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Oka Sho Queen Gentildonna Rules Once Again in the Yushun Himba

Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m) winner and third favorite Gentildonna easily romped to an impressive five-length victory, taking home the second jewel of the Triple Crown for fillies in the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks), breaking the race record by 1.7 seconds, while second-place finisher in the Oka Sho, Verxina, failed to turn the tables this time and took home second once again. Celebrating her second G1 title among her three grade-race victories so far, Gentildonna has become the 13th horse to capture two classic titles and will aim for her third, the Shuka Sho (G1, 2,000m) in October to become the fourth filly in history since Apapane in 2010 to make a clean sweep of all the legs of the Triple Crown for three-year-old fillies. This also marks the fifth G1 and first G1 win at a longer distance than the mile, by progeny's of legendary horse Deep Impact. Trainer Sei Ishizaka not only landed his eighth G1 title today, but celebrates a back-to-back grade-race win after notching the Tokai Stakes (G2) the previous day. This is the third G1 title for jockey Yuga Kawada, who replaced regular rider Yasunari Iwata facing suspension, after capturing two classic titles, the 2008 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) and the 2010 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger).

After the field broke off evenly, jockey Yuga Kawada, who took the reins for the first time, kept Gentildonna reserved near the rear of the field as the fillies traveled down the backstretch. Ice Follies sat on the rails and Verxina camped just behind her in sixth and eighth, respectively. All the while, Meine Epona led up front as Epice Arome and Omega Heartland trailed behind a few lengths between each other in tandem, as I'm Yours hugged the rails in fourth.

Meine Epona held on to her advantage while the rest bunched up behind her as they made the final turn for home. Steered to the outside, I'm Yours entered the straight in fourth to fifth for clear running, while Verxina, who was late in making her bid, found traffic in upper stretch before her last run. By the time Ice Follies threaded her way up from the inside to attack the front 300 meters out, I'm Yours and Verxina were fighting for the lead, the front runners having dropped out earlier. Despite hitting the top of the lane near the rear of the field, Gentildonna came strong down the stretch, easily picking off I'm Yours, Verxina and Ice Follies by the furlong pole to notch a five-length victory. Verxina galloped on strongly enough for second 3/4 length in front of Ice Follies who closed well to nose out I'm Yours at the wire for third. Coming off a win in the Flora Stakes (G2, 2,000m), race favorite Midsummer Fair traveled wide and well off the pace throughout the trip and was only able to muster a mild late response in the stretch to finish a disappointing 13th.

Other Horses:
5th: (15) Thank You Ask—2nd from last, improved position from 3rd corner, fought well at stretch.
6th: (7) Daiwa Zoom—raced wide in mid-pack, good effort but belated charge.
7th: (10) Hana’s Goal—4th from rear, showed effort but unable to reach contention.
8th: (13) Sunshine— upper mid-division, even paced.
9th: (5) Meisho Suzanna—traveled in mid-field, lacked the needed response at stretch.
10th: (17) Tosen Benizakura—sat 4th to 5th, briefly led field but steadily tired thereafter.
11th: (6) Daiwa Desse—saved ground in mid-division, boxed in at stretch.
12th: (4) Omega Heartland—camped 3rd, tired 300m to go due to early effort.
14th: (16) Quatre Feuilles—traveled wide in mid-pack, failed to threaten at stretch.
15th: (11) Cherry Medusa—near rear of field, never a contender.
16th: (12) Epice Arome—prominent early, empty at stretch.
17th: (2) Meine Epona—front runner, used up last 400m.
18th: (18) Kokoro Chirari—far rear throughout, no factor.

1. Gentildonna (JPN), bay, filly, 3-year-old
   Deep Impact / Donna Blini (Bertolini)

   Breeder: Northern Racing	Owner: Sunday Racing Co.,Ltd.
   Trainer: Sei Ishizaka	Jockey: Yuga Kawada
   6 Starts, 4 Wins
   Added money: ¥125,574,000	Career earnings: ¥292,376,000
   Principal Race Performances:	'12 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1)	1st
   	'12 Shinzan Kinen (G3)	1st

   
   
2. Verxina (JPN), black, filly, 3-year-old
   Deep Impact / Halwa Sweet (Machiavellian)

   Breeder: Northern Racing	Owner: Kazuhiro Sasaki
   Trainer: Yasuo Tomomichi	Jockey: Hiroyuki Uchida

   
   
3. 3. Ice Follies (JPN), gray, filly, 3-year-old
   Stay Gold / Lilium (Kurofune)
   

   Breeder: Shadai Corporation Inc.	Owner: Sunday Racing Co.,Ltd.
   Trainer: Ikuo Aizawa	Jockey: Masami Matsuoka

* Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) (G1)
The Japanese version of the prestigious British Oaks, the Yushun Himba was established in 1938 and contested among runners limited to home-bred three-year-old fillies. Initially called the "Hanshin Yushun Himba" and held during the fall season at Hanshin Racecourse, the race acquired its current status as the Japanese Oaks upon changing its venue to Tokyo Racecourse in 1946. The race was also shifted to the spring season, being the richest in prize money and longest in distance among the current JRA races limited to fillies/mares. The Yushun Himba opened its door to foreign-bred runners in 2003 and acquired international G1 status in 2010.
While the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m) serves in gauging the speed potentials in the future broodmares, the Yushun Himba is a championship race in which to discover the added quality of stamina as well as speed, and winners of this race are highly rated as broodmares upon retirement to stud. Recent winners included fillies/mares that became high profile G1 winners. 2009 Oaks winner, Buena Vista (JPN, by Special Week) captured a total of six G1 titles and JRA's Horse of the Year of 2010 before her retirement last year, while Apapane (JPN, by King Kamehameha), having the Oka Sho title already under her belt, shared the 2010 Oaks title with Saint Emilion (JPN, by Zenno Rob Roy)—the first-ever dead heat in a G1 race in JRA history—and then went on to win the Shuka Sho (G1, 2,000m), becoming the third filly to claim all three of the Triple Crown races for three-year-old fillies. Erin Court (JPN, by Durandal) claimed her first G1 victory in the race last year.
Three-quarter-sister to Buena Vista, Joie de Vivre (JPN, by Deep Impact), who successfully won the champion two-year-old filly title last season, was found to have fractured her right hind leg after finishing sixth in the Oka Sho and was forced to withdraw from the race. Gentildonna came off her victory in the first leg of the fillies' "Triple Crown" in the hope of becoming the 13th filly in JRA history to capture the first two phases. Verxina, also a Deep Impact filly who finished second in the Oka Sho, had already proved useful over the Tokyo turf, having claimed the Queen Cup (G3, 1,600m) in February this year, while Oka Sho's third-place finisher I'm Yours was reliable in finishing within the money in all of her seven career starts including two grade-race victories before coming into this race. Other key runners included winners of the Japanese Oaks trial events. HH Sheikh Mohammed-owned Midsummer Fair came off her first grade-race victory in the Flora Stakes (G2, 2,000m), while Daiwa Zoom claimed the Sweet Pea Stakes (1,800m) just three weeks back.
The race record was set by Robe Decollete (USA, by Cozzene) who covered the 2,400 meters in 2:25.3 in 2007.