Shuka Sho (G1) - Preview

Kamunyak

Embroidery

Sena Style

Ma Puce

Jocelyn

Theresa

Paradis Reine

The top-level Thoroughbred racing action in Japan continues this Sunday, Oct. 19, with the 30th running of the Shuka Sho, with the Grade 1 event over 2,000 meters turf at Kyoto Racecourse wrapping up the triple crown for 3-year-old fillies.

Twenty-two fillies registered with the Japan Racing Association have been nominated for the race and, with four of them tied for earnings - In Vogue, Canela Fina, Glory Link and Joyful News -, a lottery drawing will determine the final lineup and gate positions will be announced on Friday, Oct. 17. The final 18 competitors will vie for the winner’s prize of JPY110 million or a share of the total purse of nearly JPY240 million.

Like last year, the first two events in the filly triple crown - the 1,600-meter Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) and the 2,400-meter Japanese Oaks (Yushun Himba) - were claimed this year by separate horses. Embroidery won the Oka Sho on April 13 at Hanshin, and Kamunyak won the Japanese Oaks on May 25 at Tokyo.

Since the race’s inauguration in 1995, both winners of the first two filly Classics have met 21 times in the autumn finale. The Oka Sho winner won the Shuka Sho twice as many times as the Oaks champion did, for a score of 14-7.

The Shuka Sho is held over Kyoto’s 2,000-meter inner A course. The race starts on an upward slope before the grandstand and levels out down the backstretch before the field picks up speed as the track dips into the straight. The ground rises sharply again 200 meters before the finish line, The outer gates have proven relatively advantageous.

All runners will carry 55kg. Post time for the Shuka Sho is 15:40 and the Shuka Sho is the 11th on Kyoto’s card of 12.

Here’s a look at the expected popular picks:

Kamunyak: On a three-way graded stakes winning streak, the Ritto-based Kamunyak returned in the fall from her Oaks win to ace the Grade 2 Kansai Television Co. Ltd. Sho Rose Stakes. Despite interference as she turned into the straight, the daughter of Black Tide rallied and won the 1,800-meter event at Hanshin by a margin of a length and a half. It was a magnificent display of guts and talent, a performance sure to stand her well on Sunday. Trainer Yasuo Tomomichi says his prize filly is also much calmer than before, and thinks the extra 200 meters this time will be a plus. Her troubles with taking the bit are also said to have greatly lessened. Yuga Kawada, who rode the Rose Stakes and three other of her six starts, is expected up on Sunday.

Embroidery: The Admire Mars-sired Embroidery slid into the spring Oka Sho winner’s circle making it three victories in a row, with only one of her previous five finishes out of the Top 3, none off the board. The 2,400-meter Oaks, however, proved difficult as she faced her first race over a distance longer than a mile. She finished in ninth place and returns without a prep for the Shuka Sho. Her dam Rottenmeier, however, did win the open-class Wasurenagusa Sho in 2016 over 2,000 meters, indicating that Embroidery may be able to handle the distance. According to trainer Kazutomo Mori, the filly received regular work at the training farm before returning to Miho. She shipped west last week and has been training at Ritto since. Her earlier hoof problems are said to have lessened, but there are concerns whether she’ll be able to settle after not having raced for nearly five months. Reassuring is the prospect of Christophe Lemaire as her expected partner. Lemaire won the race last year and, having won the race in 2017 and 2018, could clinch back-to-back wins of the Shuka Sho for his second time.

Sena Style: The Sottsass-sired Sena Style is currently 1-1-3 and is fresh off her run in the Rose Stakes mid September. Following her late debut at Chukyo in January of this year she suffered a fracture, which further delayed her career. She returned in early August to ace a 1-win class at Chukyo, then jumped to the Grade 2 Rose Stakes with ease. She is a classy filly, whose dam Nuovo Record posted a 3-1-2 in the 2014 filly triple crown and also finished second in the 2,000-meter Hong Kong Cup the following year. Sena Style showed impressive mental fortitude in the 1,800-meter Rose Stakes at Hanshin, which was her first time racing to the right. Trainer Shogo Yasuda said: “She has filled out more than I had thought she would, which is a pleasant surprise. Even with the time off due to a fracture, she has grown well.” Veteran jockey Yasunari Iwata, who rode the Rose Stakes, is expected up on Sunday.

Ma Puce: By Mind Your Biscuits, the Miho-based Ma Puce finished fourth in the Oka Sho, then continued along the mile track with a seventh-place finish in the NHK Mile Cup. Her seven starts thus far have, in fact, been exclusively over 1,600 meters, only one of them (the Oka Sho) run to the right. After a three-month rest following the NHK Mile Cup, she returned for the Grade 3 Chukyo Kinen. She topped the field, aided assuredly by the 52kg she carried, a full 6kg lighter than the field’s top assigned weight. That said, she deserves recognition nonetheless for having prevailed against older horses and males. Based at Miho with trainer Yusuke Wada, she has weathered the trip east well before and will take on her second start to the right. The big question is how she will handle the extra 400 meters. Takeshi Yokoyama, who was in the saddle for the first time for her most recent race, is expected up Sunday.

Jocelyn: Jocelyn, a daughter of Epiphaneia, is fresh off a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Shion Stakes over 2,000 meters at Nakayama. Out of Katies Heart, Jocelyn is a full sister to Efforia, who won the Satsuki Sho in 2021 and went on to win the Tenno Sho (Autumn) and the Arima Kinen (The Grand Prix) that same year. Though this is her first Grade 1 and yet to win a graded stakes, Jocelyn displayed tenacity in her Shion Stakes run. She is fielded by the Miho-based Yuichi Shikato, whose Win Carnelian just captured the Sprinters Stakes. Jocelyn shipped west last week and new partner Mirai Iwata is expected to take the reins Sunday.

Other fillies of interest are:

Theresa is consistent with only one finish from six starts off the board, only one out of the Top 3. She finished second in the Grade 2 Rose Stakes and landed a berth here. Though not proven at the higher levels and taking on her first Grade 1, she’s gutsy and her second start at Kyoto since her winning debut may prove auspicious. Paradis Reine finished second in the Grade 3 Flower Cup in March and won her ticket to the Oaks where she ran fourth. In the Rose Stakes last out, she was boxed in until the final furlong and though her finishing position was eighth, her time was only 0.5 seconds off the winner. She is experienced at Kyoto and has a sharpener behind her. Often slow away, she’ll need a bit of luck at the break, but is not to be dismissed.