Tag: Shuka Sho

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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Stars on Earth Goes For Triple Crown in Shuka Sho

Already the winner of the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) going the metric mile and the G1 Yushun Himba over 2400 metres, Shadai Race Horse Co.'s Stars on Earth (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) faces a date with destiny over the Hanshin turf course Sunday as she looks to become the seventh horse to complete the Filly Triple Crown in the G1 Shuka Sho (2000m) at Hanshin Racecourse.

Produced by a daughter of the very classy American champion and six-times Group 1/Grade I winner Stacelita (Fr) (Monsun {Ger})–the dam of 2017 Japanese Oaks heroine Soul Stirring (Jpn) (Frankel {GB})–Stars on Earth was runner-up to Lilac (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) in the G3 Fairy S. in January and filled the same spot behind Presage Lift (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) in the G3 Queen Cup at Tokyo before just getting the better of Water Navillera (Jpn) (Silver State {Jpn}) in the Oka Sho. She makes her first start since besting Stunning Rose (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) at a juicy 11-2 in the Yushun Himba May 22. The latter has since flattered the Oaks form with a defeat of Sound Vivace (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) in the G3 Shion S. Sept. 10.

“She has filled out a bit and is maturing nicely,” said trainer Mizuki Takayanagi. “Hanshin is a tighter track compared to Tokyo, so I'm hoping she'll get a smooth trip. I will leave that up to the jockey [Christophe Lemaire]. All eyes are on her and I'm feeling the pressure. She is extremely talented and has claimed two Grade 1s. I'm hoping she can land another.”

Namur (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) had Stars on Earth behind in a 1-win class conditions test back in November and won the G2 Tulip Sho Mar. 5 before finishing a disappointing 10th at skinny odds in the Oka Sho. She was an improved third in the Oaks and might find Sunday's trip to her liking.

Sheikh Fahad's Art House (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}) looks the up-and-comer in the field. A listed winner over course and distance in April, she was allowed to take her chance in the Oaks at just career start number four and was beaten 6 1/4 lengths into seventh. Given a freshen-up thereafter, the homebred validated 17-10 favoritism in the G2 Rose S. Sept. 18, covering the mile and a quarter in a slick 1:58.50.

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Japan: Sophomore Akaitorino Musume Headlines Sunday’s QEII Cup

After a great weekend at the Breeders' Cup for Japan, this coming Sunday (Nov. 14) sees the domestic Grade 1 action return to the Hanshin Racecourse, where the Queen Elizabeth II Cup will be run over 2,200 meters (about 1 3/8 miles) on the track's inner turf course. Established in 1976, it was originally run over 2,400 meters (1 1/2 miles), but when the race's format changed in 1996 to allow fillies and mares over 3 years old to enter, the distance was shortened to its current 2,200 meters. It became an international Grade 1 in 1999. It is also the first leg of four races of what is now known as the Japan Autumn International series of races, and one that includes the prestigious Grade 1 Japan Cup.

There are eighteen nominations for this year's Queen Elizabeth II Cup, including recent Grade 1 Shuka Sho winner Akaitorino Musume. As a 3-year-old filly, she'll be able to claim a 2kg allowance, whereas 4-year-olds and up are allotted 56kg. There were originally three runners nominated from overseas, but none of them will take a place in the final line-up. The race hasn't been kind to first favorites in the last ten years, with just two heading the market and going on to win. Third favorites have fared better, taking out four of the last ten races. 4-year-olds have been dominant over the same time period, winning on six occasions. Record time for the race was set just last year, when Lucky Lilac (now retired) won the race for the second year in a row, setting a time of 2 minutes 10.3 seconds, although it must be remembered that last year the race was also run at Hanshin, not its regular venue Kyoto. The winner's check this time around is JPY105 million (approximately USD 1 million).

The Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup will be Race 11 on the Sunday card at Hanshin, with a post time locally of 15:40. The final field and the barrier draw will be available later in the week.

Here's a look at some of the fillies and mares expected to take on the race:

Akaitorino Musume: The 3-year-old filly by Deep Impact managed to go one better last time than she did in the Grade 1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) back in May, when winning the Grade 1 Shuka Sho over 2,000 meters at Hanshin in October. It's a fairly tight rotation, but trainer Sakae Kunieda feels the horse is coping with everything just fine. “She ran a good race in the Shuka Sho, which was her first race in a while, and ran smoothly despite drawing an outside gate, so I was very pleased. She quickly recovered from the race, and getting her back in work has been an easy task,” said the trainer recently. The filly is now four wins from her seven career starts, and jockey Keita Tosaki is expected to ride her again here.

