By Heather Anderson
Sunday Racing's Queen's Walk (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) rallied to victory in the 1600-metre G3 Daily Hai Queen Cup in Tokyo on Saturday. She was just a neck to the good of Epiphaneia (Jpn)'s Arsenaal (Jpn).
Stranded widest of all when breaking from gate 13, the filly soon perched well off the inside third from the rear as Morino Red Star (Jpn) (Declaration Of War) set a solid pace on the front end through an opening quarter in :23.80 and a half-mile in :47.10. Sweeping out into the centre of the course for the stretch drive, Queen's Walk unleashed a sustained closing move to reel in Morino Red Star. Rouge Suerte (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), located dead last for the majority of the contest, also produced a strong closing kick even wider on the course, and, at one point, appeared to be the eventual winner's main danger. Arsenaal, much nearer the front end with a stalking trip, also had plenty left in the lane and her finishing burst carried her just a neck short of Queen's Walk at the line. Rouge Suerte's bid flattened out in the final 50 metres and she made do with third, another 1 1/4 lengths behind the top pair.
Second on debut versus Kyoto newcombers over 1800 metres in November, the dark bay won going that trip at Hanshin on Dec. 23. Saturday was her 3-year-old bow.
Pedigree Notes
The Japanese Champion 3-Year-Old Colt when he won the G1 Japanese Derby in 2013, Kizuna has now sired 26 stakes winners. His best runners to date have been the dual champion Songline (Jpn) and G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner Akai Ito (Jpn). His total group winners have increased to 14 with Queen's Walk's victory.
Queen's Walk is a half-sister to G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. hero Grenadier Guards (Jpn) (Frankel {GB}) (click here for Emma Berry's piece on Frankel's growing influence in Japan), who won the G2 Hanshin Cup and was also third in the G1 NHK Mile Cup. Their dam, the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint heroine Wavell Avenue (Harlington), is also the dam of the winning Astrophyllite (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), 3-year-old filly Sopers Lane (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), and a juvenile filly by the late Duramente (Jpn). She was bred to Lord Kanaloa's champion 3-year-old colt and G1 Japanese 2000 Guineas winner Saturnalia (Jpn) last spring.
Saturday, Tokyo, Japan
DAILY HAI QUEEN CUP-G3, ¥72,660,000, Tokyo, 2-10, 3yo, f, 1600mT, 1:33.10, fm.
1–QUEEN'S WALK (JPN), 121, f, 3, by Kizuna (Jpn)
1st Dam: Wavell Avenue (GISW-US, $1,190,008),
by Harlington
2nd Dam: Lucas Street, by Silver Deputy
3rd Dam: Ruby Park, by Bold Ruckus
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. 1ST GROUP WIN. O-Sunday Racing;
B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Mitsumasa Nakauchida; J-Yuga
Kawada; ¥38,462,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, ¥46,862,000.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Arsenaal (Jpn), 121, f, 3, Epiphaneia (Jpn)–Sambre et Meuse
(Jpn), by Daiwa Major (Jpn). 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP
BLACK TYPE. O-Carrot Farm; B-Northern Farm (Jpn);
¥15,132,000.
3–Rouge Suerte (Jpn), 121, f, 3, Heart's Cry (Jpn)–Ryzhkina (Ire),
by Storm Cat. 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE.
O-Tokyo Horse Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥9,566,000.
Margins: NK, 1 1/4, 1. Odds: 2.10, 3.30, 4.20.
Also Ran: Success Calla (Jpn), Morino Red Star (Jpn), Sunset View (Jpn), Teleos Sarah (Jpn), Cosmo Dinner (Jpn), Safira (Jpn), Karenna Otome (Jpn), Rouge Salinas (Jpn), Bright Again, Gabby's Sister (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video.
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