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Rainbow Line Captures Much-Awaited First G1 Title in This Year's Tenno Sho (Spring)

Second favorite Rainbow Line registered his first G1 victory in this year’s Tenno Sho (Spring). The son of Stay Gold claimed his first graded victory in the Arlington Cup (G3, 1,600m) in his three-year-old season and marked a third and a second in his G1 challenges, the NHK Mile Cup (1,600m) and the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, 3,000m), respectively, the same year. While his best performance last year was a third in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1, 2,000m), he registered his first win in 13 starts this year in the previous Hanshin Daishoten (G2, 3,000m). Trainer Hidekazu Asami captured his fifth JRA-G1 victory following his win in the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) with Reginetta in 2008 and jockey Yasunari Iwata landed his 25th G1 title following his Oka Sho win with Let’s Go Donki in 2015. This marked the second Tenno Sho (Spring) victory for both the trainer and jockey, following the first title with Mejiro Bright in 1998 and Admire Jupiter in 2008, respectively.

Breaking smoothly from stall 12, Rainbow Line eased back and sat around 11th as Yamakatsu Raiden rushed out to take command. As the field that spread into a long line through the backstretch started to close in rounding the last corners, the son of Stay Gold took a wide turn and briefly met traffic entering the lane. Finding room on the inside, veteran jockey Yasunari Iwata threaded his mount between horses, and once coming within the range of the race favorite who had inherited the lead at the top of the stretch, the bay unleashed an incredible stretch drive to pin the race favorite 100 meters out and pulled away for a neck victory. After the race, Rainbow Line was found to have lameness in his right foreleg and was transported without making a victory run.

“While our rivals were making early moves in the backstretch, my mount waited patiently, and I knew he had the needed late kick to reach the front before the wire. I’m worried about the horse. I just hope he’ll be able to run in the next race,” commented jockey Yasunari Iwata. “It’s great that he was able to win the race but I’m concerned about his condition after the race. I hope to give him the best care as possible so that he can recover for his next race,” added trainer Hidekazu Asami.

Odds on favorite Cheval Grand traveled right outside Ganko in fourth and made bid turning the last corner to take command at the top of the stretch. While sustaining bid for his second G1 title, the son of Heart’s Cry was unable to fend off the strong challenge by Rainbow Line but managed to cross the wire before Clincher in second.

Fourth pick Clincher broke well and settle in mid-division, around eighth from the front. The Deep Sky colt steadily advanced forward approaching the last two corners to position himself behind Cheval Grand and, though briefly weakening at the top of the stretch, found another gear to pursue the race favorite to the wire. Clincher’s connections have decided to send the bay colt to France and race him in the Prix Foy and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe this autumn.

Other Horses:
4th: (1) Mikki Rocket―saved ground in 7th, accelerated along rails at stretch, weakened in final strides
5th: (2) Chestnut Coat―traveled in 9th, switched to outside and advanced at backstretch, showed effort
6th: (15) Tosen Basil―raced in 10th, advanced before 3rd corner (2nd lap), ran gamely until 100m out
7th: (16) Smart Layer―trailed in rear, angled wide, 2nd fastest over last 3 furlongs, was too late
8th: (14) Albert―unhurried in 14th early, improved position at backstretch, turned wide, lacked needed kick
9th: (3) Shiho―settled 3rd from rear, showed belated charge, unable to reach contention
10th: (5) Yamakatsu Raiden―set pace, widened gap, led until final corner, gradually fell back
11th: (13) Toshin Monstera―sat 2nd from rear, passed tired rivals at stretch
12th: (10) Satono Chronicle―ran in 12th early, made headway at backstretch, checked at early stretch
13th: (9) Sole Impact―traveled in 6th, failed to respond along rails at stretch
14th: (6) Ganko―took economic trip in 3rd, led briefly at early stretch, dropped back after 300m out
15th: (7) Ping Pong―saved ground in 14th, showed little at stretch
16th: (4) Curren Mirotic―hugged rails in 5th, overtaken by rivals after 3rd corner (2nd lap)
17th: (17) Tomiken Slava―advanced to 2nd from widest stall, fell back at backstretch, faded

