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Cervinia Claims Yushun Himba, Second Jewel of Fillies’ Triple Crown

Second favorite Cervinia bounced back from her 13th-place heavy defeat in the Oka Sho to display an impressive closing drive, tagging Oka Sho victor Stellenbosch right before the wire to win this year’s Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks). Foaled out of 2016 Yushun Himba runner-up Cecchino, Cervinia debuted in June (Tokyo, 1,600m) as a two-year-old and broke her maiden in her next start in August (Niigata, 1,800m) before registering her first graded title in the Artemis Stakes (G3, 1,600m) two months later. Withdrawn from the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in December due to a minor problem in her hind leg, she commenced the current season in the Oka Sho on April 7. The latest JRA-G1 victory for both trainer Tetsuya Kimura and jockey Christophe Lemaire was in the 2023 Hopeful Stakes with Regaleira, and now Kimura has nine JRA-G1 titles under his name while Lemaire has 51. As for Lemaire, this is his fourth Yushun Himba triumph following Soul Stirring (2017), Almond Eye (2018) and Stars on Earth (2022) which marks the most by a currently active jockey.

Breaking from stall 12, Cervinia was unhurried out of the gate and settled in mid-field right beside the race favorite while Windstille took a sole journey way up front setting a rapid pace. Hitting the final turn, the field fanned out in a wide row, overtaking the tired pacesetter in early stretch while Cervinia was seen taking a clear outer route. Once the field climbed up the hill, the Harbinger filly briefly rallied with rivals near the 200-meter marker but found another gear in the last 100 meters to dig in and overtake Stellenbosch in a half-length victory.

“I’m back,” said jockey Christophe Lemaire in a post-race interview. “It’s a wonderful feeling. The filly didn’t do well in the Oka Sho but I know how high her potential is and was very confident today. I tried not to let her make an early bid—let her find her stride after turning into the straight—and she just stretched beautifully from there.”

Sent off well backed as first choice, Stellenbosch was unhurried out of the gate and traveled in around ninth. The Oka Sho winner found herself briefly in traffic in early stretch but once finding a clear path, displayed her good turn of foot to take command 300 meters out, and although it was found later on that she had lost a shoe, the Epiphaneia filly held on well but was caught by the fast-closing Cervinia in the final strides for second place.

Posted third pick, Light Back was settled in 15th before turning wide in the last two corners behind the winner. Once finding a narrow opening around 350 meters out, the Oka Sho third-place runner launched the third fastest late drive and although unable to catch the top two finishers, won a three-horse rally to secure third place by a neck.

Other Horses:
4th: (2) Queen’s Walk—settled around 5th, rallied for lead after 400m pole, missed 3rd place in final strides after overtaken by top 2 finishers
5th: (18) Lance of Queen—prominent around 3rd, inherited lead after final corner, showed tenacity
6th: (13) Sweep Feet—trailed in rear, turned wide, showed effort but had too much ground to make up
7th: (6) Sunset View—raced near rear, circled wide, showed belated charge
8th: (3) Ethelfleda—hugged rails around 13th, passed tired rivals, needed more
9th: (10) Admire Belle—traveled wide around 7th, drifted 300m out, even paced thereafter
10th: (8) Hohelied—ran near rear, advanced in backstretch, turned wide, lacked needed kick
11th: (9) Lavanda—settled around 6th, rallied for lead at one point, weakened in last 200m
12th: (5) Koganeno Sora—positioned around 13th, checked 300m out, even paced
13th: (15) Safira—sat wide around 9th in front of top favorites, failed to respond
14th: (1) Mi Anhelo—saved ground around 7th, showed brief effort, outrun in last 200m
15th: (4) Pareja— took economic trip around 9th early, gradually dropped position
16th: (17) Tagano Elpida—chased distant leaders around 3rd, remained in contention until 300m out
17th: (16) Shonan Manuela—set pace early then ran in 2nd, dropped back after early stretch
18th: (11) Windstille—led after 2nd corner with fast pace, faded after final corner

THE 85TH YUSHUN HIMBA (JAPANESE OAKS, G1)
3-year-olds, Fillies, 2,400 meters (about 12 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, May 19, 2024          Tokyo Racecourse          11th Race          Post Time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 325,000,000 (about US$ 2,305,000 <US$1=¥141>)
3-y-o: 55 kg (about 121 lbs), 3 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2021
Course Record: 2:20.6         Race Record: 2:22.8 [Loves Only You (JPN, by Deep Impact), 2019]
Safety factor: 18 runners      Going: Good to Firm       Weather: Cloudy

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 18,544,620,300       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 28,162,012,400       Attendance: 42,875

Winner= 5 starts: 3 wins & 1 second / Added & stakes money: ¥ 177,433,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 215,190,000

* Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) (G1)

The Japanese version of the prestigious British Oaks, the Yushun Himba was established in 1938 and contested among runners limited to home-bred three-year-old fillies. Initially called the “Hanshin Yushun Himba” and held during the fall season at Hanshin Racecourse, the race acquired its current status as the Japanese Oaks upon changing its venue to Tokyo Racecourse in 1946. The race was also shifted to the spring season, being the richest in prize money and longest in distance among the current JRA races limited to fillies/mares. The Yushun Himba opened its door to foreign-bred runners in 2003 and acquired international G1 status in 2010.
While the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m) serves in gauging the speed potentials in the future broodmares, the Yushun Himba is a championship race in which to discover the added quality of stamina as well as speed, and winners of this race are highly rated as broodmares upon retirement to stud. Recent winners included fillies/mares that became high profile G1 winners. Last year’s winner Liberty Island (JPN, by Duramente) went on to capture the Shuka Sho (G1, 2,000m) that autumn to become the seventh filly to capture the fillies’ Triple Crown title.
The top five finishers of the Oka Sho (Apr.7) that were automatically eligible for the Oaks were: Stellenbosch, Ascoli Piceno (JPN, by Daiwa Major), Light Back, Sweep Feet and Etes Vous Prets (IRE, by Too Darn Hot) in that order, however, Ascoli Piceno headed to the NHK Mile Cup (G1, 1,600m, May.5), finishing second, while Etes Vous Prets will look to a shorter distance as well and race in the Aoi Stakes (G3, 1,200m, May.25) instead. Proven grade-race winners that also ran in the Oka Sho, Queen’s Walk (8th) and Cervinia (13th), hoped to improve on their performances in the 2,400-meter classic. Those who earned their tickets by faring well in Oaks trials were Admire Belle and Lavanda, top two finishers in the Flora Stakes (G2, 2,000m, Apr.21), as well as the Sweet Pea Stakes (Listed, 1,800m, Apr.28) winner Koganeno Sora. The field also included Mi Anhelo and Tagano Elpida, respective victors of the Flower Cup (G3, 1,800m, Mar.16) and the Wasurenagusa Sho (Listed, 2,000m, Apr.7).