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Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1) - Arma Veloce Becomes Two-Year-Old Filly Champion Title in Third Start

Fifth favorite Arma Veloce claimed her first grade-race victory and two-year-old fillies’ championship title in only her third career start, coming off a nose second against colts in the Sapporo Nisai Stakes (G3, 1,800m) after a win in her career debut in August at Sapporo, also at 1,800 meters. Trainer Hiroyuki Uemura claimed his second JRA-G1 title after this year’s Osaka Hai with Bellagio Opera while Mirai Iwata, now in his sixth season as a jockey, celebrated his much awaited first G1 victory and 12th graded title in the race.

Arma Veloce broke smoothly and chased pacesetter Mistress in mid-division, close behind May Day Ready. The Harbinger filly never missed a beat after circling wide into the straight and turned in a terrific turn of speed along the outside route, powering past her rivals to reach contention in the last 100 meters, then continued to draw away to win by a comfortable margin.

“It feels great to be able to stand here as a G1 winner after six years of waiting. I had a feeling that the filly had a great potential ever since I started riding her, and today, she justified that with great finishing speed. I was too occupied in driving her to the finish so I didn’t know until I had crossed the wire, but with no horse next to me then, I felt I had done it. The filly is really easy to ride and responsive when asked so this is her strong point,” commented Mirai Iwata.

Vip Daisy, starting from the innermost stall, was unhurried and rated off the pace further back than mid-field early, increased speed impressively rounding the fourth corner and angled out, joining Arma Veloce for the stretch run with matching speed as the two runners overtook the leaders passing the 100-meter marker, but was unable to keep up with the winner thereafter and succumbed second while besting the rest of the field.

Teleos La La raced along the rails in mid-pack, improved position in the last two corners and reached contention entering the straight. Rallying for the lead from the furlong pole as the early leaders began to fade and the eventual winner and runner-up closed in strongly on the outside, the Siskin filly was overtaken in the last 100 meters while out-dueling Shonan Xanadu in a photo finish for third place.

Race favorite Brown Ratchet was a fraction slow out of the gate, having to sit a little further back than her usual position in mid-field, had little to show after meeting traffic in early stretch and was well beaten to 16th.

Fourth favorite May Day Ready broke sharply from stall 17 and, while keeping pace with the leaders up to the last corner, the Tapit filly appeared to have used up much energy after traveling wide throughout and faded soon after the final corner.

“Frankie said she was spinning her wheels trying to get a hold of the turf, so she may have wanted something a little harder. It wasn’t the result we wanted of course but we tried. We’ll give her a little break now and then come back and hopefully run as well as she did before,” commented Joseph Lee.

“The race was good, I had a good position, but the filly had a long season. She prefers really fast ground—it was a little bit loose, and the first time right-handed confused her a little bit. So, the combination of the three things was why she ran no race today. And also, it’s the fifth run in four months so she’s tired, it was a long way here,” added Lanfranco Dettori.

Other Horses:
4th: (9) Shonan Xanadu—chased leaders around 3rd, ran gamely until 100m out
5th: (16) Sourire Mignon—sat around 15th, circled wide, passed tired rivals
6th: (13) Caught Alliciant—trailed in rear, showed 2nd fastest late kick but belatedly
7th: (18) Meant to Be—settled wide around 13th, lacked needed kick
8th: (7) Mistress—set pace, weakened after passing 200m pole
9th: (6) Mozu Nana Star—tracked leaders around 3rd, remained in contention until 100m out
10th: (4) Jardinier—saved ground around 14th, showed brief effort at stretch
11th: (14) Run for Vow—sat wide around 9th, checked at early stretch, lost momentum
12th: (15) Lily Field—stalked leader in 2nd, sustained bid up to 200m pole
14th: (11) Kurino Mei—ran near rear, unable to reach contention
15th: (5) June Eos—positioned around 11th, never fired
17th: (3) Dantsu Elan—raced around 8th behind eventual winner, outrun in last 200m
18th: (8) Kawakita Mana Lea—traveled around 7th near winner, showed little

THE 76TH HANSHIN JUVENILE FILLIES (G1)
2-year-olds, Fillies, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, December 8, 2024        Kyoto Racecourse           11th Race      Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 140,200,000 (about US$ 995,000 <US$1=¥141>)
2-y-o: 55kg (about 121 lbs), 3 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2022
Course Record: 1:32.3               Race Record: 1:32.6 [Ascoli Piceno (JPN, by Daiwa Major), Hanshin, 2023]
Safety factor: 18 runners            Going: Good to Firm        Weather: Cloudy

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 14,511,018,200       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 23,248,547,900       Attendance: 19,973

Winner= 3 starts: 2 wins & 1 second / Added & stakes money: ¥ 66,274,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 85,600,000

* 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. The race was temporarily shifted to Kyoto Racecourse due to Hanshin Racecourse currently undergoing renovation.
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 2022 victor Liberty Island (JPN, F3, by Duramente) who subsequently became the seventh filly to sweep the fillies’ Triple Crown races—the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m), the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1, 2,400m) and the Shuka Sho (G1, 2,000m).
The first contender from abroad, taking part in the two-yea-old fillies’ G1 race since it opened its doors to foreign runners in 2010, was May Day Ready from U.S., winner of the Jessamine Stakes (G2, 1,700m) who had come off a runner-up effort in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1, 1,600m, Nov.1).
The locals taking on the challenge coming off their respective wins included Jardinier (Aster Sho [1 Win Class, 1,600m, Sep.7]), Kurino Mei (Saffron Sho [1 Win Class, 1,600m, Sep.29]), Vip Daisy (Shigiku Sho [1 Win Class, 1,800m, Oct.12]), Lily Field (Momiji Stakes [Open Class, 1,400m, Oct.13]), Teleos La La (Hagi Stakes [Listed, 1,800m, Oct.26]), Brown Ratchet (Artemis Stakes [G3, 1,600m, Oct.26]), Dantsu Elan (Fantasy Stakes [G3, 1,400m, Nov.2]) and Run for Vow (Daily Hai Nisai Stakes [G2, 1,600m, Nov.9]). Also among the field were four second-place finishers in graded events, Caught Alliciant (Niigata Nisai Stakes [G3, 1,600m, Aug.25]), Arma Veloce (Sapporo Nisai Stakes [G3, 1,800m, Aug.31]), Mistress (Artemis Stakes) and Mozu Nana Star (Fantasy Stakes).