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Major Emblem Posts Wire-to-Wire Victory Against Colts in NHK Mile Cup

Sent to post race favorite in her first G1 test against male foes, Major Emblem won wire-to-wire to become only the fourth female runner to win the NHK Mile Cup—the last female winner was Pink Cameo in 2007. Named Best Two-Year-Old Filly of 2015, the Daiwa Major filly kicked off her three-year-old campaign with an overwhelming victory in the Queen Cup but was unable to meet expectations when heavy favorite in the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) finishing fourth. Trainer Yasuhito Tamura collected his second G1 title—the first also with the chestnut filly in the 2015 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies—while jockey, Christophe Lemaire marked his first G1 of this season and seventh overall with the win.

Major Emblem popped out of the gate smoothly this time and was allowed to set a brisk pace along the rails, maintaining a clear lead along the backstretch. While briefly contested by Sigerunokogirizame rounding the final turn, the powerful filly, unfazed by her male foes, showed no signs of slowing down, continued to pull away along the homestretch and managed to rebuff the late charging Lord Quest and Rainbow Line for a 3/4-length win.

“She broke sharply today and I was able to place her in front. She has good speed and having already won a G1 title last year and another graded race earlier this year, I would say that she has confirmed her position as the top of her class with this G1 win,” commented Christophe Lemaire.

Second favorite Lord Quest was a fraction slow out of the gate and positioned well off the pace third from last to start. The Matsurida Gogh colt made headway along the outside, swung wide into the lane then showed a tremendous late charge that marked the fastest finish over the last three furlongs to cross the wire in second.

Other Horses:
4th: (10) Dantsu Prius—traveled in mid-pack, checked twice at stretch but showed effort
5th: (7) Tosho Drafter—hugged rails well off the pace, responded well between horses in last 300m
6th: (12) Hakusan Rudolf—traveled 2nd or 3rd from rear, angled wide, showed belated charge
6th: (17) Blanc Bonheur—raced 4-wide around 5th, sustained bid but weakened in last 100m
8th: (14) Brave Smash—sat in mid-division, quickened between horses in last 200m
9th: (15) Stormy Sea—ran 3-wide in mid-group, passed tired rivals at stretch
10th: (9) Shadow Approach—keen and held back in mid-pack, accelerated in last 100m
11th: (8) Immortal—raced in mid-division, met traffic at early stretch, lacked needed kick
12th: (1) Shuji—chased leaders in 3rd or 4th, advanced to 2nd until 100m out, outrun thereafter
13th: (2) Eclat Millenaire—saved ground around 6th, showed brief response, outrun in last 100m
14th: (16) Kaneno Iro—positioned toward rear, even paced at stretch
15th: (11) Personnalite—broke poorly, trailed in far rear, circled wide, never threatened
16th: (3) Urban Kid—stalked leaders in 3rd or 4th, ran gamely until 200m pole, weakened thereafter
17th: (6) Tizona—was off slow, made headway to around 10th, unable to reach contention
18th: (13) Sigerunokogirizame—chased winner in 2nd, ran out of steam 400m out

THE 21ST NHK MILE CUP (G1)
3-year-old Colts & Fillies, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, May 8, 2016   Tokyo Racecourse   11th Race   Post Time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 205,200,000 (about US$ 1,710,000 <US$1=¥120>)
3-y-o: 57 kg (about 126 lbs), 2 kg allowance for Fillies,
2 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2013
Safety factor: 18 runners

1. Major Emblem (JPN), chestnut, filly, 3-year-old
   Daiwa Major / Catchy Title (Opera House)

   Owner: Sunday Racing Co., Ltd.	Breeder: Northern Farm
   Trainer: Yasuhito Tamura	Jockey: Christophe Lemaire
   7 Starts, 5 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 98,864,000	Career earnings: ¥ 243,107,000
   Principal Race Performances:	’15 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1, 1,600m)	1st
   	’16 Queen Cup (G3, 1,600m)	1st

   
   
2. Lord Quest (JPN), bay, colt, 3-year-old
   Matsurida Gogh / Matsurida Waltz (Chief Bearhart)

   Owner: Lord Horse Club	Breeder: Samani Hori Bokujo
   Trainer: Shigeyuki Kojima	Jockey: Kenichi Ikezoe

   
   
3. Rainbow Line (JPN), bay, colt, 3-year-old
   Stay Gold / Regenbogen (French Deputy)

   Owner: Masahiro Mita	Breeder: Northern Racing
   Trainer: Hidekazu Asami	Jockey: Yuichi Fukunaga

* NHK Mile Cup (G1)
While races in Japan for three-year-olds had been programmed mainly to facilitate those aiming towards the middle-long distance three-year-old Classics as typified by the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m), the interest in speed races is growing both within and outside Japan, and earning much respect as the traditional Classics. In 1996, JRA reorganized its races in order to accommodate and promote the three-year-olds suited to short distances, and established the NHK Mile Cup which was named after its sponsor Nippon Hoso Kyokai (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)—Japan’s only public broadcaster. The race was designated as an international race in 2009.
Past NHK Mile Cup winners include subsequent derby winners King Kamehameha (JPN, by Kingmambo; ’04) and Deep Sky (JPN, by Agnes Tachyon; ’08) while El Condor Pasa (USA, by Kingmambo; ’98) and Kurofune (USA, by French Deputy; ’01) won the Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m) and the Japan Cup Dirt (G1, dirt, 2,100m), respectively.
The race featured top milers from the three-year-old generation. Dantsu Prius, Stormy Sea and Eclat Millenaire earned their berth in this race, having finished first second and third, respectively, in the New Zealand Trophy (G2, 1,600m), the NHK Mile Cup trial held on April 9—Rainbow Line finished fifth after claiming the Arlington Cup (G3, 1,600m) on March. Tosho Drafter came off his third consecutive win and first grade-race victory in the Falcon Stakes (G3, 1,400m) on March 19 with Brave Smash, a grade-race winner in the 2015 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup (1,600m) finishing second while 2015 Kokura Nisai Stakes (G3, 1,200m) victor Shuji was 12th.
Coming off their starts in the three-year-old Classics, Major Emblem, who was heavy favorite in the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m) on April 10, was fourth in that race while Blanc Bonheur finished eighth. Lord Quest came off an eighth-place finish in the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m) on April 17.
Also included in this year’s NHK Mile Cup were Immortal, a runner-up in two grade-race starts, and 2015 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1, 1,600m) third-place finisher Shadow Approach.
The race record is held by Danon Chantilly (JPN, by Fuji Kiseki) who covered the 1,600 meter distance in 1:31.4 in 2010.