Superstar Japanese 3-year-old filly Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) appears to have the world at her feet after a track record-breaking victory in Sunday's G1 Japan Cup. The bay emulated the feat of Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in 2012 by adding the country's most famous race to her filly Triple Crown sweep earlier this year and like that famed predecessor she now looks likely to head overseas, with possible targets including the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic-a happy hunting ground for the Japanese, and the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe-the one that keeps getting away.
Almond Eye started twice last year at two, breaking her maiden at second asking, and she has done nothing but win since. She kicked off the season with a pair of victories going a mile in the G3 Shinzan Kinen on Jan. 8 and in the G1 Oka Sho-the first leg of the Triple Crown-on Apr. 8. Victory upped to a mile and a half in the G1 Yushun Himba followed on May 20, and on Oct. 14 Almond Eye became the fifth filly to sweep the country's filly Triple Crown with a win in the 2000 metre G1 Shuka Sho.
Almond Eye was handed gate one for this latest test as the heavy favourite-the same one the last two Japan Cup winners, Cheval Grand (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) and Kitasan Black (Jpn) (Black Tide {Jpn}) had jumped from-and she was slightly fractious in the stalls before bouncing out in front. By the time they hit the first turn, she had let a pair of rivals overtake her and sat tucked away in the perfect position in third on the rail. Christophe Lemaire kept Almond Eye three lengths off the lead of Kiseki (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) down the backstretch and while that Classic-winning rival turned into the stretch with the lead, Almond Eye had crept to within about a length and loomed ominously. Moving off the fence at the 300 metre mark as Kiseki came under the whip, Almond Eye responded when put to a drive by Lemaire and 100 metres later had the lead and was drawing away. She hit the line 1 3/4 lengths the best under a handride, and after Kiseki it was a further 3 1/2 lengths back to Suave Richard (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}).
“Personally, I feel relieved to have won,” said Lemaire. “I knew she had the potential to win but you never know what might happen in the 2400 meters. Today, I was a little bit anxious, but I think we saw the best Almond Eye in the race and it was a great show. I don't really like the inside number one draw because it is very hard to make a plan and can depend on how you break–I didn't want to put too much pressure on her out of the gate-and it can also be pretty tricky because if you get locked inside a slow pace it can be a mess in the end, and it is also difficult to stay back and move wide to the outside.
“She broke well, and I saw that Kiseki was taking the lead, which was good because Kiseki is a good horse and a leader with a good pace, so I had the best leader for Almond Eye and was happy with how the race went. By the first corner Almond Eye was already her usual self and well into the bridle. By the backstretch, I nearly thought the race was over and ours.
“This is a very special filly, as I keep telling the press in Japan that she is perfect–her ability, temperament, she can adapt and race from any position, so if she has a chance to race overseas, I think she can race as well as she did today, if not at least be competitive against the world's best.”
An international raider hasn't won the Japan Cup since 2005, and this year's challengers Thundering Blue (Exchange Rate) and Capri (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) checked in 10th and 11th.
“I thought the ground was too quick and he was a bit too tense before the race in the paddock,” said Thundering Blue's trainer David Menuisier. “He did show his brilliance in the final stages, but it was a good experience and he will now be given a good rest and we'll see how he does next season.” Jockey Fran Berry added, “The horse lost his concentration because of the loud crowd. He stretched well in the end but the horses in front were just too fast.”
Ryan Moore said simply of the dual Classic winner Capri, “The ground was quick and the pace too fast. The winner finishing at 2:20.60 was too good.”
Pedigree Notes
Almond Eye is one of seven stakes winners-and two Group 1 winners-for Lord Kanaloa, Japan's former Horse of the Year and champion sprinter. The son of King Kamehameha is already stamping himself an important outcross sire for Sunday Silence-line mares, as both Almond Eye and his other Group 1 winner, the Mile Championship victor Stelvio (Jpn) also from his first crop, trace back to that breed-shaping sire on their dam's sides. Lord Kanaloa added another first-crop stakes winner on Sunday in the G3 Keihan Hai S. winner Danon Smash (Jpn), and he has two group winners from his second crop already: Fantasist (Jpn) and Cadence Call (Jpn)-out of daughters of Deep Impact (Jpn) and Heart's Cry (Jpn), again both sons of Sunday Silence.
Almond Eye's dam Fusaichi Pandora was a top-class filly in her own right, finishing second in the Yushun Himba and the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup, and Almond Eye is her sixth foal and first black-type winner. Almond Eye's third dam is the great American mare Sex Appeal (Buckpasser), who produced El Gran Senor and Try My Best.
Sunday, Tokyo, Japan
JAPAN CUP-G1, ¥574,320,000, Tokyo, 11-25, 3yo/up, 2400mT, 2:20.60 (NTR), fm.
1–ALMOND EYE (JPN), 117, 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; T-Sakae Kunieda; J-Christophe
Lemaire; ¥303,024,000. Lifetime Record: 7-6-1-0. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+++
*Triple Plus*.
2–Kiseki (Jpn), 126, c, 4, Rulership (Jpn)–Blitz Finale (Jpn), by
Deep Impact (Jpn). O-Tatsue Ishikawa; B-Shimokobe Farm;
¥120,864,000.
3–Suave Richard (Jpn), 126, c, 4, Heart's Cry (Jpn)–Pirramimma,
by Unbridled's Song. (¥155,000,000 wnl '14 JRHAJUL) O-NICKS
Inc.; B-Northern Farm; ¥75,432,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 3HF, NK. Odds: 0.40, 8.20, 5.50.
Also Ran: Cheval Grand (Jpn), Mikki Swallow (Jpn), Satono Diamond (Jpn), Happy Grin (Jpn), Win Tenderness (Jpn), Satono Crown (Jpn), Thundering Blue, Capri (Ire), Ganko (Jpn), Noble Mars (Jpn), Sounds of Earth (Jpn).
Click for the JRA chart and video or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO.
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