Shuka Sho (G1) - Preview

Monroe Walk

Dream Core

Master Soarer

Enne

Garavogue

La Belle Scene

Something Sweet

Taisei Vogue

Grade 1 racing returns to Kyoto this Sunday, with the Grade 1 Shuka Sho, the final race in the fillies’ triple crown. A full field of 3-year-old fillies are set to compete in the 31st running of the Shuka Sho, which carries a purse of nearly JPY250 million and a first-place prize of JPY110 million.

The fillies’ triple crown begins with the 1,600-meter Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) at Hanshin Racecourse and is followed by the 2,400-meter Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) at Tokyo in the spring. The final race is staged at Kyoto Racecourse and run over 2,000 meters on turf.

This year, however, marks the first time in seven years that sees neither winner of the first two Classics competing. Oka Sho winner Star Anise was sent to the Sprinters Stakes last month and Oaks champion Juryoku Pierrot, the horse that carried Seina Imamura into the history books, was withdrawn from the Shuka Sho due to illness.

Amid the 18 fillies expected to compete, six did participate in either of the first two filly triple crown events - including Oka Sho runner-up Garavogue and Oaks second-place finisher Dream Core. They do, however, face stiff competition from a number of horses that took a more uncommon path to the Shuka Sho, such as the unbeaten Monroe Walk and Shion Stakes champ Master Soarer. If a filly other than the Classic participants reaches the winner’s circle on Sunday, she will be the first to do so since Vivlos a decade ago.

The Shuka Sho is run to the right and held on the Kyoto inner course. The gate is placed in front of the grandstand and there is only 300 meters to the first turn. The ground rises sharply some three meters halfway down the backstretch, then drops just as sharply turning into the bend. Here, with the uptake in speed, horses often bear out, but gaps often open up along the inside rail at Kyoto, and can offer cool-headed riders a ground-saving advantage over the largely flat homestretch.

The Shuka Sho is the 11th race on the Sunday card of 12 at Kyoto. Post time is 15:40 JST. All fillies will carry 55kg.

Here is a look at the expected popular picks:

Monroe Walk: This jet-black daughter of Kizuna goes to the gate with an unblemished record of four wins from four starts. She debuted over a mile in the summer of 2025, but a fracture forced her to pass on the spring Classics. She returned to the track this past June and was given three races, all over 1,800 meters. The first two were at Hakodate over the summer. Then, returning from Hokkaido and having to deal with weight loss from the long trip to Ritto, Monroe Walk took on the Grade 2 Rose Stakes at Hanshin on Sept. 13. She again raced on the pace and clinched the win by a margin of three lengths over runner-up Enne. Trainer Hiroyuki Uemura, who already has won three top-level races since debuting in 2019, says his filly has gotten ample work and is fit and fighting-ready. “She had the same workouts as before the Rose Stakes and I don’t feel a need to push her more. As long as she can maintain her condition, the results will follow.” Keita Tosaki, who rode two of her races to date, is expected to be in the saddle on Sunday. If Monroe Walk wins the Shuka Sho, it’ll be the first time since Fine Motion in 2002 for an unbeaten filly to win the race without previous Classic experience. Fine Motion also took on the Shuka Sho from the Rose Stakes, her first graded stakes race. Unlike Monroe Walk, however, she did have prior experience over the distance.

Dream Core: In contrast to Monroe Walk, Japanese Oaks runner-up Dream Core has competed at the graded level over her last four outings, two of them Grade 1s. From her seven starts thus far, she has won three times and only missed the Top 3 once (finished ninth in the Oka Sho). Also by Kizuna, Dream Core has performed well over distances from 1,600 to 2,400 meters and is expected to be piloted by Christophe Lemaire, gunning for a record third straight win of the Shuka Sho. “She’s a lot lighter on her feet now than she was before her most recent race (following a four-month spell), and there’s a much different air about her now,” says trainer Hiroyasu Tanaka. “We still need to improve her balance a bit, but from her run in the Shion Stakes (finished third) we saw she is fine racing to the right. It’ll be her first time at Kyoto, so I’m considering shipping west the day after her final fast work on Wednesday.”

