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Favorite Liberty Island Wins Hanshin Juvenile Fillies

Liberty Island captured her first grade-race victory and G1 title in this year’s Hanshin Juvenile Fillies. Debuting in July at Niigata over 1,600 meters, the filly won by an overwhelming three lengths margin and just missed by neck to Ravel in her following start in the Artemis Stakes (G3, 1,600m) at Tokyo Racecourse on October 29 despite meeting traffic at the stretch. Trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida claimed his fifth JRA-G1 title and second in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies after Danon Fantasy in 2018—his latest G1 victory was with Serifos in the Mile Championship last month. Jockey Yuga Kawada, whose latest JRA-G1 victory was in the NHK Mile Cup with Danon Scorpion this year, has now accumulated 21 JRA-G1 titles with the win.

Liberty Island broke smoothly and sat between horses in mid-field. Gradually making headway along the outside towards the final corner, the Duramente filly showed a different class accelerating effortlessly and pinning the leader soon after the 200-meter pole then continued to pull away to win comfortably by 2-1/2 lengths.

“I am happy that the filly was able to show her performance at its best today. I just let the filly choose the position within the field that she felt comfortable in and concentrated on maintaining the good flow and rhythm during the trip. She cruised along smoothly and her response when asked was just as I had imagined so I was quite confident that she would make it to the finish line. She has progressed well, including her loss last time out, towards winning this big championship race and she has given us a promising view on what to expect and aim for in her coming future,” commented jockey Yuga Kawada.

12th favorite Shinryokuka, coming off just one win out of as many starts in October this year, chased the pace in a forward position two-wide around sixth to eighth position, entered the stretch along the ground-saving route while keeping up with the increasing pace and found another gear to split horses inside the furlong pole to out-rally her foes for second place.

Coming off a win and two runner-up efforts (the latter at G3 level), 10th favorite Doe Eyes was rated two-wide, a few lengths behind the eventual winner, then guided towards the inside route approaching the final corner and reached contention 200 meters out to close impressively for third place.

Other Horses:
4th: (4) Aroma de Rosa—raced forwardly around 6th on rail, ran willingly until 100m out but failed to secure third place
5th: (10) Mississippi Tesoro—stalked winner early and into straight, passed rivals while unable to threaten leaders
6th: (16) Dura—ran in rear after slow break, showed belated charge between horses
7th: (1) Santee Tesoro—set pace, showed tenacity after surrendering lead, weakened in last 100m
8th: (8) Aim in Life—took economic trip around 15th, passed tired rivals
9th: (6) Miss Yokohama—saved ground around 10th, lacked needed kick
10th: (14) Bouton d'Or—unhurried in 14th, even paced at stretch
11th: (18) Ravel—broke poorly, trailed in rear, had too much ground to make up
12th: (5) Moryana—settled around 6th, switched to outside at early stretch, gradually fell back
13th: (11) Itinerator—tracked leader in 2nd, remained in contention until 200m out
14th: (2) Kita Wing—raced around 5th on rails, ran gamely up to 200m marker
15th: (17) Umbrail—was off slowly, traveled 3-wide around 15th, never fired
16th: (7) Haupia—hugged rails around 12th, showed little at stretch
17th: (15) Moon Probe—sat 4-wide in 4th, outrun after final corner
18th: (12) Rivara—prominent early, faded after 200m pole

THE 74TH HANSHIN JUVENILE FILLIES (G1)
2-year-olds, Fillies, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, December 11, 2022     Hanshin Racecourse        11th Race     Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 140,200,000 (about US$ 1,220,000 <US$1=¥115>)
2-y-o: 54kg (about 119 lbs), 3 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2020
Course Record: 1:32.3              Race Record: 1:32.7 [Resistencia (JPN, by Daiwa Major), 2019]
Safety factor: 18 runners           Going: Good to Firm       Weather: Fine

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 14,155,670,900       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 22,252,990,100       Attendance: 12,768

Winner= 3 starts: 2 wins, 1 second / Added money: ¥ 66,330,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 85,432,000

* Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1)

Races for two-year-olds were held for the first time in 1946 at Tokyo. As the number of contenders increased, championship races that determine the top two-year-olds of the season—the Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes (predecessor to the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes) and the Hanshin Sansai Stakes (predecessor to the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies)—were established in eastern and western Japan, respectively, in 1949. The two races were designated G1 status in conjunction with the new grading system implemented in 1984. In 1991, the two races were divided by gender into two separate G1 events; the Hanshin Sansai Himba Stakes for two-year-old fillies and the Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes for two-year-old colts and geldings, then renamed “Hanshin Juvenile Fillies” and “Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes”, respectively, in 2001. The Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, which initially started as a 1,200-meter sprint race, was extended to 1,400 meters in 1960 and to 1,600 meters in 1962. In 2010, the race was opened to foreign runners.
Past winners of the race include many successful G1 champions such as 2006 winner and 2008 & 2009 Horse of the Year Vodka (JPN, by Tanino Gimlet); 2008 champion and 2010 Horse of the Year Buena Vista (JPN, by Special Week); and 2009 champion Apapane (JPN, by King Kamehameha) who subsequently won the Triple Crown titles for three-year-old fillies—the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m), the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1, 2,400m) and the Shuka Sho (G1, 2,000m)—in 2010. Sodashi (JPN, by Kurofune) became the first white horse to claim a JRA-G1 title when winning this race in 2020 and subsequently added G1 titles in the Oka Sho in the following year and the Victoria Mile this year.
This year’s field included Ravel, who came off her first graded victory in the Artemis Stakes (G3, 1,600m, Oct.29) undefeated in her only two career starts—Liberty Island finished second in the race. Rivara had marked an upset victory in the Fantasy Stakes (G3, 1,400m, Nov.5) with Hakodate Nisai Stakes (G3, 1,200m, Jul.16) victor Bouton d'Or 1-1/4-length behind in second. The field also included Mississippi Tesoro, Moryana, Kita Wing, Dura and Umbrail, respective winners of the Dahlia Sho (Open Class, 1,400m), the Cosmos Sho (Open Class, 1,800m, Aug.13), the Niigata Nisai Stakes (G3, 1,600m, Aug.28), the Sapporo Nisai Stakes (G3, 1,800m, Sep.3) and the Momiji Stakes (Open Class, 1,400m, Oct.16).