Sunday, Tokyo, Japan
TOKYO YUSHUN (JAPANESE DERBY)-G1, ¥339,300,000, Tokyo, 5-27, 3yo, c/f, 2400mT, 2:23.80, fm.
1--DEEP BRILLANTE (JPN), 126, c, 3, by Deep Impact (Jpn)
        1st Dam: Love and Bubbles (GSW-Fr, $118,826), by Loup Sauvage
        2nd Dam: Bubble Dream (Fr), by Akarad (Fr)
        3rd Dam: Bubble Prospector, by Miswaki
(¥31,000,000 wnlg '09 JRAJUL). O-Sunday Racing; B-Paca Paca Farm; T-Yoshito Yahagi; J-Yasunari Iwata; ¥150,000,000. Lifetime Record: 6-3-2-1. *Full to Hubble Bubble (Jpn), GSP-Jpn, $279,785. Werk Nick Rating: D. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.

2--Fenomeno (Jpn), 126, c, 3, Stay Gold (Jpn)--De Laroche (Ire), by Danehill. O-Sunday Racing; B-Oiwake Farm; ¥70,660,000.
3--Tosen Homareboshi (Jpn), 126, c, 3, Deep Impact (Jpn)--Every Whisper (Jpn), by Northern Taste. (¥155,000,000 wnlg '09 JRAJUL). O-Takaya Shimakawa; B-Northern Farm; ¥43,330,000.   
Margins: NO, 3/4, NK. Odds: 7.50, 13.60, 14.00.
Also Ran: World Ace (Jpn), Gold Ship (Jpn), Cosmo Ozora (Jpn), Trip (Jpn), Etendard (Jpn), Veiled Impact (Jpn), Grandezza (Jpn), Just a Way (Jpn), Monstre (Jpn), Alfredo (Jpn), Spielberg (Jpn), Clarente (Jpn), Zelos (Jpn), Brightline (Jpn), Historical (Jpn).
Click for the Racing Post chart, the TVG.com PPs or the free brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree.
   Japanese Triple Crown winner Deep Impact (Jpn) accounted for three of the top four finishers here as his son Deep Brillante held on to win a thrilling renewal of the Japanese Derby. Deep Brillante was one of seven in the race by the superb young sire Deep Impact, who is quickly following in the footsteps of his own sire Sunday Silence as the dominant force in Japanese breeding.
   Looking to build off his third-place effort in the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) at Nakayama Apr. 15, Deep Brillante, partnered with veteran Yasunari Iwata, left alertly from post 10 and was able to angle in and secure in ideal tracking spot on the rail in fourth. Rank outsider Zelos (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}), meanwhile, took control and set a pressured pace as eventual third Tosen Homareboshi vied to his inside. That leading pair began to get away from the field on the far turn, and as they made the left-hand turn into the straight, were locked in battle some eight lengths ahead of the rest. As Zelos tired Tosen Homareboshi forged to a narrow lead in upper stretch, but Deep Brillante was closing fast and overhauled him 200 meters out. With the wire fast approaching, a very wide Fenomeno jumped to his wrong lead while rallying resolutely, and that may have been then difference as his late charge came up a nostril short. The Japanese 2000 Guineas runner-up World Ace (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and winner Gold Ship (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) both finished well to be fourth and fifth, respectively.
   Deep Brillante is the seventh horse to replicate his sire's feat of winning the Japanese Derby. It was the first Classic victory for his trainer Yoshita Yahagi, and completed the riding Triple Crown for Yasunari Iwata. The jockey won the G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) with Delta Blues (Jpn) (Dance in the Dark {Jpn}) in 2004 and captured the 2000 Guineas in 2009 and 2010 with Unrivaled (Jpn) (Neo Universe {Jpn}) and Victoire Pisa (Jpn) (Neo Universe {Jpn}), respectively.
   Deep Brillante began his career with a five-length win on debut at Hanshin last October before adding the G3 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai S. Nov. 19. Only Gold Ship proved too good when he returned to be second in the Kyodo News Service Hai at Tokyo Feb. 12, and he had to settle for second again over yielding ground in the G2 Fuji TV Sho Spring S. at Nakayama Mar. 18. He was a 5-1 chance in the 2000 Guineas and ran with credit, finishing 3 1/4 lengths off of Gold Ship and 3/4 lengths off World Ace.