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 winner's enclosure was August 2023, when she won the Listed Toki S., and before that in May 2022 in the Freeway S.
In no hurry after the jump, the chestnut watched the race unfold early from the back flight with only three others behind her as Conch Shell (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) and Feel Sympathy (Jpn) (Behkabad {Fr}) stepped out to set the fractions. Namur (Jpn) (Harbinger {Jpn}) broke particularly poorly, along with a rival to her outside, and the 5-2 second choice found herself trailing the field. The positions remained largely unchanged through the first 600 metres but the shuffle started in earnest entering the final bend as Ten Happy Rose inched forward from the grandstand side.
Entering the final 600, the eventual winner still had at least seven rivals to catch, and was unwittingly aided when 2-1 favourite Masked Diva (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) hit traffic as her path between runners closed on her in the stretch. While that one shifted in to try and recover the lost ground, Ten Happy Rose had stormed to the front in the final 200 metres and comfortably held off Fierce Pride (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and the troubled betting choice by 1 1/4 lengths.
“The race development, from the start up until the final corner, exceeded my imagination and it was just a matter of how much the mare could extend her strides from there,” said winning rider Akihide Tsumura. “When we were actually leading in the last 200 meters, it was almost unbelievable. I am grateful for the fans that have been rooting for me and I hope this is just the start of more victories like this.”
The most recent addition to a storied list of Victoria Mile winners–including names such as two-time Japanese Horse of the Year Vodka (Jpn), 2010 Horse of the Year Buena Vista (Jpn), and two-time Horse of the Year Almond Eye (Jpn)–Ten Happy Rose, along with the other top three finishers, has also earned an automatic starting position in the G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp as well as the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois.
Check out that final stretch!
Ten Happy Rose captures the #WinAndYoureIn Victoria Mile and punches her ticket to the #BreedersCup at @DelMarRacing! Congrats to all of the connections! pic.twitter.com/PcoqxMkBeK
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) May 12, 2024
Pedigree Notes:
Ten Happy Rose is the most accomplished runner for her dam Fatal Rose (Jpn) (Tanino Gimlet {Jpn}), who was an honest racehorse in her own right having hit the board 13 times in her career with several of those coming in unlisted Japanese stakes races on local circuits. Ten Happy Rose's last registered sibling is unplaced 3-year-old full-sister Fatal Tour (Jpn).
The pedigree is quite calm beneath the second dam, but shines when reaching the third, by name Oenothera (Ire) (Night Shift). A Group-placed runner in Germany, she claims U.S. champion grass horse, GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner Northern Spur (Ire) as a half-brother and herself produced noteworthy runners or the dams of them, including the likes of multiple Group 1-placed Sundrop (Jpn) (Sunday Silence), the bridesmaid in the English 1000 Guineas and Fillies' Mile. That daughter further advanced Oenothera's legacy when she became the mother of Listed winners Storm Damage (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Nature's Colors (GB) (Poet's Voice {GB}) and that one's full-sibling Whitman (GB). Sundrop was also the granddam of stakes-winning Quiet Times (Ger) (Reliable Man {GB}).
In addition to Breeders' Cup champion Northern Spur, this is also the female family of multiple Group winner Great Marquess (GB) and G1 Irish Derby runner-up, Glyndebourne (Ire).
Saturday, Tokyo, Japan
VICTORIA MILE-G1, ¥252,500,000, Tokyo, 5-12, 4yo/up, f, 1600mT, 1:31.80, fm.
1–TEN HAPPY ROSE (JPN), 123, m, 6, by Epiphaneia (Jpn)
1st Dam: Fatal Rose (Jpn), by Tanino Gimlet (Jpn)
2nd Dam: Primrose Eve (Jpn), by Sunday Silence
3rd Dam: Oenothera (Ire), by Night Shift
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Yasushi Tenpaku; B-Shadai Farm; T-Daisuke Takayanagi; J-Akihide Tsumura; ¥133,150,000. Lifetime Record: 24-6-5-2, ¥268,853,001. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Fierce Pride (Jpn), 123, m, 6, Deep Impact (Jpn)–Strawberry Fair (GB), by Kingmambo. 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. O-Godolphin; B-Darley Japan Farm; ¥52,900,000.
3–Masked Diva (Jpn), 123, f, 4, Rulership (Jpn)–Mask Off (Jpn), by Deep Impact (Jpn) O-Shadai Race Horse; B- Shadai Farm; ¥33,450,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, NK, NK; Odds: 207.60, 11.50, 1.30.
Also ran: Doe Eyes (Jpn), Rouge Lignage (Jpn), Umbrail (Jpn), Moryana (Jpn), Namur (Jpn), Stunning Rose (Jpn), Sound Vivace (Jpn), Kita Wing (Jpn), Feel Sympathy (Jpn), Conch Shell (Jpn), Lilac (Jpn), Harper (Jpn).Click for the JRA chart & video.
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