Mile Championship (G1) - Preview

Docklands

Jantar Mantar

Ascoli Piceno

Soul Rush

Win Marvel

Gaia Force

Cervinia

Off Trail

Elton Barows

Top-level action in Japan continues this week with the Grade 1 Mile Championship, set for Sunday, Nov. 23 at Kyoto Racecourse. It’s the 42nd running of the autumn’s top mile event and 22 horses have been nominated. Ages range from 3 to 7 years of age, with four 4-year-old fillies and one gelding amid the mix. Eighteen of the nominees will go to the gate, including the one contender from overseas - the U.K.-based-and-bred Docklands. The winner of the Mile Championship will be awarded 180 million yen and the race’s total purse tops 390 million yen.

Japan’s mile-distance specialists have always posed a strong defense, and though the race has been open to overseas-based entrants from 1998, the winner’s share has yet to leave Japan. From this year’s contestants, a diverse trio comprised of the 4-year-old colt Jantar Mantar, the 4-year-old filly Ascoli Piceno and last year’s champion, the 7-year-old Soul Rush, are expected to be the favorite choices in the wagering.

The 5-year-old Docklands, trained by Harry Eustace, scooped the Grade 1 Queen Anne Stakes in June, a victory that also secured his eligibility for bonuses to be added to his Mile Championship earnings should he win. Docklands’ most recent three runs, all over 1,600 meters of turf, have seen him make the top five, but not the money. In August, he beat Japan’s two runners (including Ascoli Piceno) with his fourth place in the Grade 1 Prix Jacques le Marois. Sired by Massaat, Docklands returns from a fourth-place finish in the Oct. 18 Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot over 1,600 meters.

The Mile Championship is run to the right over the Kyoto outer course. The course is considered to be straightforward, but there’s a downward slope around the bend out of the backstretch. The outside runners can get pushed out, but those on the inside with steely nerves and patience also know “the inside at Kyoto opens up” as the field straightens for home.

Horses will carry 58 kg, 3-year-old colts 57 kg. Fillies and mares are given a 2-kg allowance. The Mile Championship is the 11th race of 12 on the Sunday card at Kyoto. Post time is 3:40 p.m.

Likely popular choices are:

Jantar Mantar - The Shadai Farm-bred Jantar Mantar is by the Curlin stallion Palace Malice and the rather unusual pedigree has indeed proven troublesome . . . for the competition. Jantar Mantar has five wins from nine starts, two of them at the top level, in addition to two seconds and a third and only one finish (in Hong Kong) where he finished out of the money. All his wins, except in his debut, have been secured over 1,600 meters of turf, three on a right-handed track and two at Kyoto. He returned form his win of the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen in the spring and prepped perfectly with a second place in the Oct. 18 Fuji Stakes (G2, 1,600, Tokyo). Saddled in that race with 59 kg, 58 kg this time out will be welcome. “We’d gotten him ready for the Fuji Stakes with an eye to this Grade 1, said trainer Tomokazu Takano. “Even so, from around the final bend and down the straight and when he lined up with the others out in front, it felt like he was back at his best. I think he really ran well, chasing down the strong winner while carrying 59 kg.” He has scored three of the four top mile events open to male horses in Japan -- the Asahi Futurity Stakes, the NHK Mile Cup, and the Yasuda Kinen. Expected up is Yuga Kawada, with 29 JRA Grade 1 wins and 14 of those claimed over 1,600 meters. Kawada, however, is still gunning for a win of the Mile Championship.

Ascoli Piceno - From her 10 career starts thus far, Ascoli Piceno has competed at the top level in five of them, all over 1,600 meters. She scored 1-2-2-1 in the four at home and a sixth in her most recent race, the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville in August. In that race her result could be attributed to being held up in traffic and also not taking well to the heavier ground. Her only other race that saw her finish out of the top two was her other overseas bid, in the Golden Eagle last year at Sydney’s Rosehill Gardens. Her two G1 victories in Japan are the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies and this year’s Victoria Mile. Last year’s NHK Mile (after incurring interference in the straight) saw her finish in second place, 0.4 seconds behind winner Jantar Mantar. It was Yuga Kawada and Christophe Lemaire in the saddles and the same are expected up on Sunday. Ascoli Piceno’s sire Daiwa Major scored back-to-back wins of the Mile Championship in 2006 and 2007 under Katsumi Ando. Ascoli Piceno returned to Miho on Oct. 29, and shipped on to Ritto the following day. “We started her back in work immediately,” says the Miho-based Yoichi Kuroiwa. “Now that she has matured, her physique is more solid and we’ve upped her workouts, training her on the hill course even on days when we’re not giving her fast work. She has gotten a lot of work.” Fast ground will be welcome.

