Almond Eye Lands Fillies' Triple Crown

Silk Racing's Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) raced into the history books and became the fifth Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown winner with a 1 1/2-length score in the 2000-metre G1 Shuka Sho at Kyoto on Sunday. The heavy 1-5 crowd's pick follows in the hoofsteps of Mejiro Ramonu (Jpn) (1986), Still in Love (Jpn) (2003), Apapane (Jpn) (2010) and Gentildonna (Jpn) (2012). Trainer Sakae Kunieda was winning his second Fillies' Triple Crown, after saddling Apapane eight years ago.

Slowly away, the bay raced well off the fence near the rear third of the strung out field as Mikki Charm (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) showed the way into the backstretch. Still behind a wall of runners with Mikki Charm maintaining her vanguard advantage at the 600-metre mark, Almond Eye was cued by pilot Christophe Lemaire as the homestretch beckoned. Spun nine deep in the straight, she showed an impressive burst of speed to wear down the brave frontrunner inside the final 50 metres and win going away. It was a length back to Cantabile (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in third, with Salacia (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) another 3/4 of a length behind in fourth.

“I was a bit worried today because Almond Eye was rather nervous and [more] highly strung than usual, so the start wasn't that good, then our path was blocked and we had to go wide, but from there she just showed just how exceptional she was,” said Lemaire. “She's such a fantastic filly and I have to give credit to the trainer and stable staff because it's so difficult to maintain a horse's condition at the top of her form throughout the season. So becoming a Triple Crown winner isn't easy even with the best horse.”

Almond Eye has only missed the winner's circle once in six starts, running second in a Niigata newcomer heat last August, but was off the mark going a mile at Tokyo that October. She resurfaced with a victory in Kyoto's G3 Nikkan Sports Sho Shinzan Kinen on Jan. 8 and earned the first jewel of the Fillies' Triple Crown in the Apr. 8 G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) at Hanshin, defeating champion 2-year-old filly Lucky Lilac (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) who ran ninth on Sunday. The May 20 2400-metre Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) cemented Almond Eye's status as the premier sophomore filly returning to Tokyo, and she was shelved until Sunday's triumph.

Pedigree Notes…

Almond Eye is the first Group 1 winner for her young sire, who was crowned the Japanese Horse of the Year during his racing days and has 3-year-olds of this year. Two-time Japanese stakes winner Fusaichi Pandora, who played the bridesmaid in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup, foaled Unakite (Jpn) (Johannesburg), a winning juvenile half-sister and a yearling colt by Rulership after the Fillies Triple Crown heroine. Champion juvenile colts and subsequent successful sires El Gran Senor (Northern Dancer) and Try My Best (Northern Dancer) are half-brother's to Almond Eye's second dam, the unraced Lotta Lace (Nureyev). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

Sunday, Kyoto, Japan
SHUKA SHO-G1, ¥195,400,000 (US$1,741,425/£1,328,576/€1,505,809), Kyoto, 10-14, 3yo, f, 2000mT, 1:58.5, fm.
1–ALMOND EYE (JPN), 121, f, 3, by Lord Kanaloa (Jpn)
                1st Dam:  Fusaichi Pandora (Jpn) (MSW & G1SP-Jpn,
                                $3,264,457), by Sunday Silence
                2nd Dam: Lotta Lace, by Nureyev
                3rd Dam: Sex Appeal, by Buckpasser
O-Silk Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Sakae Kunieda;
J-Christophe Lemaire; ¥103,780,000. Lifetime Record: 6-5-1-0.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*.
2–Mikki Charm (Jpn), 121, f, 3, by Deep Impact (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Ripples Maid (GB), by Dansili (GB)
                2nd Dam: Rivers Rhapsody (GB), by Dominion (GB)
                3rd Dam: Trwyn Cilan (GB), by Import (GB)
(¥70,000,000 Ylg '16 JRHAJUL). O-Mizuki Noda; B-Mishima
Bokujo (Jpn); ¥41,080,000.
3–Cantabile (Jpn), 121, f, 3, by Deep Impact (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Chanrossa (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Palacoona (Fr), by Last Tycoon (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Palavera (Fr), by Bikala (Ire)
O-Tatsue Ishikawa; B-Mishima Bokujo (Jpn); ¥25,540,000.
Margins: 1HF, 1, 3/4. Odds: 0.30, 14.60, 13.00.
Also Ran: Salacia (Jpn), Lathyros (Jpn), Randonnee, Primo Scene (Jpn), Gorgeous Lunch (Jpn), Lucky Lilac (Jpn), Satono Garnet (Jpn), Tosen Bless (Jpn), Pioneer Bio (Jpn), Dancar (Jpn), All for Love (Jpn), Harlem Line (Jpn), Oscar Ruby (Jpn), Sayakachan (Jpn). Scratched: Scarlet Color (Jpn).
Click for the Racing Post chart. JRA Video.