Lovely Day Sires First Stakes Winner At Hanshin

Gruner Green (Jpn), by Japanese champion and G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn)/G1 Takarazuka Kinen victor Lovely Day (Jpn), turned in a pillar-to-post effort to win the G3 Radio Nikkei Hai Kyoto Nisai S. by a head at Hanshin on Saturday. He is his sire's first stakes winner from three crops to race.

Fifth choice on the board at 13-1, the Ikuo Aizawa trainee strode out to an early lead and covered a first quarter in :24 flat, while hard-pressed by Bikini Boy (Jpn) (Beach Patrol {Jpn}). That pair raced in tandem from three furlongs into the race, before Gruner Green edged away to lead on the backstretch. The chestnut reached the half-way point in 1:00.40, and showed no signs of weakening several furlongs later, as the field fanned into the home straight.

Held together superbly by Mirco Demuro, as 8-1 shot Top Knife (Jpn) (Declaration Of War) rallied in determined fashion up the inner, Gruner Green just lasted for a narrow score. Wurttemberg (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) made up some late ground to take third, another 1 1/4 lengths back.

Third at first asking over 2000 metres at Tokyo on Oct. 9, Gruner Green graduated there with a stalking trip after cutting back to 1800 metres on Oct. 29.

Pedigree Notes

With his eldest foals just 4-year-olds, Lovely Day's first stakes winner and group winner is Gruner Green. He also has the two-time listed-placed Praelude (Jpn) to his name.

The Special Week (Jpn) mare Lady Derby (Jpn) placed three times at two and three, and hit black-type pay dirt with only her second foal, the Jungle Pocket (Jpn) colt Verde Green (Jpn), who would go on to win a pair of Japanese group races. Now with a dozen foals to her credit, with 11 runners and eight winners, Lady Derby was covered by Cheval Grand (Jpn), but no foal was reported for this year. Second dam Umeno Fiber (Jpn) (Sakura Yutaka O {Jpn}), a champion in her native land and the 1999 Japanese Oaks heroine, is the granddam of the stakes winner and G1 Japanese 2000 Guineas runner-up Sans Rival (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn})

Saturday, Hanshin, Japan
RADIO NIKKEI HAI KYOTO NISAI S.-G3, ¥63,360,000, Hanshin, 11-26, 2yo, 2000mT, 2:00.50, fm.
1–GRUNER GREEN (JPN), 121, c, 2, by Lovely Day (Jpn)
1st Dam: Lady Derby (Jpn), by Special Week (Jpn)
2nd Dam: Umeno Fiber (Jpn), by Sakura Yutaka O (Jpn)
3rd Dam: Umeno Rosa (Jpn), by Northern Dictator
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. 1ST GROUP WIN. O-Mitsumasa Saito;
B-Homma Farm (Jpn); T-Ikuo Aizawa; J-Mirco Demuro;
¥33,532,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-1. *1/2 to Verde Green
(Jpn) (Jungle Pocket {Jpn}), MGSW-Jpn, $2,000,586. Click for
   the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Top Knife (Jpn), 121, c, 2, Declaration of War–Be Wind (Jpn),
by Spinning World. 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O-Koji Yasuhara;
B-Kineusu Farm (Jpn); ¥13,152,000.
3–Wurttemberg (Jpn), 121, c, 2, Kitasan Black (Jpn)–Maruka
Aichan (Jpn), by French Deputy. 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP
   BLACK TYPE. O-Teruya Yoshida; B-Shadai Farm (Jpn);
¥8,376,000.
Margins: HD, 1 1/4, HF. Odds: 13.40, 7.60, 41.20.
Also Ran: Stahl Wind (Jpn), Night Castle (Jpn), Grande Venus (Jpn), Lord Prayer (Jpn), Ezo Daimon (Jpn), Psy Breaker, Timur (Jpn), Cosmo Sagarmatha (Jpn), Smaragdos (Jpn), I'll Shine (Jpn), Alexa (Jpn), Bikini Boy (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video.