Lei Papale: Another filly by Deep Impact, her stunning six-win streak finally came to an end in the Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen back in June, when she finished third, and most recently she had to settle for fourth in the Grade 2 Sankei Sho All Comers over 2,200 meters at Nakayama in September. It would seem she just has to find a bit more over the extended distance. Trainer Tomokazu Takano commented: “In the All Comers last time, I don't think she found her best rhythm throughout the race, but she did find the front briefly in the homestraight, and showed what ability she has. The extra furlong just found her out, so the key will be getting her to stay that little bit more.” Connections have been quick to secure the services of Christophe Lemaire this time, so a big run can be expected from Lei Papale.

Win Marilyn: Winner of the Grade 2 Sankei Sho All Comers at Nakayama on her last start, the 4-year-old filly by Screen Hero looks set for a run here, and before her last victory she finished a creditable fifth in this year's Grade 1 Tenno Sho (Spring) back in May. Trainer Takahisa Tezuka said, “She ran very well last time when taking on the male horses, especially when you consider she hadn't run in a while. She had an operation on a leg swelling a while ago, and after this last race it flared up a bit and she had a fever, but we've kept her at the stable since and she's been back in work recently. She's running slightly awkwardly, but I expect that to improve.”

Win Kiitos: As with Win Marilyn, Win Kiitos was also bred at Cosmo View Farm, but is a daughter of Gold Ship, who claimed his first Grade 1 as a sire earlier this year. Win Kiitos won the Grade 2 Meguro Kinen over 2,500 meters back in May at Tokyo, and is coming off a second place finish in the Grade 2 Sankei Sho All Comers. “In recent training, I intended her to do a five-furlong piece of work solo in about 70 seconds, but in front of the stand she ended up running with a horse from another stable and got quite switched on. Consequently, her time was faster than expected. She's in good shape though, and things are pretty much going according to plan,” said trainer Yoshitada Munakata. The trainer is looking for his first ever JRA Grade 1 victory.

Terzetto: Looking like jockey Mirco Demuro's big race ride, the improving filly by Deep Impact is now six wins from eight career starts. Trainer Shoichiro Wada was pleased with her latest win in the Grade 3 Hokkaido Shimbun Hai Queen Stakes over 1,800 meters at Hakodate in August. “The jockey managed to get the best out of the horse last time, especially with a great turn of foot at the end of the race. She was relaxed, and it was just a short distance from the paddock to the track, so this helped her stay calm,” stated the trainer. Terzetto has run beyond 1,800 meters just once, when finishing third over 2,000 meters at Nakayama as a 3-year-old.

Des Ailes: Another filly by Deep Impact, the 4-year-old still boasts an almost 50% win strike rate, despite finishing outside the first three in her last two starts, an 8th in the Grade 1 Victoria Mile in May, and a disappointing 16th of 18 last time in the Grade 2 Ireland Trophy Fuchu Himba Stakes at Tokyo in October. Trainer Yasuo Tomomichi is not too worried about her latest run. ”It was unlike her to drop out of the race like she did last time, and since being back at the stable she seems her usual self. I think in the summer when she was at the farm, she obviously wasn't being prepared for a race, and it showed in that last run. I think we're in a much better place now that she's got a race under her,” commented the trainer.

Rambling Alley: As with Des Ailes, Rambling Alley carries the colors of the Shadai Race Horse Co. Ltd. and is a stablemate of the former. Every race she's taken on this year has been a graded one, so her experience in those races points to a likely good run in this one too. She finished second in the Grade 1 Victoria Mile in May, and last time out she was seventh in the Grade 2 Sankei Sho All Comers over 2,200 meters at Nakayama in September. Of the 5-year-old mare, trainer Yasuo Tomomichi said: “She got a bit too far back last time and wasn't suited by the pace, but it wasn't a bad result. She's been working well in training and there's no change with her.” The trainer has thirteen JRA Grade 1 wins, but they don't include a win in this race, although it looks as if he'll be well represented here this time if both his runners get a start.

Clavel: The 4-year-old filly by Epiphaneia has been in the first three eight times from her twelve-race career, and her graded race experience, while limited, has been quite impressive. Most recently she produced a great late run in what was a tough race, the Grade 3 Niigata Kinen over 2,000 meters in September. Trainer Shogo Yasuda said, “She has done well before, saving ground in races and showing a good late turn of foot, but in her last race, she really flew home in a good final three-furlong time. It took a bit out of her, so she's had a rest at the farm, but on returning to the stable, she's currently running with a good rhythm.” The trainer is seeking his first JRA Grade 1 success.

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