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Jantar Mantar Prevails with Brilliance in Mile Championship

Race favorite Jantar Mantar claimed his fourth G1 title in this year’s Mile Championship, renewing the race record by 0.2 second to 1:31.3. The son of Palace Malice marked three wins out of the same starts in 2023 including the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1, 1,600m), which earned him the Best Two-Year-Old Colt title and scored another G1 victory in the NHK Mile Cup (G1, 1,600m) last year. Jantar Mantar has now become the ninth horse in JRA history to claim both mile G1 titles, the Yasuda Kinen (G1, 1,600m) in June and the Mile Championship, in the same year. Trainer Tomokazu Takano registered his tenth JRA-G1 victory after his win in the Yasuda Kinen with this colt and second Mile Championship title following Namur in 2023. For jockey Yuga Kawada, this was also his first G1 win since the Yasuda Kinen and 30th overall.

Heavily favored in a stellar field that included six G1 winners, Jantar Mantar was quick out of a wide gate, sat in third while Toshin Macau set a rapid pace outdistancing the other runners up to the final turn. As the pace setter weakened from his early efforts, the four-year-old colt, after hitting the stretch in good striking position, easily snatched the lead 300 meters out and pulled away convincingly to a 1-3/4-length victory.

“I’m glad we were able to prove that the colt is a true champion. Although we lost our recent race, it was a good prep for today and enabled the colt to run in good rhythm with a good feeling. He responded smoothly and, in the home stretch with the sun setting behind us, I was able to check by the shadows that no one was sneaking up on us. Owing to his outstanding talent and to the hard work of everyone involved, the colt has won all G1 Mile events open for colts/horses which I think is absolutely incredible,” commented Yuga Kawada after the race.

Fourth pick Gaia Force, settled between horses in fourth to fifth, sat right behind the eventual winner entering the lane but took an inner route instead and after squeezing through tight quarters 100 meters out, dug in with a powerful second gear in the final strides to notch the runner-up seat.

Lightly regarded as 15th pick, Water Licht sat in seventh to eighth, chased Gaia Force briefly in early stretch but shifted out to display a strong stretch run, threatening the runner-up but was a nose short at the wire for third.

Sent off 13th choice and breaking from stall no.16, British raider Docklands was a bit off slow and struggled to keep up with the early pace, racing towards the rear around 13th. The Queen Anne Stakes winner circled wide into the lane and gradually increased speed but had too much ground to make up, finishing ninth, 0.8 second from the winner.

“The race was okay. From our position in the field, we needed a stronger gallop. So, he ran on well, but he was too far back. The track was fine, ground was fine but the Japanese horses were too good today,” commented trainer Henry Eustace.

“The horse ran really well. It was from the barrier we had to settle quite a long way back and it made it tough for us to win, but I thought he ran through the line very well. Given the circumstances, I thought the horse ran as good as he possibly could. It seemed a race for on-speed horses where I was back, which made it tough,” added jockey Mark Zahra.

Other Horses:
4th: (11) Off Trail—traveled around 13th, switched to outside to quicken but neck short for 3rd
5th: (9) Elton Barows—chased distant leader in 2nd, showed tenacity but weakened in last 100m
6th: (17) Soul Rush—broke sharply, sat wide around 7th, never threatened winner
7th: (5) Ascoli Piceno—ran around 5th, rallied for lead, failed to keep up with winner’s speed in last 100m
8th: (4) Magic Sands—raced on rails around 15th, launched 2nd fastest late kick but belatedly
10th: (7) Cervinia—settled around 10th, failed to show another gear
11th: (1) Toshin Macau—set pace, showed tenacity after surrendering lead, faded in last 100m
12th: (14) Lebensstil—sat wide around 10th, failed to respond at stretch
13th: (8) Kangchenjunga—ran around 16th, angled out, needed more
14th: (2) Champagne Color—saved ground around 7th, weakened in last 200m
15th: (13) Long Run—trailed in rear, lacked needed kick
16th: (10) Lavanda—raced behind winner around 4th, sustained bid until early stretch
17th: (18) Wide Latour—unhurried near rear, showed little
18th: (12) Win Marvel—traveled wide around 10th, dropped back at stretch

THE 42ND MILE CHAMPIONSHIP (G1) – Japan Autumn International -
3-year-olds & up, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), right-handed, turf
Sunday, November 23, 2025       Kyoto Racecourse         11th Race       Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 390,600,000 (about US$ 2,488,000 <US$1=¥157>)
3-y-o: 57kg (about 126 lbs), 4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs),
2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares, 1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2022
Course Record: 1:31.3               Race Record: 1:31.3 [Jantar Mantar (JPN, by Palace Malice), 2025]
Safety factor: 18 runners            Going: Good to Firm      Weather: Fine

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 20,216,147,100       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 30,958,815,200       Attendance: 42,587

Winner= 10 starts: 6 wins, 2 seconds & 1 third / Added & stakes money: ¥ 183,864,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 712,498,000

* Mile Championship (G1)

The Mile Championship is one of the most prestigious autumn grade-one events for milers together with the Yasuda Kinen (G1, 1,600m) in spring. Horse racing in Japan had been focusing on long distance racing for a long time, regarding stamina and strength as the most important quality of horses. However, with modern racing having increased its attention to speed horses suited to a mile or shorter distance races, the Mile Championship was established in 1984 in conjunction with Japanese races adopting the grading system. The current racing program now provides races for short, middle and long-distance racehorses. The race was temporarily shifted to Hanshin Racecourse due to renovations taking place at Kyoto Racecourse between 2020 and 2022.
After being designated an international race in 1998, the race welcomed several foreign contestants, including Sahpresa (USA, by Sahm) who ran three consecutive years—third in 2009 and 2011, fourth in 2010—and Charyn (IRE, by Dark Angel), winner of the Cartier Racing Awards Best Older Horse who was fifth last year. This year’s Mile Championship welcomed the Queen Anne Stakes (G1, 1,600m) champion Docklands from Great Britain.
Taking on the challenge was defending champion Soul Rush who came off a third in the Fuji Stakes (G2, 1,600m; Oct.18) in which winner Gaia Force claimed his second graded title and was followed by the　Yasuda Kinen (G1, 1,600m) victor Jantar Mantar in second. Coming off their respective graded wins were Lebensstil (Mainichi Okan [G2, 1,800m; Oct.5]), Lavanda (Ireland Trophy [G2, 1,800m; Oct.12]) and Off Trail (Swan Stakes [G2, 1,400m; Oct.13]). The field also included Ascoli Piceno, winner of the Victoria Mile (G1, 1,600m) and Cervinia, the 2024 Best Three-Year-Old Filly, as well as Elton Barows and Win Marvel who finished second and third, respectively, in last year’s edition.