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Race Favorite T O Royal Claimes First G1 Title in Tenno Sho (Spring)

Six-year-old T O Royal claimed this year’s Tenno Sho (Spring) and marked his first G1 title while extending his winning streak to three. Debuting in December 2020 of his two-year-old season, he captured his first graded title in the Diamond Stakes (G3, 3,400m) in February 2022 and finished third in the following Tenno Sho (Spring). After a disappointing 14th in the Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m) the same year, he was sidelined for almost a year due to a fracture in his right hind leg. Returning to racing last November, the son of Leontes came into this race, winning both his two starts this year, the Diamond Stakes and the Hanshin Daishoten (G2, 3,000m). Trainer Inao Okada, who opened his yard in 2003, claimed his ninth graded win and first G1 title in JRA, while jockey Yuji Hishida also registered his first G1 victory and eighth grade-race title in his 13th season.

Breaking sharply from stall 14, T O Royal settled around fourth from the frontrunner while eyeing Durezza on the inside. Stalking the second favorite for most of the trip, the Leontes bay steered to the outside in the final two corners to make bid, passing Durezza and other frontrunners one by one, and finally nailed the leader at the top of the homestretch. While Durezza lost momentum after entering the lane and faded to 15th, T O Royal accelerated strongly with an impressive turn of speed and easily pulled away for a two-length victory.

“The horse raced in good rhythm and responded well going downhill after the third corner. So, we were able to turn the last corner comfortably and slip out of the pack with ease. I’m really happy to have won this race because I decided to become a jockey when I saw this race 20 years ago,” commented Yuji Hishida.

Fifth pick Blow the Horn traveled two-wide around 12th, made headway turning the third corner in the second lap wide and launched a tremendous late charge that marked the fastest last three furlongs to pass all his rivals but the winner for a runner-up seat.

Sixth choice Deep Bond, runner-up in the past three years of this race, rallied for the lead and eased back to chase the leaders around third on the rails, near the top two favorites. The seven-year-old brown gradually closed in on the pacesetter, briefly took the lead at the final corner and although surrendering the lead to the winner and being overtaken by the fast-closing runner-up before the wire, showed tenacity to secure third place.

Other Horses:
4th: (17) Smart Phantom—raced around 14th on rails, launched 2nd fastest late charge between horses
5th: (4) Warp Speed—took economic trip around 12th, showed effort but no match for top finishers
6th: (10) Savona—sat inside winner around 5th, sustained the bid until 100m out
7th: (7) Tastiera—saved ground around 9th, gradually made headway, lacked needed kick
8th: (15) Meisho Breguet—trailed in rear, passed tired rivals on inner stretch
9th: (8) Gold Princess—settled around 10th, angled out, responded little
10th: (3) Plume d’Or—hugged rails around 6th, even paced at stretch
11th: (13) Scar Face—traveled 2nd from rear, angled out, unable to reach contention
12th: (1) Saliera—ran behind winner around 6th, circled wide, showed little
13th: (11) Matenro Leo—set pace, faded after final corner
14th: (16) Chuck Nate—positioned in 8th, driven after 3rd corner, failed to respond
16th: (9) Silver Sonic—raced 3-wide around 10th, never fired
Fail to Finish: (18) Hapi—traveled near rear, pulled up at 1st corner due to lameness in his right foreleg
Scratched: (2) Hindu Times—lameness in his left foreleg

THE 169TH TENNO SHO (SPRING) (G1)
4-year-olds & up, 3,200 meters (about 16 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, April 28, 2024         Kyoto Racecourse        11th Race         Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 475,200,000 (about US$ 3,371,000 <US$1=¥141>)
4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares,
1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2020
Course Record: 3:12.5         Race Record: 3:12.5 [Kitasan Black (JPN, by Black Tide), 2017]
Safety factor: 18 runners      Going: Good to Firm     Weather: Fine

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 20,919,008,200       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 30,526,227,200       Attendance: 60,479

Winner= 18 starts: 8 wins, 1 second & 2 thirds / Added & stakes money: ¥ 223,780,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 518,266,000

* Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1)

The forerunner of the Tenno Sho was established in 1905 under the name “Emperor’s Cup,” in which the winner received the silver comport bestowed by the Emperor. The race was renamed to “Teishitsu Goshoten Kyoso” the following year. The race became biannual events—held at Hanshin in spring and at Tokyo in autumn—a year after the establishment of the Japan Racing Society (the forerunner of the Japan Racing Association) in 1936 and was officially named the “Tenno Sho” since the autumn of 1947. The Tenno Sho (Spring) became the ultimate competition to determine the champion stayer, having altered its distance to 3,200 meters in 1938 while its counterpart in autumn run over 2,000 meters is one of the biggest middle-distance events contested between the proven older horses with the addition of the three-year-old hopefuls. The venue of the spring version was moved to Kyoto Racecourse in 1948 and was temporarily shifted to Hanshin in 2021 and 2022 during the renovation of Kyoto’s grandstand.
The Tenno Sho (Spring) was designated as an international race in 2005 and welcomed Makybe Diva (GB, by Desert King) of Australia as the first foreign contender the same year when she finished seventh before winning her third consecutive Melbourne Cup (G1, 3,200m). Red Cadeaux (GB, by Cadeaux Genereux) was the latest foreign contender of this race in 2014, running for the second time after finishing third in the 2013 edition, but was unable to perform over the firm turf and finished 14th.
With the absence of defending champion Justin Palace (JPN, H5, by Deep Impact) due to his overseas endeavor, one of the race favorites was 2023 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m) victor Durezza who commenced his four-year-old season with a second in the Kinko Sho (G2, 2,000m, Mar.10). Runners who came off longer-distance prep races included: from the Diamond Stakes (G3, 3,400m, Feb.17), runner-up Saliera; and from the Hanshin Daishoten (G2, 3,000m, Mar.17), two-time Diamond Stakes winner T O Royal (1st), Warp Speed (2nd), Nikkei Shinshun Hai (G2, 2,400m) victor Blow the Horn (3rd), 2023 Kikuka Sho fifth-place finisher Savona (6th), three-time Tenno Sho (Spring) runner-up Deep Bond (7th) and two-time graded winner Silver Sonic (11th). Also among the field were Chuck Nate, winner of the American Jockey Club Cup (G2, 2,200m, Jan.21), and Tastiera, 2023 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m) victor who came off a disappointing 11th the Osaka Hai (G1, 2,000m, Mar.31).