Princess Noor First Foal Romps On Dirt at Chukyo

3rd-Chukyo, ¥10,600,000 ($68,720), Maiden, 3yo, 1900m, 2:01.3, ft.
RHINO (JPN) (c, 3, Into Mischief–Princess Noor {'TDN Rising Star', GISW, $363,500}, by Not This Time) was not disgraced when fourth in a pair of starts on the turf to begin his career, but was switching to the surface for which he was bred this time around and looked a different proposition altogether. Sent forward from gate one, Rhino was content to allow a rival to take up the running and sat a comfortable stalking trip from second down the backstretch. Awaiting his cue leaving the three-furlong pole behind, he gathered up the front-runner with a minimum of fuss with just inside of 400 meters to race and shot clear like a good horse to graduate by an impressive six lengths. Rhino is the first foal out of Princess Noor, a $135,000 KEESEP yearling who would go on to top the 2020 OBS April Sale on a bid of $1.35 million from Gary Young on behalf of Zedan Racing Stable. Turned over to Bob Baffert, Princess Noor earned 'TDN Rising Star' honors at first asking and validated that decision in taking the GI Del Mar Debutante Stakes and GII Chandelier Stakes by a combined 14 3/4 lengths. Bred to Into Mischief the following spring, Princess Noor was knocked down to Katsumi Yoshida for $2.9 million at Fasig-Tipton November. Princess Noor's dam Sheza Smoke Show (Wilko) fetched an even $1 million in foal to Tapit from Aaron and Marie Jones at FTKNOV in 2022, having been purchased for $185,000 carrying the filly that would become Princess Noor at KEENOV in 2017. Princess Noor produced fillies by Kitasan Black (Jpn) in 2023 and 2024 and is due to Suave Richard (Jpn) this term. Sales history: $2,900,000 in utero '21 FTKNOV. Lifetime Record: 3-1-0-0, $48,354.
O-Kazumi Yoshida; B-Northern Farm; T-Tomokazu Takano.

1900m 3yo Maiden Chukyo:

Won by nicely bred 3c 1. RHINO (Into Mischief x
Princess Noor 🇺🇸 (Not This Time)) under Yuichi Kitamura

RHINO, first time on Dirt today after running 4th twice on Turf.

Dam PRINCESS NOOR a G1 🇺🇸 winner, now Japan based#JRA pic.twitter.com/mZyfRX9Ly8

— Graham Pavey (@LongBallToNoOne) January 26, 2025