Soul Rush - Soul Rush topped the field as the fourth pick in this race last year as he put a full 2 1/2 lengths ahead of him and runnerup seventh choice Elton Barows, followed by longshot Win Marvel. It was his third Mile Championship and brought his record to 4-2-1. Since then, the now 7-year-old son of Rulership (who competed largely at distances of 2,000 meters and up), has been given only G1 and G2 tests and he has proven consistent with a not-too-shabby post record of 2-3-1-3-3. Those five events were all in the range of 1,600-1,800 meters and included two overseas jaunts, to Hong Kong and Dubai. Following his third in the Yasuda Kinen, Soul Rush was found to have suffered a fracture and returned some 4 months later in the Fuji Stakes, where he finished third and now looks to be all the sharper for it. Six horses in the past have won back-to-back Mile Championships. Three different riders have ridden Soul Rush’s previous three runs in the race and up on Sunday will be yet a new one again, Cristian Demuro. Demuro rode Soul Rush once before, to a win of the Grade 1 Dubai Turf (1,800 meters) in April.

Gaia Force - A flashy 6-year-old gray by Kitasan Black, Gaia Force ran second in this year’s Yasuda Kinen, bettering last year’s fourth-place finish, in large part due to blinkers that helped him keep something in the tank for the final stage. Dirt, turf, racing to the right or to the left, at home or overseas, Gaia Force has proven himself an honest runner. However, his results at the top level have been lacking, with only two finishes in the money from his nine G1 attempts. Returning in late October, he was piloted by new partner Takeshi Yokoyama to his first win since the autumn of 2022, a win of the Grade 2 Fuji Stakes over the Tokyo mile. His break was unusually good and the pace suited. Although he did carry 2 kg less, it should be noted that he held his ground to beat Jantar Mantar to the line. “How he’ll race will depend largely on the break,” says trainer Haruki Sugiyama.” “The most important thing is that he has no physical problems. I’d really like to see him land a big title.” Though raced largely to the left, Gaia Force has a second at the G2 level from his only run at Kyoto.

Lebensstil -　Things may be looking up for the 5-year-old Lebensstil as he heads in to his third Grade 1 and only his second race over 1,600 meters (following a seventh-place finish in the Grade 3 Shirasagi Stakes in June). After a string of three lackluster performances that began with last year’s Tenno Sho (Autumn), the son of Real Steel looks to be regaining some of his old feist. He was able to capture his fourth graded-stakes victory with the Grade 2 Mainichi Okan on Oct. 2 and has boosted hopes that he is returning to his best. This will be his first time at Kyoto, however and his two prior Grade 1 bids (one overseas) brought only eighth-place finishes. Usually raced at 1,800 meters and up, this will also be only his second time over 1,600 meters. His workout on Nov. 12 drew nods of approval as he worked over the Miho woodchip course. “He’s moving well and he’s taking the bit very nicely, which is when he runs well,” said trainer Hiroyasu Tanaka. “He is definitely showing improvement after his last start.” In June, Lebensstil weathered the trip west from Miho to Hanshin well and Damian Lane is expected to have the ride, his first time up since the spring of 2023.

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Others of interest are:

Cervinia was shining last year, claiming two of the filly triple clown and holding her own with a fourth-place finish behind three older males in the Japan Cup. After that, a trip to Meydan, two races shorter than her usual distance, and her weight fluctuating wildly, she has failed to make the board three times in her last four starts. She’s looking strong in work, though, and prospects may improve if she can muscle up and stay under 500 kg.

The U.K.-bred Off Trail is looking good in work after scooping the Swan Stakes (his first Grade 2 from four) in record time over 1,400 meters in mid October. Prior to that in the Sekiya Kinen (G3, 1,600, Niigata), he finished second only a neck behind the record-setting time of the winner. He’s looking good in morning work.

From her second start of this year, Lavanda has found the money in all six outings that followed. Those included a win most recently in the Ireland Trophy (G2, 1,800) at Tokyo, where she clocked 32.4 seconds over the final 3 furlongs. She’s versatile and looking eye-catchingly fit in morning work.

Fourth-place finisher here two years ago, second last year, Elton Barows only returned in August after recovering from a fracture suffered in January. After lackluster results in his two ensuing starts, he’s now looking sharper in work and may be worth a wager.