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Songline Defends Yasuda Kinen Title

Fourth favorite Songline has now become the third horse in JRA history, following Yamanin Zephyr (1992-93) and Vodka (2008-09), to score a second straight Yasuda Kinen victory. Including her G1 Victoria Mile triumph just three weeks before, this is the Kizuna mare’s third G1 title and fifth graded win, and she is 5-1-0 out of seven mile-race starts at Tokyo. Trainer Toru Hayashi and jockey Keita Tosaki are both fresh from celebrating their recent Victoria Mile victory with the mare and for Hayashi, this marks his third JRA-G1 title and for Tosaki, his 11th, which includes the 2011 Yasuda Kinen with Real Impact.

Breaking from the farthest stall, Songline camped three-wide and in around eighth to ninth from pacesetter Win Carnelian, who led the field with fifth pick Jack d’Or on his tail all the way into the homestretch. With the second fastest last three-furlong speed, the defending champion steadily climbed uphill, powered home seizing the lead easily from Serifos in the last half furlong and pulled away in the final strides for a 1-1/4-length win.

‟I was able to gallop her last week and felt that her form had improved, so I had every confidence in her today. The position we found was ideal, she responded beautifully and demonstrated her strong turn of foot and speed today. To score two G1 wins in a row is just incredible and I feel she is still steadily progressing,” commented Keita Tosaki.

Third pick and 2022 Mile Championship victor Serifos settled around fifth on the rails after a good break, launched a strong stretch drive after finding a narrow opening 300 meters out and overtook Jack d’Or for the lead, but was soon outrun by the winner on his outside while holding off the fast-closing favorite to finish second.

Race favorite and last year’s runner-up Schnell Meister, under Christophe Lemaire, cruised down the backstretch unhurried in third from last. The German-bred bay responded well with the fastest late speed, and mowed down his tired rivals one by one, but failed catch the front while digging in for a head third and warding off Gaia Force by a neck.

Other Horses:
4th: (7) Gaia Force—sat inside winner around 9th, quickened on winner’s heel while denied third place by Schnell Meister just before wire
5th: (3) Jack d’Or—stalked leaders in 3rd, inherited lead at 400m pole, outrun in last 100m
6th: (13) Red Mon Reve—traveled 3-wide around 12th, passed one by one, needed more
7th: (5) Sodashi—tracked leaders in 3rd, sustained bid until 150m out
8th: (17) Win Carnelian—set pace from wide draw, showed tenacity until 100m out
9th: (10) Soul Rush—ran around 12th on rails, lacked needed kick
10th: (11) Elusive Panther—settled behind winner around 12th, never threatened
11th: (15) Matenro Orion—unhurried and trailed in rear, angled out to pass tiring rivals
12th: (16) Cafe Pharoah—chased leaders 3-wide around 4th, remained in contention up to 200m pole
13th: (6) Danon Scorpion—raced around 6th, showed effort up to 200m pole
14th: (9) Champagne Color—sat 3-wide around 6th, gradually fell back
15th: (2) Meikei Yell—saved ground around 9th, unable to reach contention
16th: (12) Namur—checked at break, raced around 15th, met traffic 300m out
17th: (1) Naran Huleg—broke poorly, hugged rails near rear, never fired
18th: (8) Dolce More—traveled around 5th, outrun after 3rd corner

THE 73RD YASUDA KINEN (G1)
3-year-olds & up, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, June 4, 2023           Tokyo Racecourse          11th Race           Post Time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 388,800,000 (about US$ 2,968,000 <US$1=¥131>)
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 2019, 2kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2020
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: ¥ 22,379,471,800       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 33,797,188,500       Attendance: 64,638

Winner= 15 starts: 7 wins, 2 seconds & 1 third / Added money: ¥ 183,780,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 764,835,300

* 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).
This year, defending champion Songline came into the race straight from her second G1 victory in the Victoria Mile (G1, 1,600m, May.14), where she beat three-time G1 victor Sodashi by a head. Coming off a fifth in his one and only start of the season, the Dubai Turf (G1, 1,800m, Mar.25), was Best Sprinter or Miler of 2022 Serifos, along with Osaka Hai (G1, 2,000m, Apr.2) victor Jack d’Or who made his mile-race debut in this race. 2021 NHK Mile Cup (G1, 1,600m) winner Schnell Meister had come off his third graded victory in the Milers Cup (G2, 1,600m, Apr.23), as well as Red Mon Reve who recently claimed the Keio Hai Spring Cup (G2, 1,400m, May.13). The field also included G1 winners such as Cafe Pharoah (2021&2022 February Stakes [dirt, 1,600m]), Naran Huleg (2022 Takamatsunomiya Kinen [1,200m]) and Danon Scorpion (2022 NHK Mile Cup), as well as two three-year-old colts Champagne Color (2023 NHK Mile Cup) and Dolce More (2022 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes [1,600m]).