By Daithi Harvey
Just as she did last year when becoming Frankel (GB)'s first Group 1 winner, Soul Stirring (Jpn) again put her name in the history books by becoming Frankel's first Classic winner when easily landing the G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) at Tokyo on Sunday. Sent off the 7-5 favourite despite being beaten by both Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) and Reine Minoru (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) in the G1 Oka Sho over half a mile shorter last month, the daughter of MG1SW Stacelita (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}) obviously relished the step up to 12 furlongs and gave Christophe Lemaire an armchair ride throughout.
Breaking smartly, Lemaire reined back Soul Stirring to take a perfect position in third place on the rails as the 18 runners circled the first bend with Flawless Magic (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) at the head of affairs. The positions remained so until around the 500-metre marker when Soul Stirring ranged alongside Flawless Magic and as that one's early exertions began to kick in, it was Mozu Katchan (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) who emerged as the biggest threat to the favourite. She appeared to briefly head Soul Stirring 200 metres from home, but once Lemaire got a bit more serious with the Kazuo Fujisawa trained 3-year-old she lengthened again to draw clear close home with Admire Miyabi (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) coming from a long way back to snatch third.
Christophe Lemaire won three Group 1 races on Stacelita in 2009, including the G1 Prix de Diane at Chantilly and it clearly gave him a lot of pleasure to begin to match that feat on her daughter.
“It's such a thrill for me as I also won the Oaks back home with her mother,” said Lemaire. “Soul Stirring certainly has inherited the power both from her sire Frankel and her dam. I was quite confident coming into this race. I wasn't sure yet about the distance as it was her first time at 2400m, so I wanted her in a good position which I did because she is quick out of the
gate. She also has a good lasting speed so I was able to give her the go from early at the stretch and sustain our bid right
up to the finish.
Soul Stirring enjoyed a perfect juvenile campaign, remaining unbeaten in three starts and culminating with a comfortable success in the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in December. She reappeared with another smart effort when taking the G3 Tulip Sho at Hanshin Mar. 4, a trial for the G1 Japanese 1000 Guineas. Soft ground at Hanshin Apr. 9 was put forth as an excuse for her defeat on that occasion and judged on her performance back on a sound surface on Sunday, that appears to have been a perfectly legitimate reason. It will be fascinating to follow her progress in the coming months.
Pedigree Notes…
As mentioned already, Soul Stirring is out of the brilliant race-mare Stacelita, who won a total of six Group/Grade I races between France and America. She landed a Group 1 hat trick in France in 2009 and added the G1 Prix Jean Romanet in 2010 when trained by Jean-Claude Rouget. Having been purchased by Martin Schwartz, she was then shipped to Chad Brown in America were she added both the GI Beverley D. S. and the GI Flower Bowl Invitational, achievements that saw her voted U.S. Champion Turf Mare in 2011.
Subsequently purchased privately by Shadai Farm, her mating with the then unproven Frankel has paid dividends. Apart from Soul Stirring, Stacelita has also produced the year older Southern Stars (GB) (Smart Strike) who failed to progress from winning a maiden for John Gosden and Teruya Yoshida at Sandown in April of last year. Stacelita herself is out of the stakes winner Soignee (Ger) (Dashing Blade {GB}) and her position as the most successful performer in her pedigree could well be under threat, as her daughter has begun to emulate her achievements and certainly has the scope to match or even supercede them in the future.
Sunday, Tokyo, Japan
YUSHUN HIMBA (JAPANESE OAKS-G1), ¥226,350,000 (US$2,035,093/£1,561,267/€1,816,211), Tokyo, 5-21, 3yo, f, 2400mT,2:24.10, fm.
1–SOUL STIRRING (JPN), 121, f, 3, Frankel+%28GB%29">Frankel (GB)
1st Dam: Stacelita (Fr) (Hwt. 3yo-Fr at 9 1/2-11f, Ch. Grass
Mare-US, MG1SW-Fr & US, G1SP-Eng, $2,371,241),
by Monsun (Ger)
2nd Dam: Soignee (Ger), by Dashing Blade (GB)
3rd Dam: Suivez (Fr), by Fioravanti
O-Shadai Race Horse; B-Shadai Farm; T-Kazuzo Fujisawa;
J-Christophe Lemaire; ¥125,445,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. 2yo
Filly-Jpn, 6-5-0-1. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click
for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Mozu Katchan (Jpn), 121, f, 3, by Harbinger (GB)–Site Dealer
(Jpn), by King Kamehameha (Jpn). O-Capital System; B-Meguro
Farm; ¥47,270,000.
3–Admire Miyabi (Jpn), 121, f, 3 by Heart's Cry (Jpn)–Lady
Skipper (Jpn), by Kurofune. (¥41,000,000 Wlg '14 JRAJUL).
O-Riichi Kondo; B-Northern Farm; ¥28,635,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 2HF, HD; Odds: 1.40, 14.00, 3.80.
Also Ran: Deirdre (Jpn), Lys Gracieux (Jpn), Flawless Magic (Jpn), Black Onyx (Jpn), Manarola (Jpn), Black's Beach (Jpn), Miss Panthere (Jpn), Caribbean Gold (Jpn), Mauve Sapphire (Jpn), Reine Minoru (Jpn), Hello Unicorn (Jpn), Red Cordis (Jpn), Ho O Perfume (Jpn), Dipavamsa (Jpn), Yamakatsu Grace (Jpn).
Click for the Racing Post chart or the JRA Video.
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