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Fifth Favorite Normcore Stormed to Victory with Record Time in This Year's Victoria Mile

Fifth pick Normcore captured her first G1 title in track record of 1:30.5, shortening the record time by as much as 0.8 seconds. Winning both her two starts as a two-year-old, the Harbinger filly was unable to race in the classics, finishing third in the first two graded starts of her three-year-old season. Her first graded title came in the Shion Stakes (G3, 2,000m) in September and she was fifth in her first G1 attempt in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in November. This year, Normcore came off a second and a seventh in two G3 races in January and March, respectively. This win marked trainer Kiyoshi Hagiwara’s third JRA-G1 title following his win in the Champions Cup with Le Vent Se Leve last year. For Australia-based Damian Lane, who has been riding in Japan under a short-term license since the end of April, this marked his first G1 title and third graded title for JRA following the Niigata Daishoten (G3) and the Keio Hai Spring Cup (G2).

Breaking smoothly from stall four, Normcore traveled two-wide in mid-division, around seventh from frontrunner Aerolithe who set a rapid pace. Entering the lane behind Lucky Lilac, the Harbinger filly swung to the outside and unleashed a powerful turn of speed, passing her rivals one by one including the race favorite. The four-year-old gray took the front 100 meters out and held off the fast-closing Primo Scene to cross the wire in record time.

“It feels great to win a G1 in Japan. She handled the mile great. I think the tempo of the mile really suited her and she traveled lovely and really finished strong. I always felt she was going to finish the race strong and she was going to be right there but I just didn’t know whether there were going to be good horses coming from behind but she was good enough to hold them off,” commented jockey Damian Lane.

Fourth choice Primo Scene traveled behind Normcore in around tenth and, though meeting traffic entering the lane, threaded through the horses to make bid from the outside. The Deep Impact filly produced an impressive burst of speed that marked the fastest of the field in the last three furlongs but was a neck short of the winner at the wire.

Eleventh pick Crocosmia made a clear start and hugged the rails in fifth. The Stay Gold mare surged out behind Lucky Lilac with 400 meters to go and won out a strong rally with the race favorite in the last 200 meters to come in third.

Race favorite Lucky Lilac waited in 5-6th from the front, made bid with a clear path at the top of the lane and diligently passed her rivals but was overtaken by the eventual winner and the runner-up in the last 100 meters and also by Crocosmia before the wire with a nose margin.

Other Horses:
5th: (11) Aerolithe—set fast pace, sustained lead but overtaken by top 4 finishers 100m out
6th: (10) Mieno Succeed—took economic trip towards rear, showed good charge, 2nd fastest over last 3 furlongs
7th: (17) Sound Chiara—lost ground in mid-pack, switched to outside at early stretch, passed tired rivals
8th: (7) Mikki Charm—chased leader in 2nd or 3rd, weakened after passing 200m marker
9th: (16) Soul Stirring—settled in 4th from wide draw, lacked needed kick in last 200m
10th: (14) Let’s Go Donki—sat 3rd from rear, showed belated charge at stretch
11th: (2) Red Olga—saved ground inside eventual winner, met traffic 150m out, lost momentum
12th: (8) Denko Ange—was off a bit slow, raced towards rear, quickened in last 200m
13th: (13) Satono Walkure—ran 3-wide 2nd from rear, passed tired rivals at stretch
14th: (1) Amalfi Coast—tracked leader in 2nd or 3rd, ran gamely until 200m pole, outrun thereafter
15th: (18) Frontier Queen—traveled 3-wide in mid-group, gradually fell back at stretch
16th: (12) One to One—trailed in far rear, angled out, unable to reach contention
17th: (5) Meisho Owara—hugged rails in mid-division, never fired at stretch
18th: (15) Cantabile—positioned outside winner, faded after 4th corner

THE 14TH VICTORIA MILE (G1)
4-year-old & up, Fillies & Mares, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, May 12, 2019    Tokyo Racecourse     11th Race        Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 226,800,000(about US$ 1,972,000 <US$1=¥115>)
4-y-o & up: 55kg (about 121 lbs), 1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2015
Safety factor: 18 runners

1. 1.Normcore (JPN), gray, filly, 4-year-old
   Harbinger / Chronologist (Kurofune)
   

   Owner: Seiichi Iketani	Breeder: Northern Racing
   Trainer: Kiyoshi Hagiwara	Jockey: Damian Lane
   9 Starts, 4 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 108,822,000	Career earnings: ¥ 208,258,000

   
   
2. 2.Primo Scene (JPN), dark bay or brown, filly, 4-year-old
   Deep Impact / Mosheen (Fastnet Rock)
   

   Owner: Silk Racing Co., Ltd.	Breeder: Northern Racing
   Trainer: Tetsuya Kimura	Jockey: Yuichi Fukunaga

   
   
3. 3.Crocosmia (JPN), dark bay or brown, mare, 6-year-old
   Stay Gold / Developpe (Boston Harbor)
   

   Owner: Ryoichi Otsuka	Breeder: Hideo Takadaru
   Trainer: Katsuichi Nishiura	Jockey: Keita Tosaki

* Victoria Mile

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.
The key runners that came off prep races were: from the Nakayama Himba Stakes (G3, 1,800m; Mar.9), Frontier Queen (1st) and Normcore (7th); from the Hanshin Himba Stakes (G2, 1,600m; Apr.6), Mikki Charm (1st) who finished second behind Almond Eye (JPN, by Lord Kanaloa) in the 2018 Shuka Sho (G1, 2,000m), Cantabile (6th), Red Olga (7th) and 2017 Best Two-Year-Old Filly Lucky Lilac (8th); and from the Fukushima Himba Stakes (G3, 1,800m; Apr.20), Denko Ange (1st). The field also included 2017 NHK Mile Cup (G1, 1,600m) victor Aerolithe who was ninth in the Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1, 1,900m; Jan.26) in the U.S., 2015 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m) champion Let’s Go Donki, two-time graded winner Primo Scene who came off a second in the Lord Derby Challenge Trophy (G3, 1,600m; Mar.30) and 2017 Best Three-Year-Old Filly Soul Stirring.