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Shuka Sho Offers Level Playing Field

Sunday's final leg of the Japanese Filly Triple Crown, the G1 Shuka Sho, looms a championship event and serves as a rubber match between the winners of the first two races in the series–Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune), the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) victress and Uberleben (Jpn) (Gold Ship {Jpn}), who took out the G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks)–over a 2000-metre distance that is a quarter-mile longer than the Guineas and two furlongs shorter than the Oaks.

Sodashi, a white filly just like her extremely popular dam Buchiko (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}), ran the table in four starts at two, locking up a championship in the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (1600mT) before resuming with a gut-busting success in course-record time in Apr. 11 Oka Sho. With questions to answer in the Oaks, Sodashi didn't quite see out the trip, weakening to eighth behind the fast-finishing Uberleben, but she bounced back to defeat 2019 Oaks winner and GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf-bound Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G2 Sapporo Kinen going the 2000 metres Aug. 22.

“She was very strong in Sapporo,” said jockey Hayato Yoshida. “The course suited her and we had only 52 kg. From two weeks ago, however, compared to Hokkaido, her mood starting returning more to what it was in the spring when she'd been tense and nervous. But she also showed strength I hadn't seen in the spring Group 1s and the way she took the bit. Everything about her felt more powerful.”

Uberleben, third in the Juvenile Fillies last December, filled the same position in a pair of lead-up events in early spring but came good in the Oaks, sitting a bit of a wide trip beneath Mirco Demuro before weaving through late to account for Akaitorino Musume (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) by a tight length (see below). Uberleben has overcome an interrupted preparation to make the Shuka Sho, but she has the full confidence of her trainer.

“After the Japanese Oaks, she had inflammation in the tendon of her left foreleg,” Takahisa Tezuka explained. “The swelling itself soon subsided and, in short, she was able to start training at the farm sooner than I'd thought she would. When her hard training started, her lungs were still weak and I did question whether she'd be ready in time. But, with each bit of work, she improved and faster than I thought. This week's fast week saw her the most on her game.”

Third and beaten under a length in the Guineas, Fine Rouge (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) was only 11th in the Oaks, but bounced back to win the Sept. 11 G3 Shion S. with some authority, besting Through Seven Seas (Jpn) (Dream Journey {Jpn}) by 1 3/4 lengths, with Miss Figaro (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) another nose back in third. It will be up to Christophe Lemaire to work out a trip from an awkward gate.

Andvaranaut (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) has worked her way through the grades, with three wins from four starts this term, including a cosy defeat of A Shin Hiten (Jpn) (A Shin Hikari {Jpn}) and Art de Vivre (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) in the 2000-metre G2 Rose S. at Chukyo Sept. 19.

WATCH: Uberleben outlasts her rivals in the Yushun Himba

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White Filly Sodashi Back To The Winner’s Circle In Japan

The all-white Sodashi defeated elders for the first time in her career on Sunday, capturing Japan's Grade 2 Sapporo Kinen by three-quarters of a length over the favorite, Arc hopeful Loves Only You, reports racingpost.com.

The 3-year-old daughter Kurofune made headlines as the first white Thoroughbred to succeed at racing's top level when she won the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in December, but disappointed with her first loss earlier this year when eighth in the Japanese Oaks in May. Sunday's Sapporo Kinen was her first start since, and the Naosuke Sugai-trained filly responded well off the three-month layoff.

It was the 100th graded stakes win for owner Makoto Kaneko, also the owner of the late legendary sire Deep Impact.

Winning jockey Hayato Yoshida told racingpost.com: “I am relieved. She had the outside stall so I thought the start was important. She maintained her rhythm in the race and her response was very fine, it was like she was saying, 'I can move any time on your command.'

“The ground was right for her, and I had confidence we could quicken and get the front-runners from the home turn.”

Uberleben Delivers In Yushun Himba

While all eyes were on 2-year-old champion and G1 Oka Sho victress Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune) heading into Sunday's G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks), it was the punters' third choice Uberleben (Jpn) (Gold Ship {Jpn}) who handed the white Sodashi her first defeat, while in the process earning her first stakes win and providing her sire, the six-time Group 1 winner Gold Ship, with his first Group 1 winner.

Uberleben was out early for a Japanese 2-year-old, breaking her maiden at first asking last June before finishing a neck second to Sodashi in the G3 Sapporo Nisai S. after a three-month rest. After dropping to ninth behind that rival in the G3 Artemis S., Uberleben was third behind Sodashi in the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies S.

Jockey Mirco Demuro noted in the aftermath of Sunday's race that Uberleben had suffered a bout of colic in February, and she returned with a pair of third-place finishes in the lead-up to the Yushun Himba: in the G3 Flower Cup and the G3 Sankei Sports Sho Flora S. over 2000 metres. Upped to 2400 meters for the first time on Sunday, Uberleben broke on terms from gate nine and settled midpack while Sodashi stalked the pace racing keenly. Moving wide rounding the turn while looking for running room, Uberleben saw daylight down the middle of the course upon straightening and put in a sustained rally down the lane, getting to the lead inside the final furlong and holding on to win by a comfortable length despite switching leads late on. Sodashi faded late on to be eighth.

