Koji Oka

Unconsidered in Sunday's G1 Queen Elizabeth Cup at Hanshin, Akai Ito (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) gave her sire his first Group 1 winner at 63-1. The 2200-metre contest featured 17 fillies and mares, and Akai Ito was the 10th choice. Breaking a touch slowly, the dark bay raced in 13th for much of the journey, as Shamrock Hill (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) laid out fractions of :22.90, :46.60 and 1:11.30 while chased by Rose Amour (Jpn) (Rose Kingdom {Jpn}). Shamrock Hill's lead began to look tenuous with less than 600 metres remaining...