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Museum Mile Captures First G1 Title with Overwhelming Victory in This Year’s Satsuki Sho in Record Time

Third favorite Museum Mile claimed this year’s Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas), the first leg of the Triple Crown, renewing the race record by 0.1 second to 1:57.0. Debuted in August last year (3rd; Chukyo, 1,600m), the son of Leontes broke his maiden in his second start in October (Kyoto, 1,800m) and registered another win in the following Kigiku Sho (Kyoto, 1 Win Class, 2,000m). He concluded his two-year-old season with a second in the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1, 1,600m) and kicked off the current season with a fourth in the Yayoi Sho Deep Impact Kinen (G2, 2,000m) on March 9. This win marked trainer Daisuke Takayanagi’s first classic title and third JRA-G1 victory after last year’s Victoria Mile with Ten Happy Rose. Jockey Joao Moreira became the sixth jockey since Christophe Lemaire in 2019 to claim both the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m)—held a week earlier—and this race in the same year and now has five JRA-G1 titles under his belt.

Breaking smoothly from gate 11, Museum Mile traveled wide in mid-division, around eighth from the frontrunner. The Leontes colt swung wide turning for home to make bid from the outside, rallied briefly with Croix du Nord 150 meters out but soon pulled away with a powerful turn of speed to capture his first G1 title with a 1-1/2-length margin.

“When I sat on him this afternoon, I could feel that he’s very special, he’s got a very nice body and temperament. I thought this might be the horse to win. When we were turning for home, we were a bit unbalanced, maybe because the ground was not so smooth, but when I got him on the stretch, he just dashed home, and when he took the lead 150 meters to go, he kept running away, showing me that he’s got so much ability. It was so nice to ride this horse and I believe he’s got plenty more to give,” commented Joao Moreira.

Best Two-Year-Old Colt of 2024 and overwhelming race favorite Croix du Nord traveled around fourth, turned the last two corners wide and surged to the front at the top of the stretch to briefly take the lead at the 200-meter pole. Though overtaken by Museum Mile 150 meters out, the Kitasan Black colt ran persistently, holding off the strong charges from behind, to secure second place.

Fourth pick Masquerade Ball, who came off a victory in the Kyodo News Hai (G3, 1,800m) in February, sat behind the eventual winner around 11th, angled out slightly for a stretch run with the second fastest late drive but failed to catch the top two finishers while securing third place by half a length.

Other Horses:
4th: (5) Giovanni—settled around 6th, dropped back while rounding last corners widely, quickened
5th: (16) Satono Shining—raced wide around 9th, advanced for stretch run, needed more
6th: (18) Magic Sands—traveled near rear, circled wide, launched fastest late kick
7th: (3) King Squall—hugged rails around 14th, angled out at early stretch, showed belated charge
8th: (13) Alohi Alii—ran near rear early, made headway at backstretch, showed little in last 200m
9th: (15) Vincentio—positioned behind winner around 14th, passed tired rivals
10th: (14) Kalamatianos—saved ground around 12th, struggled to find clear path at stretch
11th: (2) Eri King—settled around 9th, driven after 3rd corner, failed to respond
12th: (4) Tjuta—chased leader in 2nd, rallied for lead until 150m out, weakened
13th: (1) Nishino Agent—took economic trip around 4th near race favorite, showed effort until 200m pole
14th: (8) G T Adamant—tracked leaders in 3rd, remained in contention up to 200m pole
15th: (17) Faust Rasen—trailed in rear early, advanced rapidly at backstretch to lead, used up at stretch
16th: (7) Fukuno Blue Lake—raced wide around 12th, gradually dropped position
17th: (12) Dragon Boost—traveled wide around 6th, failed to keep up with rivals after final corner
18th: (9) Piko Chan Black—set pace, joined by Faust Rasen 800m to go, faded at stretch

THE 85TH SATSUKI SHO (JAPANESE 2000 GUINEAS, G1)
3-year-olds, Colts & Fillies, 2,000 meters (about 10 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, April 20, 2025          Nakayama Racecourse         11th Race        Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 434,000,000 (about US$ 2,765,000 <US$1=¥157>)
3-y-o: 57kg (about 126 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies, 2kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2022
Course Record: 1:56.6          Race Record: 1:57.0 [Museum Mile (JPN, by Leontes), 2025]
Safety factor: 18 runners       Going: Good to Firm             Weather: Cloudy

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 23,289,377,500       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 34,183,819,300       Attendance: 42,156

Winner= 6 starts: 3 wins, 1 second & 1 third / Added & stakes money: ¥ 227,944,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 282,579,000

* Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) (G1)

The Satsuki Sho, which is the first of the three legs of JRA’s Triple Crown Classics for three-year-olds including the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m) and the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m), is comparable to the British Two Thousand Guineas. The “Yokohama Norinsho Shoten Yonsai Yobiuma,” the precursor of the Satsuki Sho, was first run over 1,850 meters at Yokohama Racecourse in 1939, then moved its venue to Tokyo Racecourse four years later before being given its current name and shifted again to Nakayama in 1949—the distance was also altered to 2,000 meters in the following year.
Nine of the past Satsuki Sho champions since 2005 subsequently received the JRA Best Three-Year-Old Colt Award, in recognition of their outstanding performances throughout the year—Deep Impact (JPN, Sunday Silence) in 2005, Meisho Samson (JPN, by Opera House) in 2006, Victoire Pisa (JPN, by Neo Universe) in 2010, Orfevre (JPN, by Stay Gold) in 2011, Gold Ship (JPN, by Stay Gold) in 2012, Isla Bonita (JPN, by Fuji Kiseki) in 2014, Duramente (JPN, by King Kamehameha) in 2015, Saturnalia (JPN, by Lord Kanaloa) in 2019 and Contrail (JPN, by Deep Impact) in 2020.
The 2024 Hopeful Stakes Stakes (G1, 2,000m, Dec.28) winner and Best Two-Year-Old Colt, Croix du Nord, kicked off the current season with this race. Runners who earned their Satsuki Sho berths in the trial races included Faust Rasen, Vincentio and Alohi Alii, the top three finishers (in that order) in the Yayoi Sho Deep Impact Kinen (G2, 2,000m, Mar.9); Piko Chan Black, Fukuno Blue Lake and King Squall, the top three in the Spring Stakes (G2, 1,800m, Mar.16); and Giovanni, winner of the Wakaba Stakes (Listed, 2,000m, Mar.22). The field also included Eri King, Nishino Agent, Satono Shining, Masquerade Ball and G T Adamant, respective winners of the Kyoto Nisai Stakes (G3, 2,000m, Nov.23), the Keisei Hai (G3, 2,000m, Jan.19), the Kisaragi Sho (G3, 1,800m, Feb.9), the Kyodo News Hai (G3, 1,800m, Feb.16) and the Sumire Stakes (Listed, 2,200m, Mar.1), as well as 2024 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1, 1,600m) runner-up Museum Mile.