Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1) - Preview

Alankar

Star Anise

Taisei Vogue

Mitsukane Venera

Margot Love Me

Arbanne

His Masterpiece

Shonan Charis

This Sunday, Dec. 14, the Japan Racing Association’s top-level racing is hosted by Hanshin Racecourse, where the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies is back at its usual spot after renovations moved the race to Kyoto last year. The race is a perfect leadup to the first of the filly classics, the Oka Sho, also held over the Hanshin 1,600 and set for April 12 of next spring.

Twenty-six promising 2-year-old fillies, all Japan-based, have been nominated for Sunday’s Grade 1 event, which carries a first-place prize of ¥65 million yen, and a total purse of over ¥140 million.

This year marks the 77th running of a race that has undergone numerous changes over the decades. Its present form is a Grade 1 turf event over 1,600 meters, restricted to fillies since 1991, and open to competitors from overseas since 2010, though none are participating this year.

The retirement of Artemis Stakes winner Firostefani due to injury and the talented Festival Hill (1-3-1, the most recent two starts at the Grade 3 level) being sidelined, also due to injury, is making for a mysterious mix this year.

Attention could be said to revolve around a trio of fillies - the unbeaten Alankar, Margot Love Me (also undefeated) and Arbanne. But it’s looking to be quite a tossup, with any number of candidates easily envisioned amid the eventual top three finishers.

Fifteen of the nominees are tied for earnings and only seven of those will win (by luck of the lottery) a berth in the gate. And, being so early in their careers, it goes without saying that predicting the top finishers is difficult. Eight of the nominees have had only two starts behind them, four have only one. And, for the first time since 1997, there will be no graded-stakes winners in the field. Even so, the favorite, often the most experienced horse in the field, often wins. The top three finishers usually include a couple darkhorses. Longshots, however, are rare in the winner’s circle. As said, it’s a tossup.

All fillies will carry 55 kg. The Hanshin Juvenile Fillies is the No. 11 race on Hanshin’s Sunday card of 12. Post time is 3:40 p.m.

Some of the likely popular picks are:

Alankar  - The Epiphaneia-sired Alankar debut over 1,800 meters at Fukushima in early July and blew away the all-filly field of seven to win by a 4-length margin. She leapt to the open-class level and followed up her debut dazzler with victory in the Sept. 20 Nojigiku Stakes at Hanshin over 1,600 meters. The field was also small with only six members, but also included colts. Though she was relatively slow away, her late speed (33.3 seconds over the final 3 furlongs) flew her home and into the winner’s circle. Her dam Sinhalite finished her career with five wins and a second that included a win of the 2016 Grade 1 Japanese Oaks and a second in the Grade 1 Oka Sho. A blue-blooded filly, slight at only 430 kg, Alankar has the physique of her grand-sire on her dam’s side, the legendary Deep Impact. Expectations are high and hopes are for a fast track.

Star Anise - A daughter of the American sprint champion Drefong, and a dam (Epice Arome) with the speed that topped Lord Kanaloa in the 2012 Grade 2 Centaur Stakes, the main issue here is whether Star Anise can handle the distance. She heads in to the race with more experience than most, having posted 5-1-2 in her three starts thus far, and returns from a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Chukyo Nisai Stakes. There she competed in a mixed field of her age group and finished only a neck behind the colt Candide (who won the race in record time) and an incredible 7 lengths ahead of the third-place finisher Michael Barows, who went on to finish fifth in the Grade 2 Daily Hai 2 Stakes over 1,600 meters. Star Anise has power, not a lightning-fast turn of foot, but the ability to run at top speed over distance. It will be her first time at Hanshin and with the additional 200 meters this time, key will be how well she can handle an expected slower pace.

Taisei Vogue - With even more experience behind her is Taisei Vogue, a first-crop daughter of Indy Champ, who aced both the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen and the Grade 1 Mile Championship in 2019. After winning her debut over the Hanshin 1,400, Taisei Vogue jumped to the open class, then took on two Grade 3 events over the mile, from which she posted a total 2-2-3, all three over left-handed tracks. In the all-filly Artemis Stakes, she was a bit slow at the break and likely hampered by the slightly slow going. In the race previous to that, the Niigata Nisai Stakes, she lost to the unbeaten colt Realize Sirius, but topped the filly Festival Hill, who went on to capture the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes.

Mitsukane Venera - Mitsukane Venera jumped from her debut win over the Niigata 1,400 to a second in the G3 Artemis Stakes. That second, by a 1 3/4-length margin, was praise-worthy, given the strength of the winner Firostefani and the slightly heavy track. By Maurice, who won four Grade 1s over 1,600 meters, Mitsukane Venera is taking on her first competition to the right and, based at Miho, she will also have the trip to the track to deal with. A rather high-strung filly, it’ll be seen if she can keep her cool on her first trip far from home and the unnerving G1 crowd. If she can, and winningly so, two other firsts will be in the making. Nobuhiro Suzuki would land his first top-level victory in his 28 years as trainer and her expected rider, regular partner Akihide Tsumura, would win his first graded-stakes race at Hanshin since his debut in 2004.

Margot Love Me - The Real Steel-sired Margot Love Me aced her debut in record time over the Kyoto 1,400 and followed that up 2 weeks later with another win at the same venue, in the 1-win class Shiragiku Sho over 200 meters more. She went wire to wire and still clocked the fastest time of the 11-strong field with a final-3-furlong time of 34.6 seconds. That race was on Nov. 30 and with only 2 weeks in between she heads in to her third start since her debut on Oct. 11. It’s a tough schedule and, even though her home base of Ritto is close by, it will also be her first time at Hanshin. Key will be the ability to maintain her condition. Trainer Shinya Kobayashi only opened his barn in 2021 and from a total of 90 wins, 2025 has proven something of a gold rush for him, with 32 wins notched. And, though he has fielded a horse in a jump G1 before, this is his first runner in a G1 flat.

Arbanne - By Admire Mars, winner of three G1 events over 1,600 meters, Arbanne debuted with a second at Hanshin, followed by two wins, one each at Niigata and Nakayama. Her most recent win was a solid one amid tough competition in the all-female Saffron Stakes on Sept. 28. Based at Miho, it’s not her first trip west and her experience over the Hanshin 1,600 is a strong plus.

Other runners of interest are:

Veteran trainer and two-time winner of the Juvenile Fillies, Sakae Kunieda fields His Masterpiece, coming off back-to-back wins over the Tokyo mile. She’s fast, she’s got early speed, and she can maintain that speed. Key will be how she can weather her first trip west.
Shonan Charis is only one of three fillies with five or more starts behind them and she’s just off a second in G3 company. She has missed the money only once but takes on her longest trip (by 200 meters) yet. Small and nimble, she’s also eager to run, which could work against her here.
If they can make the cut, two other names should be noted -- Sweet Happiness and Stunning Lady. The Ritto-based Sweet Happiness is a promising filly with a 1-2 record, both over 1,600, both at Kyoto. Stunning Lady has only one start behind her a win over the Tokyo 1,800. She’s got nerves of steel and a will to win and is definitely one to watch.