Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) (G1) - Preview

Arma Veloce

Erika Express

Embroidery

Vip Daisy

Brown Ratchet

Shonan Xanadu

Kurino Mei

Run for Vow

The Japan Racing Association’s feature event this Sunday is the Grade 1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 guineas), first leg of the filly’s Classics. It is a race open only to 3-year-old fillies and is hosted by Hanshin Racecourse over 1,600 meters turf. This year marks the race’s 85th running, with JPY140 million to be claimed by the winner.

The Oka Sho is the first of the three races in Japan’s filly’s triple crown and is followed in May by the Yushu Himba (Japanese Oaks), the longest of the three races run over 2,400 meters at Tokyo Racecourse. The third and final jewel in the crown is the Shuka Sho, held in the autumn at Kyoto Racecourse.

A total of 24 fillies have been nominated for Japan’s version of the 1000 Guineas and 18 of them will be given a chance to participate. Eighteen have already secured a berth either through their earnings or having finished in the top spots in any of the three trial races that hand them a ticket to the Oka Sho (the Grade 2 Tulip Sho over 1,600 meters at Hanshin, the Grade 2 Fillies Revue over 1,400 meters at Hanshin and the Listed Anemone Stakes over 1,600 meters at Nakayama).

Expected top picks for the Oka Sho this year will likely be a trio of graded-stakes winners - Arma Veloce captured the Grade 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, the top race for 2-year-old fillies. Embroidery won the Grade 3 Queen Cup, and Erika Express, topped the field in the Grade 3 Fairy Stakes.

Usually, a look to past races held over the same Hanshin 1,600-meter course, especially the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, would give valuable insight into a filly’s likely performance in the Oka Sho. However, due to renovation work on the Hanshin venue last year, the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies was held at Kyoto racecourse. This year, only four fillies in the expected Oka Sho lineup have raced over 1,600 meters at Hanshin before, four that participated in the Tulip Sho (the Top 3 finishers Kurino Mei, Water Gerbera, and Vip Daisy, and fifth-place finisher Namura Clara).

The Oka Sho is run over the outer Hanshin course. The race starts in the backstretch with some 450 meters to the sweeping first turn and a downhill slope into the homestretch, which extends about 470 meters to the finish line. The track rises shortly past the final furlong pole and flattens over the remaining 80 meters.

All runners will carry 55kg. The Oka Sho is the 11th race on Hanshin’s Sunday card of 12. Post time is 15:40 locally.

Here is a look at the expected popular picks.

Arma Veloce: Arma Veloce, named JRA Best Two-Year-Old Filly of 2024, is the standout of the Oka Sho nominees with her G1 victory and her consistent performances with two wins and a second from her three starts thus far. She will be going straight into the race without a prep following her last outing, the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in December, but given her past results amid similar conditions, this isn’t expected to pose a problem. The daughter of Harbinger has the strong late kick that often clinches the Oka Sho, and she has matured considerably since December. The guts and impressive persistence demonstrated in her three starts are sure to stand her well here as well. However, though based at Ritto, this will be Arma Veloce’s first time at Hanshin.

Erika Express: The Epiphaneia-sired Erika Express streaked from a debut wire-to-wire win in late October to a three-length victory in the Grade 3 Fairy Stakes mid January. Her time of 1 minute, 32.8 seconds in the G3 set a race record and, with both her previous starts run to the right over a mile, she is expected to take well to Hanshin. She too has nearly three months between races, but her training time last week indicates she is in top form. Erika Express is being fielded along with Twilight City by the Ritto-based Haruki Sugiyama, who won the Oka Sho with Daring Tact in 2020 and currently leads the JRA trainer rankings with 18 wins.

Embroidery: With five career starts, Embroidery is one of the more experienced runners. She also has made the board in all of them, won three and finished in second place once. She returns from a win in the Grade 3 Queen Cup, a mile event at Tokyo that she won in a time of 1 minute, 32.2 seconds. Her time was 0.4 seconds faster than the winning time the previous week at Tokyo in the Grade 3 Tokyo Shimbun Hai, a mixed company race open to 4-year-olds and up. Speed and stamina are Embroidery’s strengths and though there is some concern she may find it difficult to settle amid a slower pace, she will be in good hands. With regular rider Christophe Lemaire off to Australia for the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick on April 12, Joao Moreira is to step in as her partner for his second time.

Vip Daisy: Acing her first two starts and never finishing out of the top 3 in her four starts thus far, the Satono Diamond-sired Vip Daisy has proven consistent amid strong company. Second in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, she finished third only 0.2 seconds behind winner Kurino Mei in the Tulip Sho in March. It was Vip Daisy’s third start over 1,600 meters and one giving her Hanshin experience, a rarity amid this year’s hopefuls.

Brown Ratchet: Backed to the favorite in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, Brown Ratchet went to the gate posting a 12-kg loss in weight from her prior race only a month and a half earlier. She finished only two off the rear. Jockey Takeshi Yokoyama is pegged to step in for Lemaire, who rode all her three previous starts. Based at Miho, Brown Ratchet, by Kizuna, had only raced at Nakayama and Tokyo. She has won at both venues, but her first trip to Kansai took its toll and trainer Takahisa Tezuka has, by shipping early to Ritto and training there, taken measures to avoid a similar situation.

Shonan Xanadu: Another daughter of Kizuna, the Ritto-based Shonan Xanadu will take on her fifth graded event in a row. She has proven consistent in her previous six runs, having only missed the Top 3 twice, the Top 5 only once, in her six starts thus far. Fourth in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, Shonan Xanadu disappointed in the Grade 3 Queen Cup with a ninth-place finish as the race second pick. However, she returned on March 8 to land her first graded stakes with a reputation-saving victory in the Grade 2 Fillies Revue at Hanshin. Making her run from far off the top, Shonan Xanadu topped runner-up Cerbiatto by 3/4 length, with the two sharing a time of 34.8 seconds over the final three furlongs of the 1,400-meter race. A win would not only be a feather in this filly’s cap, but it would also represent the 100th graded-race victory for jockey Kenichi Ikezoe, who has ridden all Shonan Xanadu’s races thus far and will take the reins in the Oka Sho. Only 11 other jockeys in JRA history have hit the 100-victory mark.

Kurino Mei: The Orfevre-sired Kurino Mei, known earlier in her career as a high strung, easily agitated filly, drew the far outside gate in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies. Both factors resulted in her being backed to only the race 14th pick and her 14th-place finish amid 18 runners matched expectations. Back in winning form this year, Kurino Mei pocketed the Tulip Sho, a significant plus given the experience over the distance and course. Kurino Mei topped Water Gerbera by a nose, the latter followed by Vip Daisy by half a length. Jockey Manabu Sakai is pegged for the ride.

Others to watch are:

Lynx Tip posted a win and two second place finishes in her three starts thus far, over distances from 1,800 meters to 2,000 meters, with her most recent outing saw her compete against males. Her ability will stand her well if she can handle the pace of a mile race. Twilight City is unbeaten from two starts and leaps to the heights in her first graded stakes. She has a strong kick and good racing sense, but also had the advantage of an inside draw in both her previous starts. Her ability to handle a possibly faster pace will be key. Darkhorse Run for Vow notched double-digit results in her last two starts, but she is prepped with a run in the Fillies Revue. Her win in the Grade 2 Daily Hai Nisai Stakes over 1,600 meters at Kyoto up against males last November, Ryusei Sakai in the saddle, and trainer Yuichi Fukunaga may all come together to surprise.