Sunday Racing

Mad Cool (Jpn) (Dark Angel {Ire}--Mad About You {Ire}, by Indian Ridge {Ire}) climbed the Group 1 heights with a head victory in the 1200-metre ¥329,400,000 G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo on Sunday. Namura Clair (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}) was runner-up for the second consecutive year, with the duo three lengths ahead of Hong Kong raider and G1 Centenary Sprint Cup scorer Victor The Winner (Aus) (Toronado {Ire}) in third. It was a dogfight for pacesetting duties between Mad Cool and Victor The Winner from the bell, with the former...

Sunday Racing's Queen's Walk (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) rallied to victory in the 1600-metre G3 Daily Hai Queen Cup in Tokyo on Saturday. She was just a neck to the good of Epiphaneia (Jpn)'s Arsenaal (Jpn). Stranded widest of all when breaking from gate 13, the filly soon perched well off the inside third from the rear as Morino Red Star (Jpn) (Declaration Of War) set a solid pace on the front end through an opening quarter in :23.80 and a half-mile in :47.10. Sweeping out into the centre of the...

Suave Richard (Jpn), Japanese Champion Freshman Sire elect, sired his first Group 1 winner with the victory of his Regaleira (Jpn) in the 2000-metre G1 Hopeful S. at Nakayama on Thursday. The filly is the first of her sex to land the race since it was upgraded to Group 1 level in 2017. Jointly favoured with Susumu Fujita's Group 3 winner and €2.1 million Arqana August yearling buy Shin Emperor (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) at 2-1 in this contest, the filly hesitated at the break, and soon trailed third last as...

It was a stakes double for Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) on Sunday, as Ho O Emmy's (Jpn) won the G3 Fukushima Kinen, and Brede Weg (Jpn) became his latest Group 1 winner with a victory in the Queen Elizabeth Cup in Kyoto. She is the first 3-year-old filly to win the race since Mozu Katchan (Jpn) (Harbingers {GB}) in 2017, and also became the QEC victress with the fewest starts with five. Despite the presence of last year's winner Geraldina (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}), the Sunday Racing 3-year-old garnered favouritism at 7-5...

The G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) was not without its challenges for last month's G1 Japanese 1000 Guineas heroine Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) as she was trying a distance beyond a mile for the first time, but ultimately the 2400 metres held no fears, as she strolled home a sixth-length winner in 2:23.10 in Tokyo. Sunday Racing's imperious dame became the 17th filly--following her paternal half-sister Stars On Earth (Jpn) in 2022--to win the first two legs of the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown. It was the largest winning margin...

Japanese champion Gran Alegria (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) signed off her career with her second consecutive G1 Mile Championship victory, her sixth top-level score, at Hanshin on Sunday. She is the first horse to win back-to-back Mile Championships since Daiwa Major (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) in 2006/07. Tabbed the heavy favourite at 70 cents on the dollar, the 5-year-old mare was content to race near the rear of the field as Ho O Amazon (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) sped through fractions of :23.70 and :47.60. Jockey Christophe Lemaire had a ton...

A carefully managed career comes to a close Sunday afternoon for three-times champion Gran Alegria (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who faces a crack group of Japanese milers in defence of her title in the G1 Mile Championship S. at Hanshin Racecourse. The daughter of the late multiple Grade I and Breeders' Cup winner Tapitsfly (Tapit) has finished outside the top three just twice in her 14 starts to date, including a fourth in the G1 Osaka Hai in April, contested in unsuitably wet ground and over a 2000-metre trip that...

The 2022 UK fixture list was published by the British Horseracing Authority on behalf of the sport's tripartite governance structure of the BHA, racecourses and horsemen and women, on Monday. Comprised of 1,482 fixtures, the 2022 fixture list was developed by the industry's Fixtures and Funding Group, which contains cross-industry representation and was approved by all members of the group and the sport's tripartite executive committee. The list was presented to the BHA Board for approval on Sept. 9. The total fixtures for 2021 was 1,486. There were several significant...

Four-time Japanese Group 1 winner Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}) will be pointed to this year's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, owners Sunday Racing have confirmed, with jockey Oisin Murphy set to take the ride. The 5-year-old mare's regular pilot, Yuichi Kitamura, is currently on the sidelines with an injury. Third in both the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) and G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) at three before taking the G1 Shuka Sho, the third leg of the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown, Chrono Genesis bested the Classic-winning colt...

Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}) justified 4-5 favouritism and took her second consecutive G1 Takarazuka Kinen title at Hanshin on Sunday. The 2200-metre contest is a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar in November, as well as the Oct. 23 G1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley Down Under. Unicorn Lion (Ire) (No Nay Never) led the charge into the first turn while shadowed by Lei Papale (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Chrono Genesis sat third a few lengths back. A touch keen, pilot...

Shahryar (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) denied heavy 3-5 favourite and G1 Japanese 2000 Guineas hero Efforia (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) by the narrowest of margins to take the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) at Tokyo on Sunday. It was the record-setting seventh win in that Classic for a son of Deep Impact, whose earlier successes include Deep Brillante (Jpn) (2012), Kizuna (Jpn) (2013), Makahiki (Jpn) (2016), Wagnerian (Jpn) (2018), Roger Barows (Jpn) (2019) and Triple Crown victor Contrail (Jpn) last term. Sent off at 10-1, Shahryar was rank and tugging for...

Gran Alegria (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) put her stamp on the G1 Victoria Mile at Tokyo on Sunday, a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The 2020 Japanese Champion Sprinter/Miler was winning her fifth Group 1 race when drawing off to win by four lengths over the good to firm ground. Bet down to 30 cents on the dollar, Gran Alegria perched in midfield as Christie (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) set a demanding tempo. Beginning to make inroads toward the front inside the final...