By Heather Anderson
Striving to maintain her unbeaten record in Saturday's G3 Artemis S., Ravel (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) managed that feat by a neck over the favoured Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) in the 1600-metre feature in Tokyo.
Sent off as the 6-1 third choice on the back of her one-length triumph in a Kokura maiden in July, the Northern Farm-bred and U Carrot Farm colourbearer was not the quickest away and dropped anchor last but one as Alice Verite (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) established a slight advantage over the pressing duo of Dynato Selene (Jpn) (Red Falx {Jpn}) and Masculine (Jpn) (One And Only {Jpn}). Unhurried on the bend, Ravel swooped widest of all in the lane, but still had most of the field to get by as Alice Verite set sail for home at the quarter-pole.
Closing with gusto, the bay had the leader in her sights inside the final furlong and wore that foe down in deep stretch, before withstanding the late charge of Liberty Island. It was another neck back in third to a game Alice Verite.
Pedigree Notes
By two-time Japanese Horse of the Year Kitasan Black (Jpn), himself a son of Deep Impact (Jpn)'s full-brother Black Tide (Jpn), Ravel is the third black-type winner and third group winner for her sire, whose oldest foals are just 3-year-olds. She joins the colts and Group 2 scorers Gaia Force (Jpn) and Equinox (Jpn), with the latter also second in both the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) and G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese St Leger). Equinox leaves from gate seven in Sunday's G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn). Like Gaia Force, the bay carries inbreeding to the influential Sunday Silence.
Ravel's damline has inhabited the Land of the Rising Sun since the late 40s, and she is the third foal and winner for G3 Fairy S. third Sambre Et Meuse (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) after the G3 Falcon S. placegetter Westerwald (Jpn) (Novellist {Ire}) and G2 Tulip Sho heroine Namur (Jpn). That daughter of Harbinger (GB) played the bridesmaid in the G1 Shuka Sho (Japanese Fillies St Leger) and was third in the G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) this season.
One of four black-type horses out of her winning dam Vite Marcher (Jpn) (French Deputy), Sambre Et Meuse is a half-sister to none other than 2021 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff victrix Marche Lorraine (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}).
Saturday, Tokyo, Japan
ARTEMIS S.-G3, ¥56,110,000, Tokyo, 10-29, 2yo, f, 1600mT, 1:33.80, fm.
1–RAVEL (JPN), 119, f, 2, by Kitasan Black (Jpn)
1st Dam: Sambre et Meuse (Jpn), by Daiwa Major (Jpn)
2nd Dam: Vite Marcher (Jpn), by French Deputy
3rd Dam: Kyoei March (Jpn), by Dancing Brave
O-Carrot Farm; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Yoshito Yahagi;
J-Ryusei Sakai. ¥29,357,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0. *1/2 to
Westerwald (Jpn) (Novellist {Ire}), GSP-Jpn, $761,865; and
Namur (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}), GSW & MG1SP-Jpn, $1,309,898.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
Werk Nick Rating: D. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Liberty Island (Jpn), 119, f, 2, Duramente (Jpn)–Yankee Rose
(Aus), by All American (Aus). 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP
BLACK TYPE. O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn);
¥12,102,000.
3–Alice Verite (Jpn), 119, f, 2, Kizuna (Jpn)–Lumiere Verite, by
Cozzene. 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O-Makoto
Kato; B-North Hills (Jpn); ¥7,351,000.
Margins: NK, NK, HF. Odds: 6.90, 0.40, 14.70.
Also Ran: Dane Balance (Jpn), Malaki Naia (Jpn), Dynato Selene (Jpn), Masculine (Jpn), Kosei Maria (Jpn), Mississippi Tesoro (Jpn), Nishino Kofuku (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart and video.
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