By Alan Carasso
8th-Chukyo, ¥29,890,000 ($202,594), Allowance, 8-2, 3yo/up, 1200m, 1:11.2, ft.
T O ELVIS (c, 3, Volatile–Stopshoppingdebbie {MSW, $294,728}, by Curlin) savaged the line to win for the third time in six starts while stamping himself as one to watch as a potential overseas candidate in 2026. Third to the talented and once-beaten Natural Rise (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) in the Cattleya Stakes (allowance), a 1600-meter contest that serves as the first leg of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, the dark bay was having his first start since thrashing a one-win allowance field by five lengths at Hanshin Mar. 30.
Favored at 4-5 despite the absence, T O Elvis was in no hurry from the stalls and settled in midfield while well off the inside into the turn. Tugging Ryusei Sakai into a contending position while covering stacks of ground entering the final three furlongs, T O Elvis was shaken up with a furlong and a half to travel and quickened up beautifully in the final 200 meters to score by a cozy length.
“He was forced to travel wide throughout and I thought we might have held him up too much, but even so, he won convincingly,” commented trainer Daisuke Takayanagi. “He still had plenty left in the tank at the finish and there is definitely more to come.”
The colt's eight-time stakes-winning dam, also responsible for SW & GISP Generous Tipper (Street Sense), SW & GISP, $284,400, is a half-sister to five winners, including fellow Pacific Northwest standout Smarty Deb (Smart Strike). Stopshoppingdebbie is also the dam of the 2-year-old filly Under Arrest (Tiz the Law) and a yearling filly by Golden Pal is set to go under the hammer as hip 934 at next month's Keeneland September Sale.. She was covered by Street Sense and Maxfield this past season. Lifetime Record: 6-3-0-3, $244,861. VIDEO (SC 13)
O-Tomoya Ozasa; B-Jeff & Melissa Prunzik (KY); T-Daisuke Takayanagi.
💫💫Victory💫💫
2025.08.02 8R浜松特別@中京競馬場
テーオーエルビス 坂井瑠星騎手(🥇着/1番人気)中団からレースを進めて直線では大外からまとめて差し切り今日の2勝目としました！
今年の73勝目おめでとうございます👏#2025ryusei pic.twitter.com/EyOXzJTqwi— やま (@umayama3) August 2, 2025
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