Ascoli Piceno Eyes Classic Ring In Oka Sho

Three starts, three wins, and now, Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Ascoli Piceno (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) will attempt to add a Classic to her haul when she breaks from gate nine in the 18-horse G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) at Hanshin on Sunday.

Reuniting with Hiroshi Kitamura who she carried to G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies glory over this trip back in December, the near-black filly makes her 2024 bow in the first Classic of the Japanese season. Striking on a newcomers' affair in June and the G3 Niigata Nisai S. in August, the likely favourite and Sunday Racing colourbearer had Katsumi Yoshida's Stellenbosch (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) and Corazon Beat (Jpn) (Suave Richard {Jpn}) back in second and third in the Juvenile Fillies.

“Everything is on track,” trainer Yoichi Kuroiwa told NetKeiba.com after the filly's Friday gallop. “She went faster than I as expecting and it seemed so easy to do. Today was perfect. The weather is a bit worrying, but I've trained her in a way where she can adapt to heavy ground.”

Yuga Kawada will be aboard February's G3 Daily Hai Queen Cup victress Queen's Walk (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) from stall two, who also represents Sunday Racing. Lightly raced, the half-sister to G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. hero Grenadier Guards (Jpn) (Frankel {GB}) and daughter of GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint victress Wavell Avenue (Harlington) has won her past two starts since running second at Kyoto when unveiled. She, too, turned in a strong gallop on Friday.

Said trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida to NetKeiba.com, “She was happy to run and is moving smoothly. She ran over 1600 metres at Tokyo Racecourse without a problem so 1600 meters at Hanshin should not be a problem for her either. This will be a great race to prepare for the G1 Japanese Oaks.”

A winner of the G2 Keio Hai Nisai S. in November, Corazon Beat recovered from her third to Ascoli Piceno with a second in the G2 Hochi Hai Fillies' Revue over this strip going 1400 metres on Mar. 10, one better than Cecilie Plage (Jpn) (Bricks And Mortar). In front of her that day was Too Darn Hot (GB)'s Etes Vous Prets (Ire), one of two in the race for Godolphin besides Listed Anemone S. heroine Catfight (Jpn) (Discreet Cat).

Second to Light Back (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) in the Listed Elfin S. in February, Sweep Feet (Jpn) (Suave Richard {Jpn}) rebounded to add the G2 Tulip Sho locally going 1600 metres on Mar. 2 with Sekitoba East (Jpn) (Declaration Of War) and Hawaiian Tiare (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) filling the next two placings.

Sporting a similar two-for-three record as Queen's Walk, Ipheion (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) was last seen in action in January, when taking the G3 Fairy S. by a neck over Mask All Win (Jpn) (Drefong), while G3 Artemis S. heroine Cervinia (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) leaves from stall 18.

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Kizuna’s Queen’s Walk Rallies To Victory At Tokyo

Sunday Racing's Queen's Walk (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) rallied to victory in the 1600-metre G3 Daily Hai Queen Cup in Tokyo on Saturday. She was just a neck to the good of Epiphaneia (Jpn)'s Arsenaal (Jpn).

Stranded widest of all when breaking from gate 13, the filly soon perched well off the inside third from the rear as Morino Red Star (Jpn) (Declaration Of War) set a solid pace on the front end through an opening quarter in :23.80 and a half-mile in :47.10. Sweeping out into the centre of the course for the stretch drive, Queen's Walk unleashed a sustained closing move to reel in Morino Red Star. Rouge Suerte (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), located dead last for the majority of the contest, also produced a strong closing kick even wider on the course, and, at one point, appeared to be the eventual winner's main danger. Arsenaal, much nearer the front end with a stalking trip, also had plenty left in the lane and her finishing burst carried her just a neck short of Queen's Walk at the line. Rouge Suerte's bid flattened out in the final 50 metres and she made do with third, another 1 1/4 lengths behind the top pair.

Second on debut versus Kyoto newcombers over 1800 metres in November, the dark bay won going that trip at Hanshin on Dec. 23. Saturday was her 3-year-old bow.

Pedigree Notes

The Japanese Champion 3-Year-Old Colt when he won the G1 Japanese Derby in 2013, Kizuna has now sired 26 stakes winners. His best runners to date have been the dual champion Songline (Jpn) and G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner Akai Ito (Jpn). His total group winners have increased to 14 with Queen's Walk's victory.

Queen's Walk is a half-sister to G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. hero Grenadier Guards (Jpn) (Frankel {GB}) (click here for Emma Berry's piece on Frankel's growing influence in Japan), who won the G2 Hanshin Cup and was also third in the G1 NHK Mile Cup. Their dam, the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint heroine Wavell Avenue (Harlington), is also the dam of the winning Astrophyllite (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), 3-year-old filly Sopers Lane (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), and a juvenile filly by the late Duramente (Jpn). She was bred to Lord Kanaloa's champion 3-year-old colt and G1 Japanese 2000 Guineas winner Saturnalia (Jpn) last spring.

 

Saturday, Tokyo, Japan
DAILY HAI QUEEN CUP-G3, ¥72,660,000, Tokyo, 2-10, 3yo, f, 1600mT, 1:33.10, fm.
1–QUEEN'S WALK (JPN), 121, f, 3, by Kizuna (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Wavell Avenue (GISW-US, $1,190,008),
                                by Harlington
                2nd Dam: Lucas Street, by Silver Deputy
                3rd Dam: Ruby Park, by Bold Ruckus
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. 1ST GROUP WIN. O-Sunday Racing;
B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Mitsumasa Nakauchida; J-Yuga
Kawada; ¥38,462,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, ¥46,862,000.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Arsenaal (Jpn), 121, f, 3, Epiphaneia (Jpn)–Sambre et Meuse
(Jpn), by Daiwa Major (Jpn). 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP
   BLACK TYPE. O-Carrot Farm; B-Northern Farm (Jpn);
¥15,132,000.
3–Rouge Suerte (Jpn), 121, f, 3, Heart's Cry (Jpn)–Ryzhkina (Ire),
by Storm Cat. 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE.
O-Tokyo Horse Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥9,566,000.
Margins: NK, 1 1/4, 1. Odds: 2.10, 3.30, 4.20.
Also Ran: Success Calla (Jpn), Morino Red Star (Jpn), Sunset View (Jpn), Teleos Sarah (Jpn), Cosmo Dinner (Jpn), Safira (Jpn), Karenna Otome (Jpn), Rouge Salinas (Jpn), Bright Again, Gabby's Sister (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video.

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