The 79Th Kikuka Sho (Japanese St
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FROM: Masahiro Usuda General Manager, Media & Publicity Department, THE JAPAN RACING ASSOCIATION (JRA) DATE: October 21, 2018 SUBJECT: RESULT OF THE 79TH KIKUKA SHO (JAPANESE ST. LEGER, G1) The history of Kikuka Sho, the Japanese St. Leger and the last leg of the Triple Crown race for three-year-old colts and fillies, dates back to 1938—a year after Japan’s 11 racing clubs integrated into one organization named Nihon Keiba Kai (forerunner of the JRA). Initially called “Kyoto Norin-sho Shoten Yonsai Yobiuma Kyoso”, the race was renamed to Kikuka Sho in 1948. The race distance, however, has not changed since the first running, except in 1979 when the race was held at Hanshin Racecourse during Kyoto’s stand renovation. The Kikuka Sho features three-year-olds, most of who have grown dramatically since the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m) held five months before, prior to their summer break. The Kikuka Sho winners have both the speed and the stamina to prove their caliber as the potential breeding stock. The last of the seven Triple Crown winners in JRA history was Orfevre (JPN, by Stay Gold) in 2011 who proceeded to prove his power against older G1 caliber in the Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500m), which led to his Horse of the Year that year. 2015 Kikuka Sho winner Kitasan Black (JPN, by Black Tide) and 2016 champion Satono Diamond (JPN, by Deep Impact) were chosen as the Horse of the Year and Best Three-Year-Old Colt, respectively, in 2016. This year’s line-up included runners coming off trial races, St. Lite Kinen (G2, 2,200m; Sep.17)—Generale Uno who claimed his second grade-race victory in the race, 2017 Kyoto Nisai Stakes (G3, 2,000m) winner Grail (3rd) and third-place Derby finisher Cosmic Force (7th)—and Kobe Shimbun Hai (G2, 2,400m; Sep.23)—runner-up Etario who was fourth in the Derby, Radio Nikkei Sho (G3, 1,800m; Jul.1) winner Meisho Tekkon (3rd), the Satsuki Sho victor Epoca d’Oro (4th), the 2018 Kyoto Shimbun Hai (G2, 2,200m) winner Stay Foolish (5th) and 2017 Hopeful Stakes (G1, 2,000m) champion Time Flyer (6th). The field also included the Radio Nikkei Sho runner-up Fierement, Shinanogawa Tokubetsu (Allowance, 2,000m; Aug.4) winner Grandiose and Blast Onepiece who won the Niigata Daishoten (G3, 2,000m; Sep.2) against senior rivals. Toho Jackal (JPN, by Special Week) renewed the race record and course record by 1.7 seconds to 3:01.0 seconds in 2014. THE 79TH KIKUKA SHO (JAPANESE ST. LEGER, G1) 3-year-old Colts and Fillies, 3,000 meters (about 15 furlongs), turf, right-handed Sunday, October 21, 2018 Kyoto Racecourse 11th Race Post time: 15:40 Total prize money: ¥ 259,200,000 (about US$ 2,357,000 <US$1=¥110>) 3-y-o: 57 kg (about 126 lbs), 2 kg allowance for Fillies, 2 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2015 Safety factor: 18 runners Sex Wgt Sire Jockey Owner Margin Odds FP BK PP Horse Age (kg) Dam Trainer Breeder (L3F) (Fav) Fierement Deep Impact C. Lemaire Sunday Racing Co., Ltd. 3:06.1 14.5 1 6 12 C3 57.0 (JPN) Lune d’Or T. Tezuka Northern Racing (33.9) (7) 9 Etario Stay Gold M. Demuro G RiviereꞏRacing Co., Ltd. Nose 3.6 2 5 C3 57.0 B (JPN) Hot Cha Cha Y. Tomomichi Northern Farm (33.9) (2) You Can Smile King Kamehameha Y. Take Kaneko Makoto Holdings 1-1/2 31.7 3 4 7 C3 57.0 Co., Ltd. (JPN) Mood Indigo Y. Tomomichi Kaneko Makoto Holdings Inc. (33.9) (10) Blast Onepiece Harbinger K. Ikezoe Silk Racing Co., Ltd. 3/4 3.4 4 2 3 C3 57.0 (JPN) Tsurumaru Onepiece M. Otake Northern Farm (34.1) (1) Glory Vase Deep Impact Y. Fukunaga Silk Racing Co., Ltd. 1/2 75.4 5 8 18 C3 57.0 (JPN) Mejiro Tsubone T. Ozeki Lake Villa Farm (33.9) (12) Time Flyer Heart’s Cry R. Wada Sunday Racing Co., Ltd. 3/4 80.2 6 7 13 C3 57.0 (JPN) Time Traveling K. Matsuda Oiwake Farm (34.1) (13) Chardonnay Gold Stay Gold K. Fujioka Aoshiba Shoji Co., Ltd. 1-1/2 138.3 7 8 17 C3 57.0 (JPN) Self Preservation Y. Ikee Paca Paca Farm (33.9) (15) Epoca d’Oro Orfevre K. Tosaki K. Hidaka Breeders Union Nose 5.5 8 3 5 C3 57.0 (JPN) Daiwa Passion H. Fujiwara Toru Tagami (34.8) (3) Generale Uno Screen Hero H. Tanabe G RiviereꞏRacing Co., Ltd. 1-1/4 11.2 9 2 4 C3 57.0 (JPN) Shanghai Rock E. Yano Shinsei Farm (35.2) (4) Grail Heart’s Cry Y. Iwata Kanayama Holdings Co., Ltd. 2 18.2 10 1 2 C3 