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Panja Tower Secures Three-Year-Old Miler Title in NHK Mile Cup

Ninth favorite Panja Tower claimed his first G1 and second graded title in this year’s NHK Mile Cup. The bay colt, who is among the first crop of Tower of London who won the 2019 Sprinters Stakes, broke his maiden in his debut start last September (Chukyo, 1,200m) and immediately registered his first grade-race victory in the following Keio Hai Nisai Stakes (Tokyo, G2, 1,400m) two months later. After concluding his two-year-old season with a disappointing 12th in the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (Kyoto, G1, 1,600m), the bay colt came off a fourth in his first start of the current season in the Falcon Stakes (Chukyo, G3, 1,400m) on March 22. The bay colt provided trainer Shinsuke Hashiguchi with his second JRA-G1 success following the 2018 JBC Sprint with Graceful Leap, while jockey Kohei Matsuyama scored his sixth G1 title and his first since the 2021 Champions Cup with T O Keynes.

Panja Tower was swift out of gate 11 and was reserved in a wide mid-pack position of the 18-horse field. Making the widest turn into the straight, the son of Tower of London unleashed a furious closing kick, drew even with the front 300 meters out and pulled away while rallying with, and narrowly holding off, Ma Magic Sands on the inside and Cerbiatto digging in between that in the final strides.

“We were able to sit in a good position but the rhythm was more of an important factor and I’m happy he ran steadily in good rhythm today. As you know, he’s shown his strength since his debut and has a graded win in Tokyo, and the way he stretched incredibly today proves he has a bright future ahead of him,” commented Kohei Matsuyama in a post-race interview.

Third choice Magic Sands was unhurried, settling second from the rear, and was steered to an inner route by Yutaka Take rounding the final corner to make bid. The Kizuna colt, while launching the fastest drive over the last three furlongs from behind, found a clear path 300 meters out and eventually dueled with the subsequent winner in the last 100 meters but was a head short at the wire in second.

Lightly favored as 12th pick, Cerbiatto sat on the rails just behind Panja Tower and after straightening away, increased speed to shoot out from the pack and dig in fiercely in the final strides, nearly catching the top two finishers but was a head-and-nose short at the wire to finish third.

Breaking smoothly from stall eight, race favorite Admire Zoom was a bit keen in the backstretch but settled on the rails to stalk the pace in second. Picking off the pace setter in early stretch, the Maurice colt showed effort in sustaining his lead but dropped away once overtaken by the eventual winner and faded to 14th. Jockey Yuga Kawada stated after the race that the colt had lost a shoe two to three hundred meters out of the gate.

Other Horses:
4th: (1) Mondo dell’Amore—hugged rails around 7th, angled out to join rally at stretch, failed to find another gear
5th: (5) Lance of Chaos—settled behind favorite around 4th, rallied for lead but weakened in last 100m
6th: (16) Satono Carnaval—raced wide around 12th, angled out at early stretch, quickened in last 200m
7th: (12) Ma Puce—traveled around 12th, had too much ground to make up
8th: (9) Meiner Ticket—sat around 15th, struggled to find clear path, showed belated charge in last 200m
9th: (4) Yankee Barows—saved ground around 14th, showed effort until 200m pole
10th: (18) Caught Alliciant—broke poorly, trailed in far rear, passed tired rivals on rails
11th: (6) Immigrant Song—tracked leaders around 4th, rallied for lead briefly, needed more
12th: (13) Mini Transat—ran wide around 15th, lacked needed kick
13th: (15) Arte Veloce—raced wide around 7th, failed to respond at stretch
15th: (17) Voulezvous—gradually advanced to lead before 3rd corner, used up 300m out
16th: (2) Shonan Xanadu—traveled around 9th, circled wide, checked at 200m pole
17th: (14) Tiratore—positioned wide around 4th, remained in contention until 350m out
18th: (7) Total Clarity—rallied for lead to set pace early, faded after final corner

THE 30TH NHK MILE CUP (G1)
3-year-olds, Colts & Fillies, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, May 11, 2025          Tokyo Racecourse           11th Race            Post Time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 283,100,000 (about US$ 1,804,000 <US$1=¥157>)
3-y-o: 57 kg (about 126 lbs), 2 kg allowance for Fillies, 2 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2022
Course Record: 1:30.5          Race Record: 1:31.4 [Danon Chantilly (JPN, by Fuji Kiseki), 2010]
Safety factor: 18 runners          Going: Good to Firm           Weather: Fine

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 18,533,430,500    Turnover for the Day: ¥ 28,194,009,000 Attendance: 36,836

Winner= 5 starts: 3 wins / Added & stakes money: ¥ 133,780,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 185,670,000

* NHK Mile Cup (G1)

While races in Japan for three-year-olds had been programmed mainly to facilitate those aiming towards the middle-long distance three-year-old Classics as typified by the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m), the interest in speed races is growing both within and outside Japan, and earning much respect as the traditional Classics. In 1996, JRA reorganized its races in order to accommodate and promote the three-year-olds suited to short distances and established the NHK Mile Cup which was named after its sponsor Nippon Hoso Kyokai (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)—Japan’s only public broadcaster. The race was designated as an international race in 2009.
Past NHK Mile Cup winners include subsequent derby winners King Kamehameha (JPN, by Kingmambo; ’04) and Deep Sky (JPN, by Agnes Tachyon; ’08) while El Condor Pasa (USA, by Kingmambo; ’98) and Kurofune (USA, by French Deputy; ’01) won the Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m) and the Japan Cup Dirt (G1, dirt, 2,100m), respectively. 2019 champion Admire Mars (JPN, by Daiwa Major) went on to claim his third G1 title in the Hong Kong Mile (G1, 1,600m) against strong older foes that year.
Last year’s Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1, 1,600m) champion Admire Zoom began his current three-year-old season with a runner-up effort in the trial New Zealand Trophy (G2, 1,600m, Apr.12), a neck behind winner Immigrant Song and 1-1/4-lengths ahead of Caught Alliciant in third. Runners who earned their berths performing well in another trial race, the Churchill Downs Cup (G3, 1,600m, Apr.5), were the top three finishers, Lance of Chaos, Arte Veloce and Mini Transat (in that order). The field also included graded winners in their two-year-old seasons, Satono Carnaval, Total Clarity and Panja Tower as well as this year’s Falcon Stakes (G3, 1,400m, Mar.22) victor Yankee Barows. Coming off the first legs of the Triple Crown were Ma Puce, Cerbiatto, Voulezvous and Shonan Xanadu, who marked a fourth, sixth, eighth and tenth, respectively, in the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m, Apr.13), and the dark bay colt Magic Sands, the sixth-place finisher in the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m, Apr.20).