-brother Vin De Garde (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), her final start brought victory in the G3 Prix Fille de l'Air for Leonidas Marinopoulos. She was later bought by French bloodstock agent Patrick Barbe, who has done plenty of business in Japan over the years, for €320,000 at Arqana's December Breeding Stock Sale.

Sol Oriens's sire Kitasan Black, a son of Deep Impact's full-brother Black Tide (Jpn), is also responsible for the exciting Equinox (Jpn) and was himself an accomplished galloper who didn't race until he was three. He made up for that with 20 starts over three seasons, his final appearance coming when he won the G1 Arima Kinen as a five-year-old, to seal a quintet of Grade 1 victories which included the Japan Cup and the Tenno Sho (Spring) over two miles. Kitasan Black was also third in the Satsuki Sho behind the Liberty Island's sire Duramente, with the latter, by King Kamehameha (Jpn), then going on to win the Derby. He had sired just five crops of foals when he died in 2021 at the age of nine. With five Grade 1 winners to his name already, Duramente looks a considerable loss.

Deep Impact, the most celebrated Japanese horse in recent history, and a Triple Crown winner himself who also landed the two-mile Tenno Sho, was another to have been the offspring of an imported mare, and of course he was by Japan's most famous equine import, Sunday Silence. Deep Impact's dam Wind In Her Hair (Ire) (Alzao), who, remarkably, is still alive at the age of 32 in retirement at Northern Horse Park, is a grand-daughter of the late Queen's dual Classic winner Highclere (GB) (Queen's Hussar {GB}). Second to Balanchine in the Oaks and a Group 1 winner in Germany the following year, Wind In Her Hair was another private purchase by Katsumi Yoshida. Her legacy in his country is now immense.  

Deep Impact's Triple Crown-winning daughter Gentildonna (Jpn), who was twice voted Horse of the Year in Japan, follows a similar pattern, being out of the G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Donna Blini (GB) (Bertolini), who was bought by Northern Farm for 500,000gns at the Tattersalls December Sale of 2006.

Little wonder, then, that such time and money is spent by Japanese breeders and their operatives in plucking some of the best race mares in Europe, America, Australia and beyond to bolster the home broodmare bands, whether through private purchases or at auction.

The extent of the former we can only guess at, but in the last four years at Keeneland's November Sale, for example, Japanese buyers have spent $59.3 million on 152 horses, and that was through a pandemic, don't forget. During that timeframe, €8.5 million has been spent at Arqana on 19 broodmare prospects, while at Goffs there's been an outlay of €2.1 million, and at Tattersalls another £14.2 million on 53 fillies and mares during the last four December Sales. And those figures are just from the breeding stock sales. Many millions more have been spent on foals and yearlings. 

In the last four years at Keeneland's November Sale, for example, Japanese buyers have spent $59.3 million on 152 horses

It is an eye-watering level of investment, primarily but not solely from the brothers Teruya, Katsumi and Haruya Yoshida. They respectively own Shadai, Northern and Oiwake Farms, and are collectively responsible for a power-packed roster at Shadai Stallion Station, which is currently home to 32 stallions. Of these, seven were bred in the USA, including last year's leading freshman, Mind Your Biscuits (Posse), and the Arkansas Derby winner Nadal (Blame).

The latter brings yet another branch of the Hail To Reason sireline into the country, which was enjoying great success there even before the Halo stallion Sunday Silence arrived. Nadal descends via Hail To Reason's Derby-winning son Roberto, whose son Real Shadai was champion sire in Japan in 1993, two years before Sunday Silence won the first of his 13 championships. More recently, Roberto's line has been well represented by Symboli Kris S and his son Epiphaneia. Jim Bolger's brilliant Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) was another recent overseas recruit to a line-up which boasts 26 homegrown sires. 

On Monday, the Japan Racing Horse Association (JRHA) released the catalogue for its Select Sale in July, which sells yearlings on one day followed by the rather charming session of foals offered alongside their dams. Once sold, the foals return to farms where they were born to be weaned, and only later join their new owners. 

It offers an extraordinary opportunity for sale attendees to see some of these grand old girls in the flesh, and what a line-up it will be again this year, in the shade of the trees of the Northern Horse Park, as the morning inspection session takes place prior to the start of the sale. 

In a veritable international who's who of broodmares, those present alongside their foals will include former champion race fillies from America, Australia, Argentina, and Canada, including She Will Reign (Aus) and Caledonia Road, along with Classic winners from France, Germany and Italy in Dream And Do (Fr), Feodora (Ger) and Dionisia. Then there's dear old Donna Blini, who is represented by both yearling and foal half-sisters to her greatest creation, Gentildonna. 

It is a catalogue that is almost impossible to preview in short form, containing as it does a deep, global representation of top-class form on both sides of each youngster's pedigree. But in short, it can be viewed as a set text for a lesson from a country which continues to prioritise form and longevity, with a long-term eye on the middle-distance horse. A land where, whatever the outcome for Sol Oriens, the sun continues to shine brightly on the breeding industry. 

