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Songline Secures First Grade One Victory in Yasuda Kinen

Fourth favorite Songline bounced back from her latest Victoria Mile (G1, 1,600m) fifth-place finish to land her first G1 victory in this year’s Yasuda Kinen. Finishing a nose second to Schnell Meister in last year’s NHK Mile Cup (G1, 1,600m), the Kizuna filly turned the tables this time holding off the German-bred colt by a neck. Following the 2021 Fuji Stakes (G2, 1,600m) and this year’s 1351 Turf Sprint (G3), this marks the filly’s third grade-race title. Winning trainer Toru Hayashi, who opened his yard in 2018, celebrates his fifth grade-race victory and first JRA-G1 title while jockey Kenichi Ikezoe has now 27 G1 wins—his latest was with Gran Alegria in the 2020 Yasuda Kinen.

After breaking sharply from stall 13, Songline was settled behind Salios and in front of Schnell Meister in mid-pack as the field cruised down the backstretch in a leisurely pace. Making headway while shifting to the outside before the last corner, the Kizuna filly unleashed a good and tenacious stretch drive, finally catching Salios in the last half furlong and held off Schnell Meister, who dug in with great force from behind, to clear the wire first.

“I’m just relieved and happy that I was able to live up to the team’s expectations. It was a tight schedule for the filly but the staff at the stables prepared her remarkably. She broke well and I decided to settle her behind Salios who rushed up in front of us. Trying not to make the same mistake as last time, we made an early bid before the last corner and she responded well and stretched all the way for a strong finish,” commented Kenichi Ikezoe.

Second pick and G1 winner Schnell Meister broke well but was settled in mid-division under jockey Christophe Lemaire after a bit keen in the backstretch. Boxed in after rounding for home, the son of Kingman struggled to find room climbing the hill and finally shot out between horses to overtake Salios at the same time Songline did on the other side but was a neck short in second.

Eighth favorite Salios, under Damian Lane, took a wide trip around seventh just in front of the eventual winner, responded well to rally for the lead but weakened in the last 100 meters and gave way to Songline and then the fast-closing Schnell Meister in the last strides for third.

Race favorite Elusive Panther trailed near the rear before hitting the straight in a wide move and quickened in the last 200 meters while clocking the fastest late kick but had too much ground to make up and finished eighth.

Other Horses:
4th: (15) Serifos—sat near eventual winner, showed effort but failed to close in on leaders
5th: (7) Fine Rouge—ran forwardly around 5th, ran willingly while no match for top finishers
6th: (4) Danon the Kid—stalked leader in 2nd, took lead 300m out, weakened in last 100m
7th: (10) Air Lolonois—positioned near rear, angled out, showed fastest late drive but belatedly
9th: (18) Naran Huleg—unhurried around 15th, passed tiring rivals at stretch
10th: (3) Lotus Land—raced around 9th, struggled to find clear path at early stretch, even paced
11th: (16) Resistencia—rallied for lead but eased back to 5-6th, ran gamely until 100m out
12th: (5) Ho O Amazon—set pace, showed tenacity on rails until 200m marker, weakened thereafter
13th: (14) Soul Rush—traveled around 13th, showed response but met traffic 200m out, lost momentum
14th: (12) Diatonic—tracked leaders around 3rd while keen to go, outrun in last 200m
15th: (2) Vin de Garde—saved ground around 7th, lacked needed kick
16th: (6) Karate—took economic trip around 10th, showed little at stretch
17th: (1) Cafe Pharoah—chased leaders around 3rd, faded after 200m pole
18th: (11) Catedral—was off a bit slow, trailed in rear, no factor

THE 72ND YASUDA KINEN (G1)
3-year-olds & up, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, June 5, 2022           Tokyo Racecourse          11th Race           Post Time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 388,800,000 (about US$ 3,381,000 <US$1=¥115>)
3-y-o: 54kg (about 119 lbs), 4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares,
1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2018, 2kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2019
Course Record: 1:30.5         Race Record: 1:30.9 [Indy Champ (JPN, by Stay Gold), 2019]
Safety factor: 18 runners      Going: Good to Firm       Weather: Cloudy

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 22,229,119,400       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 33,368,170,900       Attendance: 32,471

Winner= 11 starts: 5 wins, 2 seconds, 1 third / Added money: ¥ 183,822,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 441,669,300

* Yasuda Kinen (G1)

The Yasuda Kinen, a race to determine the best miler of the spring season, has welcomed just over 50 foreign-trained horses since its designation as an international race in 1993, including 1995 champion Heart Lake (GB, by Nureyev) from the UAE, 2000 winner Fairy King Prawn (AUS, by Danehill) from Hong Kong and the winner of the 2006 Champions Mile-Yasuda Kinen double, Bullish Luck (USA, by Royal Academy). The race joined the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series in 2016, enabling its winners to earn automatic starting position in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1, 1,600m), while the first three finishers of this race are eligible to start in the French mile G1s, the Prix Jacques le Marois and the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp. This year, the race was held in celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of the first President of the JRA, Izaemon Yasuda, whom the race is named after.
Past Yasuda Kinen winners that have subsequently become the season’s Horse of the Year include Oguri Cap (JPN, by Dancing Cap; ’90), Taiki Shuttle (USA, by Devil’s Bag; ’98), Vodka (JPN, by Tanino Gimlet; ’08 &’09), Lord Kanaloa (JPN, by King Kamehameha; ’13) and Maurice (JPN, by Screen Hero; ’15).
Runners this year included Soul Rush who marked his fourth consecutive win in the Milers Cup (G2, 1,600m, Apr.24), one of the preps towards this G1 event, and Ho O Amazon who followed in second. Elusive Panther, Cafe Pharoah and Naran Huleg came off their respective wins in the Tokyo Shimbun Hai (G3, 1,600m, Feb.6), the February Stakes (G1, dirt, 1,600m, Feb.20) and the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1, 1,200m, Mar.27). Victoria Mile (G1, 1,600m, May.15) finishers that were among the lineup were Fine Rouge (2nd), Resistencia (3rd) and Songline (5th). 2020 Best Two-Year-Old Colt Danon the Kid, Vin de Garde and Schnell Meister (8th) who came off third and eighth, respectively, in the Dubai Turf (G1, 1,800m, Mar.26) were also in the field along with Lotus Land, runner-up in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, and Salios, victor of 2019 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1, 1,600m).