The final race in the Japanese Triple Tiara, the G1 Shuka Sho (2000m), is set for Sunday (13 October) at Kyoto Racecourse and G1 Oka Sho (1600m) champion Stellenbosch and G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, 2400m) winner Cervinia are seen as the two to beat, while 13 other fillies are bidding for upset victory.
Naturally, talent abounds throughout the Group 1 field. And with the expected two favourites unraced in nearly five months, the question of whether they’ll be at their best does arise. Logistics are also in play.
Stellenbosch, who’s trained by veteran Sakae Kunieda, missed the Yushun Himba by only half a length. Like Cervinia, she’s based in the eastern Japan training centre of Miho, but Kunieda has had Stellenbosch training at Ritto since last week. Both fillies are taking on Kyoto for the first time. Stellenbosch, however, has more experience racing to the right, with four starts from six to the right. Cervinia has only one from five.
After her poor showing in the Oka Sho, Cervinia’s trainer Tetsuya Kimura, has chosen to ship his filly just two days before the race.
“I didn’t get results last time when I moved her to Ritto early and trained there. She won the Oaks but it took a very long time for her to get back on her feet,” Kimura said.
Kimura sees this approach as the gentler. Still, it’s a journey of over 550km, and one that requires at least eight hours travel by road, possibly longer with a horse trailer and its precious cargo.
Another filly currying favour ahead of Sunday’s race is Queen’s Walk. She finished eighth and fourth in the first two Classic events and, unlike the two Classic winners, is primed and ready, having just scooped the G2 Rose Stakes (2000m) at Chukyo. She’s based close to the Kyoto venue, where she finished second in her debut over 1800m. But, topping the locational plus and her previous experience at Kyoto, are the men in her corner.
Last year’s Shuka Sho-winning trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida and jockey Yuga Kawada have once again joined up. They’re bringing Queen’s Walk to the gate and, hopefully, to the winner’s circle and statistics suggest you’ll at least see them in the money.
In the current season, Nakauchida leads the Shuka Sho trainers for top-two and top-three-place averages, though Kimura has the best winning average. And, while speaking of statistics, note that Christophe Lemaire tops all Japan’s riders for wins, averages and earnings. It’ll be his tenth Shuka Sho and he’s pursuing his third win in the race, which would tie him with top winners Yutaka Take and Yasunari Iwata.
If hunger is the driving force of choice, then look to owner Susumu Fujita, founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of CyberAgent and a racehorse owner since 2021. He’s just off a big disappointment with Shin Emperor in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (2400m) in France and none of his previous Group 1 hopefuls have brought him a win, though he came close with Shin Emperor’s second in last year’s G1 Hopeful Stakes (2000m).
This time, he is represented by Bond Girl, a talented filly that bad luck has kept from the classics until now. Highly consistent with three seconds and a third in graded stakes competitions, she has won only her debut. She’s proven racing to the right and at the distance and is prepared with a third of the G2 Shion Stakes (2000m) at Nakayama in early September.
It will be her first time at Kyoto, however, and she too hauls from Miho.