57.0 (JPN) Platina Chalice K. Nonaka Northern Farm (34.3) (8) Stay Foolish Stay Gold Y. Fujioka Shadai Race Horse Co., Ltd. Neck 70.2 11 8 16 C3 57.0 (JPN) Kauai Lane Y. Yahagi Shadai Farm (34.8) (11) African Gold Stay Gold F. Matsuwaka Godolphin 2 24.5 12 5 10 C3 57.0 (JPN) Blixen M. Nishizono Darley Japan K. K (35.7) (9) Grandiose Rulership J. Moreira Sunday Racing Co., Ltd. 3/4 14.1 13 7 14 C3 57.0 (JPN) Cherir Y. Tamura Northern Farm (35.3) (6) 6 Meisho Tekkon Manhattan Cafe K. Matsuyama Yoshio Matsumoto 1/2 12.5 14 3 C3 57.0 B (JPN) A Shin Velocity Y. Takahashi Shimoyashiki Bokujo (35.8) (5) Cosmic Force King Kamehameha S. Hamanaka Sunday Racing Co., Ltd. Neck 115.3 15 6 11 C3 57.0 (JPN) Mikrokosmos S. Kunieda Northern Racing (36.1) (14) Aithon King’s Best K. Kokubun Tomiro Fukami 9 223.0 16 1 1 C3 57.0 (JPN) Special Dinner T. Igarashi Niikappu Tagano Farm Ltd (37.2) (17) Kafuji Vanguard Harbinger H. Miyuki Mamoru Kato 1-3/4 242.6 17 4 8 C3 57.0 (JPN) Emilia S. Matsumoto Sakai Bokujo (38.0) (18) Oken Moon Oken Bruce Lee H. Kitamura Akira Fukui 8 143.3 18 7 15 C3 57.0 (JPN) Moon Phase S. Kunieda Northern Farm (37.8) (16) FP=Final Position / BK=Bracket Number / PP=Post Position / B=Blinker / Wgt=Weight / L3F=Time of Last 3 Furlongs (600m) NOTE 1: No foreign contenders NOTE 2: Figures quoted under Odds are Win Odds, which show the amount of money you get back per single unit (100yen), and Fav indicates the order of favorites. WINNING TIME: 3:06.1 GOING: Firm WEATHER: Fine TURNOVER FOR THE RACE ALONE: ¥ 18,446,909,600 TURNOVER FOR THE DAY: ¥ 25,795,216,400 ATTENDANCE: 55,059 PAY-OFF (for ¥100) WIN No.12 ¥1,450 BRACKET QUINELLA 5-6 ¥1,860 QUINELLA 9-12 ¥2,380 No.12 ¥450 9-12 ¥930 EXACTA 12-9 ¥6,010 PLACE No.9 ¥160 QUINELLA PLACE 7-12 ¥4,610 TRIO 7-9-12 ¥16,710 No.7 ¥600 7-9 ¥1,550 TRIFECTA 12-9-7 ¥100,590 1. Fierement (JPN), bay, colt, 3-year-old Deep Impact / Lune d’Or (Green Tune) Owner: Sunday Racing Co., Ltd. Breeder: Northern Racing Trainer: Takahisa Tezuka Jockey: Christophe Lemaire 4 Starts, 3 Wins Added money: ¥ 147,482,000 Career earnings: ¥ 178,859,000 2. Etario (JPN), dark bay or brown, colt, 3-year-old Stay Gold / Hot Cha Cha (Cactus Ridge) Owner: G RiviereꞏRacing Co., Ltd. Breeder: Northern Farm Trainer: Yasuo Tomomichi Jockey: Mirco Demuro 3. You Can Smile (JPN), bay, colt, 3-year-old King Kamehameha / Mood Indigo (Dance in the Dark) Owner: Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co., Ltd. Breeder: Kaneko Makoto Holdings Inc. Trainer: Yasuo Tomomichi Jockey: Yutaka Take Seventh Pick Fierement Outduels Second Favorite Etario in This Year’s Kikuka Sho Seventh pick Fierement claimed this year’s Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger), the last leg of the Triple Crown, and captured his first graded victory in his only fourth career start, to become the the Kikuka Sho champion with the least career starts. The son of Deep Impact broke his maiden in his debut start just this January and marked another win in the following Yamafuji Sho (Allowance) in April. His first grade-race challenge in the following Radio Nikkei Sho (G3) in July resulted in a runner-up effort. All his past three races were raced over 1,800 meters. This win marked trainer Takahisa Tezuka’s fourth JRA-G1 win following the 2013 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes with Asia Express. For jockey Christophe Lemaire, it was his 19th JRA-G1 title following his Shuka Sho victory with Almond Eye just a week ago and his second Kikuka Sho title following his win with Satono Diamond in 2016. Breaking smoothly from stall 12, Fierement traveled wide, settling around eighth from the front runner Generale Uno while Etario, breaking slowly from stall 9, steadily advanced forward in the first lap to position himself behind the subsequent winner. As the field of 18 crowded together rounding the last corners, Etario, under Mirco Demuro, took a wide turn and advanced to the front entering the homestretch while Fierement threaded through the horses and exerted a powerful late charge to catch up with the Stay Gold colt in the last 200 meters. The two colts dueled fiercely to the wire with Fierement claiming the race with a photo-finish win. “I had confidence in him as he felt good during the training. We briefly met traffic in the straight but my mount stretched really well with his bursting kick.