Satono Diamond (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) made amends for a narrow defeat in the G1 Japanese Derby by winning the G1 Kikuko Sho (Japanese St Leger) at Kyoto on Sunday in smooth fashion. Ridden with confidence by Christophe Lemaire the 13/10 favourite was keen early and travelled strongly in mid division as Miraieno Tsubasa (Jpn) (Dream Journey {Jpn}) and Satono Etoile (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) cut out the early running of the 3000m contest. As the field bunched up entering the last half mile it was clear Lemaire had plenty of horse under him and when he gave Satono Diamond a squeeze 300m from home he quickened to take three lengths out of the field. From there home he just needed a hand ride to maintain a two and a half length margin over the fast finishing Rainbow Line (Jpn) with Air Spinel (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) just holding on for third place.
KIKUKA SHO JAPANESE ST.LEGER-G1, ¥262,730,000 (£2,068,563/€2,325,368/$2,51,239), Kyoto, 10-23, 3yo c&f, 3000mT, 3:03.30, fm.
1–SATONO DIAMOND (Jpn), 126, c, 3, by Deep Impact (Jpn)
1st Dam: Malpensa (Arg) (MGISW-Arg $295,108), by Orpen
2nd Dam: Marsella (Arg), by Southern Halo
3rd Dam: Riviere (Arg), by Logical
(¥230,000,000 wnlg'13 JRHAJUL) O-Hajime Satomi; B-Northern Farm; T-Yasutoshi Ikee; J-Christophe Lemaire; ¥145,961,000
Lifetime Record: 7-5-1-1. Werk Nick Rating: C. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”narvick_takahashi-dampurchase-double”]2–Rainbow Line (Jpn), 126, c, 3, by Stay Gold (Jpn)-Regenbogen (Jpn), by French Deputy. (¥50,000,000 yrl '14 JRHAJUL) O-Masahiro Mita; B-Northern Farm; ¥54,846,000
3–Air Spinel (Jpn), 126, c, 3, by King Kamehameha (Jpn)-Air Messiah (Jpn), by Sunday Silence. O-Lucky Field Inc.; B-Shadai Farm; ¥33,423,000
Margins: Neck, 1/2, 1.1/4; Odds: 12.40, 3.30, 2.10.
Also ran: Dee Majesty (Jpn), Mikki Rocket (Jpn), Super Lumiere (Jpn), Mount Robson (Jpn), Kafuji Prince (Jpn), Red Eldest (Jpn), Jun Vulcan (Jpn), Prodigal Son (Jpn), Umbruch (Jpn), Miraieno Tsubasa (Jpn), Agnes Forte (Jpn), George Cinq (Jpn), Cosmo Llave (Jpn), Immortal (Jpn), Satono Etoile (Jpn).
Click for the JRA chart and video and the Racing Post result
This was a first and deserved Group 1 win for Satono Diamond after a few near misses earlier in the year. He made a bright start to his 3-year-old campaign winning the G3 Kisaragi Sho at Kyoto in February before beaten into third behind Dee Majesty (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Makahiki (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) when favorite for the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) at Nakayama in April. A nose defeat to Makahiki in the G1 Tokyo Yushun May 29 again suggested he was a Group 1 winner waiting in the wings and he warmed up for his finest hour when beating Mikki Rocket (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) in the G2 Kobe Shimbun Hai at Hanshin Sept. 25. Sunday's result marked a 15th JRA Group 1 win for trainer Yasutoshi Ikee and a first Japanese Classic for Christophe Lemaire who commented, “I'm excited and happy to be able to win a classic race for the first time in Japan. The colt was in his best condition
and the only concern was the distance. He responded really well in the last stretch so I was quite confident that we would win. He's a top-class horse and will definitely be able to win other G1 races.”
Pedigree notes…
Satono Diamond hails from a successful South American family, with his dam Malpensa (Arg) (Orpen) being a triple Grade 1 winner in Argentina. Malpensa is a half-sister to stakes winner Marsigliese (Arg) (Mutakddim) and has produced four foals to date, two runners, the other being Linate (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) a winner in Japan this year. Malpensa also has a yearling filly by Orfevre (Jpn) and a colt foal by Deep Impact (Jpn). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
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