Deep Impact (Jpn) added another feather to his cap posthumously on Sunday when, for the first time, one of his progeny won a Group 1 race over 1200 metres. Gran Alegria (Jpn) had shown enough pace at two to win her first two starts over a mile before finishing third against the colts in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity. She earned her first Group 1 rosette going that same mile trip in the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) on seasonal debut the following April. Connections clearly knew what they had and thereafter kept her to a mile or below. A fourth-place finish (demoted to fifth) in the G1 NHK Mile followed Gran Alegria's Classic score and, when dropped below that trip for the first time following a lengthy holiday last December, the filly bounced back to win the seven-furlong G2 Hanshin Cup by five lengths on Dec. 21. Gran Alegria was bested a short head by Mozu Superflare (Jpn) (Speightstown) in the six furlong G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen on Mar. 29, and her talents were fully exposed on June 7 when she upset Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) when back up to a mile in the G1 Yasuda Kinen.
Chasing her third Group 1 score on Sunday, Gran Alegria was slow from the gate and briefly in last and under a ride from Christophe Lemaire as Mozu Superflare rocketed away to set the pace. Turning for home Gran Alegria had just one rival beaten and a good 15 lengths between she and Mozu Superflare, but she unleashed a scintillating turn of foot inside the final 200 metres to cut down the deficit and score by two lengths under a handride.
Lemaire-who along with trainer Kazuo Fujisawa was winning his second consecutive Sprinters S. following Tower Of London (Jpn) (Raven's Pass)-said, “I can't believe how strong she is. She was a little slow to get into the rhythm and we were much further back than expected but we did not panic if not a little worried that we may not be in time as the pace was fast—in a normal situation we may not have made it. But she certainly showed what she is made of and she just carried on while some of the front runners started to weaken.”
Pedigree Notes
Gran Alegria's dam Tapitsfly (Tapit) can likely take a significant share of credit for her daughter's brilliance, that Dale Romans trainee having won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf to cap a six-race juvenile campaign. Tapitsfly was off the scene at three and won just once at allowance level in 11 tries at four, but completed her resurgence in a major way at five when winning the GI Just A Game S., GI First Lady S. and GII Honey Fox S. all going a mile on the grass before being bought by Katsumi Yoshida for $1.85-million at Fasig-Tipton November in 2012. Gran Alegria is her first foal.
Sunday, Nakayama, Japan
SPRINTERS S.-G1, ¥252,860,000, Nakayama, 9-29, 3yo/up, 1200mT, 1:08.30, fm.
1–GRAN ALEGRIA (JPN), 121, f, 4, by Deep Impact (Jpn)
1st Dam: Tapitsfly (MGISW-US, $1,495,503), by Tapit
2nd Dam: Flying Marlin, by Marlin
3rd Dam: Morning Dove, by Fortunate Prospect
O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm; T-Kazuo Fujisawa;
J-Kenichi Ikezoe; ¥133,402,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. 3yo Filly-
Jpn, 9-6-1-1. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus* Click for
the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Danon Smash (Jpn), 126, h, 5, Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) Spinning
Wildcat, by Hard Spun. O-Danox Inc; B-K.I. Farm; ¥52,972,000.
3–A Will a Way (Jpn), 121, f, 4, Just a Way (Jpn)–Will Power
(Jpn), by King Kamehameha (Jpn). O-Katsumi Yoshida;
B-Northern Farm; ¥ 28,492,000.
Margins: 2, HF, HF. Odds: 1.20, 4.10, 59.90.
Also Ran: Mr Melody, Kurino Gaudi (Jpn), Red en Ciel (Jpn), Meisho Glocke (Jpn), Daimei Princess (Jpn), Right on Cue (Jpn), Mozu Superflare, Eighteen Girl (Jpn), King Heart (Jpn), Diatonic (Jpn), Daimei Fuji (Jpn), Love Kampf (Jpn), Bien Fait (Jpn).
Click for the JRA chart and video or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
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