Almond Eye (Jpn)

Ten Happy Rose Springs Upset in Victoria, Secures Berth to Breeders' Cup

In a wild upset of the G1 Victoria Mile on Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse, Ten Happy Rose (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) rocketed home late to secure her first win at the highest level and an automatic berth into the GI Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at eye-popping 208-1 odds. Having finished sixth in her most recent appearance on track in the G2 Sankei Sports Hai Hanshin Himba S. Apr. 6 and seventh before that Feb. 17 when trying the G3 Kyoto Himba S., her last time in the...

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Champion Almond Eye Elected To Japanese Hall Of Fame

Dual Japanese Horse of the Year Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) has been elected to the Japanese Horse Racing Hall of Fame, the Japan Racing Association (JRA) announced. The former Silk Racing Co., Ltd.'s colourbearer is the 35th member of the exclusive club after garnering 200 votes (96.6%) of the 207 available. Fellow Japanese Triple Crown Winner Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) gained 155 votes, one short of the minimum requirement for entry. Trainer Sakae Kunieda said, "It is a great honor to have Almond Eye selected for the...

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Champion Almond Eye Foals a Colt

Dual Japanese Horse of the Year Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) delivered her first foal shortly after midnight on Jan. 13, Silk Racing Company Limited announced. The bay foal is a colt by Shadai Stallion Station's Epiphaneia (Jpn). Bred by Northern Farm and raced by Silk Racing, the 7-year-old claimed nine Group 1 victories throughout her career. Ridden all bar one race by Christophe Lemaire and trained by Sakae Kunieda, the bay won the 2018 Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown and G1 Japan Cup. Named the Champion 3-Year-Old Filly and...

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Japanese Champion Almond Eye In Foal to Epiphaneia

Dual Japanese Horse of the Year Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}-Fusaichi Pandora {Jpn}, by Sunday Silence) was scanned in foal to Epiphaneia (Jpn) (Symboli Kris S) on her sixth birthday, Nikkan Sports reported on Wednesday. A winner of the G1 Japanese St. Leger and G1 Japan Cup, Shadai Stallion Station's Epiphaneia is the sire of 2020 Japan Fillies' Triple Crown heroine Daring Tact (Jpn) and more recently, Efforia (Jpn) in the G3 Kyodo News Hai among his four black-type winners. Bred by Northern Racing and raced by Silk Racing...

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People's Choice Award Voting Closes Mar. 6

Voting for the People's Choice Awards closes on Mar. 6, the Dubai Racing Club announced on Tuesday. The nominees for the most compelling moment in racing since the 2019 G1 Dubai World Cup are: jockey Hollie Doyle, 2020 G1 Prix du Cadran heroine Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}), Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn})'s second G1 Japan Cup, and Messi's victory in the $1.9-million G1 Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown for Purebred Arabians. Fans may visit www.hhracingawards.com/vote to cast their vote.

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People's Choice Award Nominees Announced

The four nominees for the People's Choice Award, celebrating the most compelling moment in horse racing since the 2019 G1 Dubai World Cup, were announced by the Dubai Racing Club on Sunday. Jockey Hollie Doyle, 2020 G1 Prix du Cadran heroine Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}), Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn})'s second G1 Japan Cup, and Messi's victory in the $1.9-million G1 Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown for Purebred Arabians were all nominated. The People's Choice Awards are part of the HH Sheikh Mohammed bin...

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Ghaiyyath Crowned Longines World's Best Racehorse

Godolphin's Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) was officially named Longines World's Best Racehorse on Tuesday having been assessed to have posted the top two performances of 2020. His high mark of 130 was gained in the G1 Juddmonte International S. at York, which was also named Longines World's Best Horserace for the first time. The former Charlie Appleby trainee also recorded a mark of 127 in the G1 Hurworth Bloodstock Coronation Cup which, in a pandemic-disrupted season, was moved from Epsom to Newmarket. Bred by the Weld family's Springbank Way Stud...

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Almond Eye Japan's HOTY For Second Time In Three Years

Silk Racing Co. Ltd.'s Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), who was retired from racing following a second victory in the G1 Japan Cup last November, was named the recipient of the Horse of the Year award for the second time in the last three years Wednesday. She easily outpointed Triple Crown winners and unanimous champions Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Daring Tact (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}), while champion sprinter/miler elect Gran Alegria (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) garnered a single vote for HOTY. Almond Eye, who was also the champion...

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Posthumous Championship for Deep Impact

For the first year since 2008 there will be no Deep Impact (Jpn) foals born this season, but the late Shadai resident was still Japan's champion sire in 2020, a title he has held without pause since 2012. That was the year his eldest runners were four; he had also been champion first-season sire in 2010. He had already been responsible for former Horse of the Year Gentildonna (Jpn) but Deep Impact's crowning glory among his many talented colts has come posthumously, with his son Contrail (Jpn) having become his...

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Almond Eye Claims Second Japan Cup in Triple Crown Trifecta

The 2020 G1 Japan Cup delivered on its billing as primarily a three-way battle between 2018 Fillies' Triple Crown Winner Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) and this year's undefeated pair of Triple Crown hero Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and 2020 Fillies' Triple Crown victress Daring Tact (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}). The 2400-metre contest went to Silk Racing's 2018 Horse of the Year duly saluting as the 6-5 favourite over second choice Contrail at 9-5. Daring Tact narrowly secured third place as the 5-2 third pick. When the gates opened,...

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Triple Crown Showdown In Japan Cup

The G1 Japan Cup rarely fails to deliver an epic clash of sexes and generations at Tokyo Racecourse on the last weekend in November, and this year's lineup on Sunday features a historic showdown of three individual Triple Crown winners. Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) is the most widely known of those internationally, Silk Racing's 5-year-old having swept the Japanese fillies' Triple Crown in 2018 en route to victory in this race. She dropped back in trip to take the G1 Dubai Turf the following spring, and has since...

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Asian Notebook: Almond Eye Confirmed For Japan Cup

Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) is likely to have the final start of her illustrious career in the G1 Japan Cup (2400m) at Tokyo Racecourse, her trainer Sakae Kunieda announced through the Twitter account of the Silk Horse Club syndicate that campaigns her. The 5-year-old daughter of Fusaichi Pandora (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) swept the Japanese Filly Triple Crown in 2018 and capped a Horse of the Year campaign with a smooth 1 3/4-length defeat of front-running Kiseki (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) in the Japan Cup. She added the G1 Dubai...

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