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Kamunyak Snatches Second Jewel of Fillies’ Triple Crown in Yushun Himba

Fourth favorite Kamunyak used a powerful closing kick from behind to claim this year’s Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks), the second jewel of the Triple Crown, in her second graded and first G1 victory. The great grandchild of 1995 Japanese Oaks victor Dance Partner, Kamunyak broke her maiden in her debut start (Chukyo, 2,000m) last August and finished sixth in the following Artemis Stakes (Tokyo, G3, 1,600m) in October. After marking a fourth in the Elfin Stakes (Kyoto, Listed, 1,600m) in February, the Black Tide filly claimed the Flora Stakes (Tokyo, G2, 2,000m) on April 27, earning the ticket to her first classics’ challenge. Trainer Yasuo Tomomichi pocketed his first Oaks and 23rd JRA-G1 title while jockey Andrasch Starke, who has been riding under a short-term license since March 9, landed his much-awaited G1 title in his 25th challenge at that level—his first in the 1997 Japan Cup (Caitano, 4th)—in JRA. The German jockey celebrates the milestone in becoming the oldest Oaks winning jockey at the age of 51 years, four months and 22 days.

Breaking from stall no.15, Kamunyak was reserved in mid-division but dropped back a bit turning the last corners before making a wide sweeping move into the straight. The daughter of Black Tide began to uncoil an impressive run from there, drawing even with Arma Veloce 200 meters out and with another gear, dug in well in the last strides to notch the title.

“The pace was not so fast in the last second half of the race and before the homestretch, I moved to the outside where she responded very well. She’s an amazing horse—she just won four weeks ago. It was important that she was very relaxed today, she put in a sound performance and her ability was amazing. For me, it has been a dream to win a G1 race in Japan and I have no words, my dream came true,” commented Andrasch Starke after the race.

Looking to turn the tables this time, Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) runner-up Arma Veloce broke smoothly from the innermost stall and sat on the rails in tandem with the Oka Sho winner up to the final corner. After launching her bid and splitting horses before the 200-meter pole to emerge as the leader, the 2024 Best Two-Year-Old Filly was soon caught by the eventual winner and rallied in deep stretch putting up a stubborn fight but surrendered the win at the wire by a head margin for second place once again.

Tenth choice Tagano Abby was off slow and unhurried trailing in the far rear of the 18-horse field. While most of the runners fanned out at the last turn, the chestnut filly smoothly took an inner route in the stretch, launching the fastest drive over the last three furlongs, and ran strongly to secure a respectable third by 1-1/4 lengths.

After a good break, race favorite Embroidery was eased back to settle between horses in seventh to eighth from the front but after hitting the straight in good striking position, the Oka Sho victor came out of the uphill climb with nothing left and never fired, disappointing to ninth.

Other Horses:
4th: (3) Paradis Reine—ran in 9th on rails, switched to outside and showed effort behind Arma Veloce
5th: (5) Lynx Tip—sat in 14th early, advanced in backstretch, failed to keep up with winner on outside
6th: (11) Will Survive—positioned in 8th, switched to inside 300m out, showed brief effort
7th: (12) Brown Ratchet—settled wide in 10th, failed to find another gear
8th: (17) Kelly Fled Ask—stalked leader, outrun in last 200m
10th: (18) Erika Express—set pace, surrendered lead at 200m pole, weakened
11th: (10) Taisei Princesse—hugged rails in 16th, angled out, passed tired rivals
12th: (4) Ai Sansan—saved ground in 11th, lacked needed kick
13th: (6) Vip Daisy—traveled wide in 15th, never fired
14th: (2) Reve de l’Opera—positioned in 13th, failed to respond
15th: (8) Saturday Sunrise—sat in 4th, gradually outrun in last 400m
16th: (7) Lesedrama—tracked leaders in 3rd, remained in contention until 300m out
17th: (14) Savonlinna—raced wide in 5th, dropped back after final corner
18th: (16) Go So Far—traveled 2nd form rear, no factor

THE 86TH YUSHUN HIMBA (JAPANESE OAKS, G1)
3-year-olds, Fillies, 2,400 meters (about 12 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, May 25, 2025 Tokyo Racecourse 11th Race Post Time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 326,500,000 (about US$ 2,080,000 <US$1=¥157>)
3-y-o: 55 kg (about 121 lbs), 3 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2022
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: ¥ 20,035,862,500    Turnover for the Day: ¥ 30,612,821,000 Attendance: 40,125

Winner= 5 starts: 3 wins / Added & stakes money: ¥ 180,961,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 244,421,000

* 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. 2023 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.13) that were automatically eligible for the Oaks were: Embroidery (1st), 2024 Best Two-Year-Old Filly Arma Veloce (2nd), Lynx Tip (3rd) and Erika Express (5th), while Ma Puce (JPN, by Mind Your Biscuits) headed to the NHK Mile Cup (G1, 1,600m, May.11) instead and finished seventh. The field also included Lesedrama, Savonlinna and Kamunyak who came off their victories in the Flower Cup (G3, 1,800m, Mar.22), the Wasurenagusa Sho (Listed, 2,000m, Apr.13) and the Flora Stakes (G2, 2,000m, Apr.27), respectively. Vip Daisy, runner-up in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1, 1,600m), and Brown Ratchet, victor of the Artemis Stakes (G3, 1,600m) were also among the lineup.