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Eighth Favorite Jour Polaire Soars to Victory in Victoria Mile

Unfazed by the pouring rain, five-year-old Jour Polaire dominated a heavy contest in this year’s Victoria Mile and captured her first graded win after being sent off eighth favorite in a field of 18. Debuting in April as a three-year-old, she claimed three wins out of seven starts that year and after landing her first four-year-old start last year, went on to face open class competition where she marked a third in both the Hanshin Himba Stakes (G2, 1,600m) and the Victoria Mile. After claiming another win in her autumn campaign, she capped off the season turning in a 16th in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1, 2,200m). Her first and only start this year was in the Hanshin Himba Stakes on April 7 where she finished fifth. With this victory, trainer Masato Nishizono has now four JRA-G1 titles under his belt, his latest with Sadamu Patek in the 2012 Mile Championship, while jockey Hideaki Miyuki celebrates his first since last year’s Takamatsunomiya Kinen with Seiun Kosei, and seventh overall.

After breaking well, Jour Polaire slightly dropped back to settle two-wide and in mid-division through the backstretch while Kawakita Enka set the early pace. Still seventh to eighth at the top of the straight, the five-year-old bay came down strongly in the middle of the lane, picking off her tired rivals to finally tag Aerolithe and Red Avancer in the final strides while holding off the fast-closing Lys Gracieux right before the wire for the win by a nose.

‟I wasn’t worried about the rain and going getting softer because it was perfect for my mare. I was hoping to race a little more near the pace. She showed a great turn of foot but it was so close, I couldn’t make out if we were beaten by Lys Gracieux from the outside at the end or not,” commented Hideaki Miyuki.

Breaking from a wide stall, race favorite Lys Gracieux was reserved in lower mid-pack, a few lengths behind Jour Polaire in early stretch and, while displaying the fastest late drive, tenaciously chased the eventual winner but had too much ground to make up and finished a nose second, her fourth G1 runner-up effort.

Seventh favorite Red Avancer traveled in fourth to fifth, made most of the clear path that opened at top of the stretch to dig in with full force and inherited the lead from Aerolithe just before the furlong marker, but was caught by the winner and then the favorite just before the line for a close third.

Other Horses:
4th: (10) Aerolithe―advanced to 3rd, rallied for lead at 300m out, outrun in last 100m
5th: (2) Miss Panthere―traveled in 9th, met traffic at early stretch, quickened in last 200m
6th: (1) Let’s Go Donki―took economic trip in 7th, switched outside for clear path 300m out, rallied
7th: (9) Soul Stirring―raced in 10th, turned wide, lacked needed kick
8th: (11) Admire Lead―saved ground in 11th, quickened after 200m marker, was too late
9th: (13) One to One―traveled 3rd from rear, showed belated charge in last 200m
10th: (5) Reine Minoru―hugged rails in 4th, ran gamely until 100m out
11th: (18) Maids of Honour―ran wide around 15th, passed tired rivals in last 200m
12th: (17) Denko Ange―raced wide around 12th, lacked needed kick at stretch
13th: (3) Rabbit Run―settled around 6th, failed to respond at stretch
14th: (7) Kawakita Enka―set pace, sustained bid until 200m out, dropped back
15th: (14) Rieno Tesoro―pressed pace in 2nd or 3rd, weakened after 200m pole
16th: (15) Dea Regalo―sat 2nd from rear, showed brief effort, even paced in last 300m
17th: (12) Eterna Minoru―traveled around 14th, showed little along rails at stretch
18th: (8) Queen’s Milagro―broke poorly, trailed in rear, no factor

THE 13TH VICTORIA MILE (G1)
4-year-old & up, Fillies & Mares, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, May 13, 2018    Tokyo Racecourse     11th Race        Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 226,800,000 (about US$ 2,062,000 <US$1=¥110>)
4-y-o & up: 55kg (about 121 lbs), 1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2014
Safety factor: 18 runners

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

1. 1.Jour Polaire (JPN), bay, mare, 5-year-old
   Deep Impact / Summer Night City (Helissio)
   

   Owner: G1 Racing Co., Ltd.	Breeder: Shadai Corporation Inc.
   Trainer: Masato Nishizono	Jockey: Hideaki Miyuki
   14 Starts, 6 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 108,780,000	Career earnings: ¥ 224,401,000

   
   
2. 2.Lys Gracieux (JPN), dark bay or brown, filly, 4-year-old
   Heart's Cry / Liliside (American Post)
   

   Owner: U. Carrot Farm	Breeder: Northern Farm
   Trainer: Yoshito Yahagi	Jockey: Yutaka Take

   
   
3. 3.Red Avancer (JPN), dark bay or brown, mare, 5-year-old
   Deep Impact / Erimo Pixy (Dancing Brave)
   

   Owner: TokyoHorseRacing Co., Ltd	Breeder: Hidetoshi Yamamoto
   Trainer: Hidetaka Otonashi	Jockey: Yuichi Kitamura

* Victoria Mile (G1)
In accordance with the restructuring of JRA racing program for fillies/mares executed in the 2006 season, the Victoria Mile was established to give the older fillies/mares a stage to prove their ability among their own sex, in addition to the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, which had been the only G1 reserved for older fillies/mares. While the Queen Elizabeth is run over 2,200 meters and held in mid-November, the Victoria Mile is held in spring and provides female milers a chance to claim a G1 title without having a tough competition in a mixed field.
The race, however, attracts not only fillies/mares suited to the mile distance but also outstanding runners from the middle-long distance group. Past victors include two-time Horse of the Year winner Vodka (JPN, by Tanino Gimlet; ’09), 2010 Horse of the Year Buena Vista (JPN, by Special Week; ’10) and 2010 fillies’ Triple Crown winner Apapane (JPN, by King Kamehameha; ’11). Meanwhile, both Verxina (JPN, by Deep Impact) and Straight Girl (JPN, by Fuji Kiseki) claimed consecutive Victoria Mile titles in 2013-14 and 2015-16, respectively, and the latter set the race record of 1:31.5 in 2016.
The top three finishers will earn automatic starting positions in the French G1 Prix Jacques le Marois (1,600m) where not only will they be exempted from paying registration fee but will be given a total of €20,000 as a transportation subsidy.
Among the stellar female line-up this year, some had come off their Hanshin Himba Stakes (G2, 1,600m; Apr.7) starts, such as: winner Miss Panthere who claimed her third consecutive graded title in the race following the Turquoise Stakes (G3, 1,600m; Dec.16) and the Kyoto Himba Stakes (G3, 1,400m; Feb.17); the Tokyo Shimbun Hai (G3, 1,600m; Feb.4) winner Lys Gracieux who was a head-and-neck third; last year’s Victoria Mile champion Admire Lead and third-place finisher Jour Polaire finished fourth and fifth, respectively; 2017 Best Three-Year-Old Filly Soul Stirring was defeated to a disappointing 10th. Meanwhile, the contenders from the Fukushima Himba Stakes (G3, 1,800m; Apr.21) were: runner-up Kawakita Enka who won the Nakayama Himba Stakes (G3, 1,800m; Mar.10) earlier, and third-place finisher Denko Ange, last year’s Victoria Mile runner-up. The field also included 2017 Victoria Mile (G1, 1,600m) champion Aerolithe who came off a second in the Nakayama Kinen (G2, 1,800m; Feb.25), and two Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m) victors Let’s Go Donki (’15) and Reine Minoru (’17) who recently finished second and seventh, respectively, in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1, 1,200m; Mar.25).