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Champagne Color Stuns in NHK Mile Cup

Ninth favorite Champagne Color claimed his first graded win in this year’s NHK Mile Cup while notching his third mile-race victory at Tokyo Racecourse. After claiming back-to-back wins in his two starts last season, both over the mile distance at Tokyo, the Duramente colt was sixth in the Keisei Hai (G3, 2,000m) in January and then turned in a third-place finish in the New Zealand Trophy (G2, 1,600m) in April. For trainer Tsuyoshi Tanaka, this marks his sixth JRA-G1 victory (including two G1 steeplechase titles) and first since his Yasuda Kinen win with Logotype in 2016. Jockey Hiroyuki Uchida picked up his 13th JRA-G1 victory, his latest being the 2018 February Stakes with Nonkono Yume, and celebrates his second NHK Mile triumph after claiming it with Pink Cameo in 2007.

Breaking from stall 11, Champagne Color was settled in third to fourth from the rear and three-wide before coming into the lane. Steadily gaining on the leaders in the stretch and rallying with Danon Touchdown at the furlong pole, the chestnut colt took over the lead 100 meters out and pulled away strongly while holding off a fierce late charge by the runner-up.

“The plan was to keep him in about fifth to sixth from the pace, but the competition to position him forwardly was intense and the going was soggy so I didn’t force him to move up front. He came out of the last turn smoothly and responded incredibly well. While waiting for the right moment and watching out for the other runners, I just drove him to the line hoping to reach it first. It’s his third win here at Tokyo—he enjoys the wide and spacious course—and we’re looking forward to seeing him develop with every race he runs this season,” commented Hiroyuki Uchida after the race.

Full sister to 2018 Mile Championship victor Stelvio, eighth pick Umbrail was unhurried in second from the rear early, angled out for a clear path and with the fastest late kick, powered home strongly with every stride but was a head short at the line and was second.

The Arlington Cup victor Obamburumai settled near the rear just behind Champagne Color and in front of Umbrail, circled wide into the lane and picked off his foes one by one with the second fastest late speed. While trying to catch the eventual winner, the third favorite surrendered the runner-up seat just before the wire and finished third.

Race favorite Carro Veloce, under jockey Damian Lane, ran in mid-field in the backstretch, rallied briefly with the winner climbing the stretch hill but failed to keep up in the last furlong and while showing effort, finished fifth. 

Other Horses:
4th: (18) Danon Touchdown—raced 4-wide around 8th, rallied for lead passing 400m pole, took brief lead 200m out but soon overtaken by winner then 3rd-place finisher and runner-up in last 100m
6th: (2) Moryana—sat near winner on rails, angled out at early stretch, improved position
7th: (17) Mississippi Tesoro—traveled 3-wide around 11th, switched further out at early stretch, showed effort
8th: (9) Navona—trailed in rear, showed belated charge to pass tiring rivals
9th: (6) Eeyan—saved ground around 9th, found little room at early stretch, even paced
10th: (16) Tamamo Black Tie—settled around 6th, led 400m out, weakened in last 200m
11th: (5) Sing That Song—sat around 5th on rail, met traffic at early stretch, lacked needed kick
12th: (13) Dolce More—ran around 6th, outrun turning final corner, showed little
13th: (8) Session—tracked leaders around 3rd, failed to sustain bid
14th: (14) Yurisha—raced around 4th, remained in contention until 300m out
15th: (4) Shomon—traveled around 12th near winner, never fired
16th: (7) All Parfait—pressed pace in 2nd, used up due to early effort
17th: (1) From Dusk—set pace, faded after 400m pole
Scratched: (12) Cruzeiro do Sul—due to sickness

THE 28TH NHK MILE CUP (G1)
3-year-olds, Colts & Fillies, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, May 7, 2023           Tokyo Racecourse          11th Race           Post Time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 281,800,000 (about US$ 2,152,000 <US$1=¥131>)
3-y-o: 57 kg (about 126 lbs), 2 kg allowance for Fillies, 2 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2020
Course Record: 1:30.5         Race Record: 1:31.4 [Danon Chantilly (JPN, by Fuji Kiseki), 2010]
Safety factor: 18 runners      Going: Good                  Weather: Rainy

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 16,206,962,700       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 25,515,906,500       Attendance: 28,631

Winner= 5 starts: 3 wins & 1 third / Added money: ¥ 133,780,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 165,487,000

* NHK Mile Cup (G1)

While races in Japan for three-year-olds had been programmed mainly to facilitate those aiming towards the middle-long distance three-year-old Classics as typified by the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m), the interest in speed races is growing both within and outside Japan, and earning much respect as the traditional Classics. In 1996, JRA reorganized its races in order to accommodate and promote the three-year-olds suited to short distances and established the NHK Mile Cup which was named after its sponsor Nippon Hoso Kyokai (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)—Japan’s only public broadcaster. The race was designated as an international race in 2009.
Past NHK Mile Cup winners include subsequent derby winners King Kamehameha (JPN, by Kingmambo; ’04) and Deep Sky (JPN, by Agnes Tachyon; ’08) while El Condor Pasa (USA, by Kingmambo; ’98) and Kurofune (USA, by French Deputy; ’01) won the Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m) and the Japan Cup Dirt (G1, dirt, 2,100m), respectively. 2019 champion Admire Mars (JPN, by Daiwa Major) went on to claim his third G1 title in the Hong Kong Mile (G1, 1,600m) against strong older foes that year.
This year, among the runners were Eeyan, who extended his winning streak to three when claiming one of the two official NHK Mile Cup trials, the New Zealand Trophy (G2, 1,600m, Apr.8), in which he was followed by Umbrail in second and Champagne Color in third, while 2022 the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1, 1,600m) winner and Best Two-Year-Old Colt Dolce More was seventh. The top three finishers in other trial race, the Arlington Cup (G3, 1,600m, Apr.15), also earned their tickets to run—Obamburumai, Session and Shomon—who finished in that order. The field also included Tamamo Black Tie and Carro Veloce, who were first and second, respectively, in the Falcon Stakes (G3, 1,400m, Mar.18) and Sing That Song, victor of the Fillies’ Revue (G2, 1,400m, Mar.12) and seventh-place finisher in the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m, Apr.9). Danon Touchdown, who turned in a runner-up effort in the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes and was 18th in the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m, Apr.16) was also in the field.