Sound True had been running consistently all season without finding the winner's enclosure, and he at last notched his first win as a 6-year-old in Sunday's G1 Champions Cup–formerly the Japan Cup Dirt. Sound True finished third in last year's Champions Cup prior to earning his first international Group 1 win in the G1 Tokyo Daishoten three weeks later, and he was back a month later for the Listed Kawasaki Kinen (a Group 1 on the NAR circuit), where he was beaten a head when second. Given a breather thereafter, Sound True returned to make four more NAR starts. He was fifth in the Listed Kashiwa Kinen (local G1) May 5 prior to third-place finishes in the Listed Teio Sho (local G1) June 29, the Listed Nippon TV Hai (local G2) Sept. 28, and the Listed JBC Classic (local G1) Nov. 3. The latter two efforts came at the expense of Koji Maeda's Awardee, who had been unbeaten in six outings since switching to the dirt. Awardee was dispatched as the favourite for the Champions Cup, with his younger half-brother Lani (Tapit)–the winner of this year's G2 UAE Derby and third in the GI Belmont S.–also participating. Dropping back to travel with just one behind off the quick pace, Sound True stuck to the fence rounding the final turn but switched out to the middle of the track in the lane. The chestnut still had plenty to do by midstretch, but found another gear at the 200 metre mark and came roaring down the middle of the track to nip Awardee, who had hit the lead at the 100-metre mark after racing more handily early in the race.
Lani had been under a vigorous handride to keep up with the field the first time past the stands. He eventually settled one slot ahead of Sound True, improved a few positions while traveling wide down the backstretch, but was never in contention in the stretch.
Winning jockey Takuya Ono said, “We had to race toward the rear as the pace was fast, but I concentrated on keeping good rhythm. I raced him along the rails through the last two corners as planned and was able to find space entering the homestretch. It seemed that the horses in front tired somewhat in the last 100 metres. The horse seems to be in good form during this time of the year so I am looking forward to defending the title in the year-end Tokyo Daishoten.”
Awardee's rider Yutaka Take said, “I knew that the horse tends to lose his concentration when taking the front, but he did more so today than usual. He also seemed a bit difficult during the race.”
Sunday, Chukyo, Japan
CHAMPIONS CUP-G1, ¥189,320,000, Chukyo, 12-4, 3yo/up, 1800m, 1:50.10, gd.
1–SOUND TRUE (JPN), 126, g, 6, by French Deputy
1st Dam: Kyoei Truth (Jpn), by Fuji Kiseki (Jpn)
2nd Dam: Kyoei Yoshino (Jpn), by Proud Debonair
3rd Dam: Kyoei Meet (Jpn), by Crowned Prince
O-Hiroshi Yamada; B-Okada Stud; T-Noboru Takagi; J-Takuya
Ono; ¥100,234,000. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Jpn, 38-9-8-12.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Awardee, 126, h, 6, Jungle Pocket (Jpn)–Heavenly Romance
(Jpn), by Sunday Silence. O-Koji Maeda; B-North Hills
Management; ¥39,924,000.
3–Asukano Roman (Jpn), 126, h, 5, Agnes Digital–Asukano
Himiko (Jpn), by Tabasco Cat. O-Chiro Toyoda; B-Niikappu
Tangano Farm; ¥24,462,000.
Margins: NK, HF, NK. Odds: 14.90, 1.20, 39.40.
Also Ran: Kafuji Take (Jpn), Apollo Kentucky, Nonkono Yume (Jpn), Moanin, Roi Jardin (Jpn), Lani, Monde Classe (Jpn), Meisho Sumitomo (Jpn), Gold Dream (Jpn), Copano Rickey (Jpn), Bright Idea (Jpn), Brightline (Jpn).
Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
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