 

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Liberty Island From The Clouds In Oka Sho

Ridden with supreme confidence by Yuga Kawada, reigning champion Japanese 2-year-old filly Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) was given her cue with 400 metres to race and stormed home down the centre of the course to post a breathtaking victory in Sunday's G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) at Hanshin Racecourse. Kona Coast (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) was swamped late and completed a Sunday Racing 1-2, while Carrot Farm colourbearer Perifania (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) checked in a sound third.

Void of early speed, the odds-on favourite was content to drop out to race with just two rivals behind her as G2 Tulip Sho winner Mozu Meimei (Jpn) (Real Impact {Jpn}) showed the way at a good clip in advance of Kona Coast, who just failed to reel in Mozu Meimei in the Tulip Sho. Still third last, but quietly ridden by Kawada as the Oka Sho field raced midway on the turn, Liberty Island peeled off heels once heads were turned for home, with the better part of 10 lengths to find. Kona Coast took over from the weakening front-runner at the 200-metre mark and Perifania also laid down a challenge, but by this time, Liberty Island was in high gear and she whistled home to score a shade cosily in the finish. She covered her final three furlongs in a wicked :32.9.

“I feel relieved to have done my job of guiding her to the wire in time,” said Kawada. “We [landed] an inside draw and she wasn't keen to hurry out of the gate so the position was where it was going to be. But she was relaxed today, was in good rhythm in the race and clicked into gear nicely so this is where she ended up [winning], so I am glad. Now that we have accomplished our aim in the first of the Triple Crown, I hope that we can meet expectations in the following title.”

The late Duramente also accounted for last year's Oka Sho heroine Stars on Earth (Jpn), who doubled up in the G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) (2400m) before falling just short in the G1 Shuka Sho (2000m) when attempting to sweep the Classic series. This year's Oaks takes place at Tokyo Racecourse May 21.

A debut winner over a mile last July–in which she finished off in an other-worldly :31.4–Liberty Island struck trouble and was second to Ravel (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) in the G2 Artemis S. in October before stamping her authority on the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies over this course and distance Dec. 11.

Pedigree Notes:

A son of the late King Kamehameha (Jpn), Duramente was sadly lost to a bout of acute colitis in September 2021, but had already left his mark as the leading first-crop sire in Japan the previous season. From just three crops of racing age, Duramente is already responsible for Classic and three-time Group 1 winner Titleholder (Jpn) and last year's G1 Hopeful S. hero Dura Erede (Jpn), recent runner-up in the G2 UAE Derby and pointing towards the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby). Duramente has now accounted for the winner of four Classic races.

Liberty Island's dam was purchased for just A$10,000 at the 2015 Inglis Sydney Classic Yearling Sale and went on to take three of her first four career starts, inclduding the G1 Inglis Sires' S. two weeks after finishing a half-length second to Capitalist (Aus) (Written Tycoon {Aus}) in the G1 Longines Golden Slipper S. She would add the G1 Spring Champion S. in October 2016 and retired with four wins from 10 runs and earnings in excess of US$1.6 million before being acquired privately and exported to Japan.

Yankee Rose's first foal, the current 4-year-old filly Romneya (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), was purchased by that sire's owner Kaneko Makoto for $1.9 million as a foal at the 2019 JRHA Select Sale and won her most recent start at Kokura back in February. The current 2-year-old out of the mare, a colt by Lord Kanaloa (Jpn), fetched $3.35 million at the same event in 2021. Yankee Rose produced a filly by Kizuna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in 2022 and was among the first book of mares served by Triple Crown winner Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

 

 

Sunday, Hanshin, Japan
OKA SHO (JAPANESE 1000 GUINEAS)-G1, ¥304,020,000, Hanshin, 4-9, 3yo, f, 1600mT, 1:32.10, fm.
1–LIBERTY ISLAND (JPN), 121, f, 3, by Duramente (Jpn)
1st Dam: Yankee Rose (Aus) (Ch. 2yo & 3yo Filly & MG1SW-Aus, $1,627,487), by All American (Aus)
2nd Dam: Condesaar (Aus), by Xaar (GB)
3rd Dam: Condescendance, by El Gran Senor
O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm; T-Mitsumasa Nakauchida; J-Yuga Kawada; ¥166,614,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. 2yo Filly-Jpn, 4-3-1-0, ¥252,046,000. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com pedigree.
2–Kona Coast (Jpn), 121, f, 3, Kitasan Black (Jpn)–Kona Brewers (Jpn), by King Kamehameha (Jpn). O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm; ¥63,604,000.
3–Perifania (Jpn), 121, f, 3, Maurice (Jpn)–Katies Heart (Jpn), by Heart's Cry (Jpn). O-Carrot Farm; B-Northern Farm; ¥38,802,000.
Margins: 3/4, NK, 1 3/4. Odds: 0.60, 17.40, 16.60.
Also Ran : Harper (Jpn), Doe Eyes (Jpn), Shinryokuka (Jpn), Sing That Song (Jpn), Light Quantum (Jpn), Bouton d'Or (Jpn), Emu (Jpn), Ravel (Jpn), Kita Wing (Jpn), Mozu Meimei (Jpn), Dura (Jpn), Conch Shell (Jpn), June Orange (Jpn), Moon Probe (Jpn), Tosen Laurier (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart.

 

 

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