Pedigree Notes

The fifth foal out of the winning Meine Theresia (Jpn) (Roses In May), Uberleben is a half-sister to the dual group-placed Meiner Fanrong (Jpn), who is by Gold Ship's sire Stay Gold (Jpn). Their second dam, Meine Nouvelle (Jpn) (Brian's Time), won the Flower Cup when it was a listed race and is a full-sister to stakes winners Meiner Hourglass (Jpn) and Meiner Charles (Jpn).

Sunday, Tokyo, Japan
YUSHUN HIMBA (JAPANESE OAKS)-G1, ¥251,400,000, Tokyo, 5-23, 3yo, f, 2400mT, 2:24.50, fm.
1–UBERLEBEN (JPN), 121, f, 3, by Gold Ship (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Meine Theresia (Jpn), by Roses in May
                2nd Dam: Meine Nouvelle (Jpn), by Brian's Time
                3rd Dam: Meine Pretender (NZ), by Zabeel (NZ)
1ST STAKES WIN. O-Thoroughbred Club Ruffian; B-Big Red
Farm; T-Takahisa Tezuka; J-Mirco Demuro; ¥138,980,000.
Lifetime Record: 7-2-1-3. *1/2 to Meiner Fanrong (Jpn) (Stay
Gold {Jpn}), MGSP-Jpn, $956,608. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click
   for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Akaitorino Musume (Jpn), 121, f, 3, Deep Impact (Jpn)
Apapane (Jpn), by King Kamehameha (Jpn). O-Makoto Kaneko
Holdings; B-Northern Farm; ¥52,280,000.
3–Hagino Pilina (Jpn), 121, f, 3, Kizuna (Jpn)–Hagino Arc (Jpn),
by Admire Moon. O-Mitsuko Yasuoka; B-Akihiro Murashita;
¥32,140,000.
Margins: 1, NO, 1 1/4. Odds: 7.90, 3.50, 214.40.
Also Ran: Tagano Passion (Jpn), Art de Vivre (Jpn), Miyabi Heidi (Jpn), Kukuna (Jpn), Sodashi (Jpn), Through Seven Seas (Jpn), Purple Lady (Jpn), Fine Rouge (Jpn), Slyly (Jpn), Stellaria (Jpn), Cool Cat (Jpn), Win Aglaia (Jpn), Nina Dress (Jpn), Stripe (Jpn), Enthusiasm (Jpn).
Click for the JRA chart and video or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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Uberleben Ends White Filly Sodashi’s Unbeaten Streak With Japanese Oaks Triumph

Winning her first graded stakes in her seventh career start, K. Thoroughbred Club Ruffian's Uberleben handed the white filly Sodashi her initial defeat in Sunday's 82nd running of the Grade 1, $2.3 million Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) at Tokyo Race Course.

Ridden by Mirco Demuro for trainer Takahisa Tezuka, the 3-year-oid filly by Gold Ship (a grandson of Sunday SIlence) scored by one length over Akaitorino Musume as the 8-1 third betting choice in the field of 18 runners. Hagino Pilina finished third, a nose behind the runner-up and 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Tagano Passion in fourth. Sodashi, the eye-catching white daughter of Kurofune who came into the race unbeaten in five starts, finished eighth after being forwardly placed until deep stretch. Coming off a victory in the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas), Sodashi was the 9-10 favorite.

Time for the 2,400 meters (about 1 1/2 miles) on good to firm turf was 2:24.50, compared to the race record of 2:22.80 set by Loves Only You in 2019.

The victory was the eighth in a G1 race for trainer Tezuka and the 33rd G1 in Japan for Demuro, who rode Loves Only You to her record-setting win.

“She suffered from colic in February and has shown a slow but steady recovery,” Demuro said after the Oaks. “She broke smoothly today and it did worry me a bit that we were dead last in the backstretch but she responded well when the pace accelerated from the third corner and showed her tenacity in steadily advancing in the straight. She was strong pulling away and holding off the others. The added distance wasn't a problem for her at all. I'm thrilled—it's always wonderful to win a G1 race.”

The win was the second in seven starts for Uberleben. She was bred by Shigeyuki Okada's Big Red Farm. The victory was the first in a G1 race for the offspring of Gold Ship, a six-time G1 winner whose victories included the first and third legs of the Japanese Triple Crown in 2012. He stands at Big Red Farm. Uberleben was produced from Meine Theresia, a daughter of G1 Whitney Handicap and G1 Dubai World Cup winner Roses in May (by Devil His Due) for trainer Dale Romans and owners Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey. Roses In May also stands at Big Red Farm.

With attendance at Japanese race courses still limited because of COVID-19, an on-track crowd of 4,791 was reported. Wagering on the race was US$161 million with US$248.5 million bet on the day's 12-race program.

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