Master Soarer: A daughter of Siskin, Master Soarer heads into the fourth start of her career. At the beginning of September, she returned from a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Queen Cup (won by Dream Core) in mid-February, and won the Grade 2 Shion Stakes, a 2,000-meter race at Nakayama. She hails from the Ritto barn of Masayoshi Ebina, and could hand the former jockey his first top-level win as trainer. Ebina rode Apapane to victory in the race in 2010 and this time it’s expected he’ll give the ride to Yutaka Take. If Master Soarer (or Canal Saint Martin) can win on Sunday, she’ll be rewriting the record for shortest route to the Shuka Sho winner’s circle. Ebina commented on the filly: “In the Shion Stakes, she rose to all the challenges - returning from time off, the distance, the clockwise track, heavy ground, and racing tightly in amid the other runners - and she learned a lot from that race.” Though concern centers on the filly’s excitability, Ebina notes, “She remained calm after her most recent race and she’s completing her work as usual. This time we have her first long trip to the track, but I’ll have her in the kind of shape that will enable her to handle any number of situations.”

Enne: The Ritto-based Enne by Kizuna debuted as a 3-year-old in mid-March and finished in second place in her second outing, the Grade 2 Flora Stakes over 2,000 meters in Tokyo. The following month, Enne scored seventh place in the tight finish of the Japanese Oaks with a time only 0.3 seconds off winner Juryoku Pierrot. Returning four months later in the 1,800-meter Grade 2 Rose Stakes, Enne was the heaviest runner in the field with a weight of 522kg, up 10kg from the spring. Racing with blinkers, she was a bit late away, but breaking from the No. 2 gate she was able to race further to the front and managed to score second place three lengths behind Monroe Walk. Although she will be racing at Kyoto for the first time, the extra distance should suit her.

Garavogue: Although a daughter of sprint royalty Lord Kanaloa, Garavogue has been given distances of 1,600-1,800 meters since her debut. She has done well, scoring one win and three seconds, and two of her second-place finishes were in Grade 1 company - the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies and the Oka Sho. Garavogue had been withdrawn from the Japanese Oaks due to phlegmon (cellulitis) in her right foreleg, but is on schedule for an appearance here. A reliable racer, her only finish off the board thus far was in the Grade 3 Queen Cup over the lefthanded Tokyo course. She heads into this race without a prep, following a spell of over six months. Ritto-based trainer Haruki Sugiyama says he has been giving his filly gate practice to help her to remain calm. “This will be her first time over the distance, but I think she’ll be able to handle it given the righthanded track.” Since the Shuka Sho’s inauguration in 1996, there has yet to be a winner who went to the gate with only one career win. The best results were second place in 2020 (Magic Castle) and 2024 (Bond Girl). New partner Kazuo Yokoyama is expected up for Garavogue’s longest trip yet.

La Belle Scene: This girl hit the ground running with an impressive late debut in early March that saw her blow away the competition over the Nakayama 1,800 meters and put her five lengths out in front at the finish. She leapt next to the Grade 2 level in the Flora Stakes and finished fifth, then dropped back to the lower levels to score two more wins, the most recent in early August at Niigata. Based at the Miho barn of Yuichi Shikato, La Belle Scene’s only race on a clockwise track was her debut. By Kizuna, the distance should not be a problem, and her final 3-furlong time last out topped the field at 32.3 seconds. She’s definitely one to watch. “Her most recent race was far better than I’d expected,” Shikato said. “It was good to see her win so handily (by two lengths). It was a very strong race. This week, I plan to ship to Kyoto on Thursday. I don’t anticipate any problems with the venue, the righthanded track or the distance. Key will be how calm she is on raceday. If she is, I think she’ll have what it takes.” Regular partner Kiwamu Ogino is expected up.

Others of interest are:

Something Sweet has two wins over 2,000 meters, one over a right-handed track. Her performance last month in the Grade 2 Shion Stakes brought her second place in her first graded race. This will be her first time at Hanshin, but she has hauled west before with success. She has speed, power, and guts and new partner Kohei Matsuyama is expected up.

Taisei Vogue was flying high, with all six starts (four of them graded) finishing in the Top 3. She landed the Grade 2 Tulip Sho in March but suffered a fracture. She returned last month with a 12th-place finish in the Grade 2 Rose Stakes, but is looking good in work and should not be written off.