THE 157TH TENNO SHO (SPRING) (G1)
4-year-old & up, 3,200 meters (about 16 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, April 29, 2018      Kyoto Racecourse       11th Race        Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 325,000,000 (about US$ 2,955,000 <US$1=¥110>)
4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares,
1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2014
Safety factor: 18 runners

FP=Final Position / BK=Bracket Number / PP=Post Position / B=Blinker / Wgt=Weight / L3F=Time of Last 3 Furlongs (600m)
DS=Distance

1. 1.Rainbow Line (JPN), bay, horse, 5-year-old
   Stay Gold / Regenbogen (French Deputy)
   

   Owner: Masahiro Mita	Breeder: Northern Racing
   Trainer: Hidekazu Asami	Jockey: Yasunari Iwata
   22 Starts, 5 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 153,570,000	Career earnings: ¥ 450,466,000

   
   
2. 2.Cheval Grand (JPN), chestnut, horse, 6-year-old
   Heart's Cry / Halwa Sweet (Machiavellian)
   

   Owner: Kazuhiro Sasaki	Breeder: Northern Racing
   Trainer: Yasuo Tomomichi	Jockey: Hugh Bowman

   
   
3. 3.Clincher (JPN), bay, colt, 4-year-old
   Deep Sky / The Fates (Brian's Time)
   

   Owner: Koji Maeda	Breeder: Hirayama Bokujo
   Trainer: Hiroshi Miyamoto	Jockey: Kosei Miura

* Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1)
The forerunner of the Tenno Sho was established in 1905 under the name “Emperor’s Cup”, in which the winner received the silver comport bestowed by the Emperor. The race was renamed to “Teishitsu Goshoten Kyoso” the following year. The race became biannual events—held at Hanshin in spring and at Tokyo in autumn—a year after the establishment of the Japan Racing Society (the forerunner of the Japan Racing Association) in 1936, and was officially named the “Tenno Sho” since the autumn of 1947. The Tenno Sho (Spring) became the ultimate competition to determine the champion stayer, having altered its distance to 3,200 meters in 1938 while its counterpart in autumn run over 2,000 meters is one of the biggest middle-distance event contested between the proven older horses with the addition of the three-year-old hopefuls. The venue of the spring version was also moved to Kyoto Racecourse in 1948.
The Tenno Sho (Spring) was designated as an international race in 2005 and welcomed Makybe Diva (GB, by Desert King) of Australia as the first foreign contender the same year. She finished seventh to Suzuka Mambo (JPN, by Sunday Silence) and subsequently went on to make history back home by winning her third consecutive Melbourne Cup (G1, 3,200m). Red Cadeaux (GB, Cadeaux Genereux) was the latest foreign contender of this race in 2014, running for the second time after finishing third in the 2013 edition, but was unable to perform over the firm turf and finished 14th.
Key contenders coming off following lead-up races were: Hanshin Daishoten (G2, 3,000m; Mar.18)—winner Rainbow Line who claimed his second graded title, runner-up Satono Chronicle, Kyoto Kinen (G2, 2,200m; Feb.11) victor Clincher (3rd), Albert (4th) who has four graded titles over 3,400m and Curren Mirotic (5th) who finished second and third in the 2015 and 2016 Tenno Sho (Spring), respectively; Nikkei Sho (G2, 2,500m: Mar.24)—winner Ganko who claimed his first grade-race title, runner-up Chestnut Coat and 2017 Hong Kong Vase (G1, 2,400m) third-place finisher Tosen Basil who was fifth; Osaka Hai (G1, 2,000m; Apr.1)—four-time graded winner Smart Layer (9th) and 2017 Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m) victor Cheval Grand (13th).
The race record of 3:12.5 was set by two-time Horse of the Year Kitasan Black (JPN, by Black Tide) in 2017, his second consecutive win in this race.