By Kelsey Riley
In winning Saturday's Sapporo Nissai, Rock This Town extended her record to two-for-two and became the first stakes winner for her first-crop sire Orfevre (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}). Tossing her head and fighting the rider early, the blaze-faced chestnut, who resembles her sire, soon settled into a midpack position off the rail. Rock This Town began to inch closer rounding the bend and was four-wide turning into the straight. Given a pair of reminders by Christophe Lemaire in midstretch, Rock This Town won by a comfortable neck from Fast Approach, who becomes the fourth stakes-placed progeny, and third group-placed, of first-season sire Dawn Approach. Orfevre, the Japanese Triple Crown winner, two-time G1 Arima Kinen winner and two-time G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe runner-up among his many accolades, has sired four winners from 19 starters this season.
Rock This Town, who races in the same Sunday Racing colours as her sire, is out of the Storm Cat mare Stray Cat, a half-sister to Japanese Horse of the Year Zenno Rob Roy (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) and the stakes-winning and dual Grade I-placed Darling My Darling (Deputy Minister), the dam of G2 Santa Ynez winner Forever Darling (Congrats).
Saturday, Sapporo, Japan
SAPPORO NISAI S.-G3, ¥59,310,000, Sapporo, 9-2, 2yo, 1800mT, 1:51.40, fm.
1–ROCK THIS TOWN (JPN), 119, f, 2, by Orfevre (Jpn)
1st Dam: Stray Cat (Jpn), by Storm Cat
2nd Dam: Roamin Rachel, by Mining
3rd Dam: One Smart Lady, by Clever Trick
O-Sunday Racing; B-Shiraoi Farm; T-Yoshitaka Ninomiya;
J-Christophe Lemaire; ¥31,497,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0.
*1/2 to Narita King Power (Jpn) (Brian's Time), SP-Jpn,
$609,460; Tagano Elisabeth (Jpn) (Special Week {Jpn}), SW-
Jpn, $452,885; and Cat Coin (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}), GSW-Jpn,
$441,109. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Werk Nick Rating: B+.
2–Fast Approach (Jpn), 119, c, 2, Dawn Approach (Ire)–Jolie
Jioconde (Ire), by Marju(Ire). O-Hidetoshi Yamamoto;
B-Northern Farm; ¥12,142,000.
3–Double Sharp (Jpn), 119, c, 2, Behkabad (Fr)–Mejiro Ruchbah
(Jpn), by Agnes Tachyon (Jpn). O-Katsumi Kobayashi;
B-Masanori Murakami; ¥7,871,000.
Margins: NK, HD, 1 3/4. Odds: 2.00, 7.90, 16.80.
Click for the JRA chart and video or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
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