Few things enhance a young sire's reputation more than siring stakes winners, and former Japanese Horse of the Year Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) gained a valuable first black-type winner and first Group 3 winner when Almond Eye (Jpn) saluted in the G3 Nikkan Sports Sho Shinzan Kinen versus males at Kyoto Racecourse on Monday.
Tabbed the 9-5 crowds pick, the Silk Racing colourbearer trailed in last through the early going, before inching up to ninth after 600 metres in :35.70 under Keita Tosaki. Picking off rivals on the final bend while well in hand, Tosaki hit the go button at the head of the lane and the bay whooshed past all comers out in the centre of the course to win going away by 1 3/4 lengths. Tsuzumimon (Jpn) (Strong Return {Jpn}) was a neck to the good of GSW Cassius (Jpn) (Kinshasa no Kiseki {Aus}) in second, after they dueled for much of the stretch.
Runner-up in a Niigata maiden on Aug. 6, Almond Eye was first past the post going this trip at Tokyo on Oct. 8 when last seen.
Pedigree Notes…
Almond Eye is the first black-type winner for her Shadai-based sire, the speedy Lord Kanaloa and her dam, the Japanese MSW Fusaichi Pandora. Already the dam of six winners from six foals of racing age, Fusaichi Pandora, who ran second in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup during her racing days, did not produce a foal in 2016 and has a yearling colt by Rulership. Almond Eye's second dam, the unraced Lotta Lace (Nureyev), is a half-sister to English and Irish champion juveniles and El Gran Senor (Northern Dancer) and Try My Best (Northern Dancer) being out of the blue hen Sex Appeal (Buckpasser), who also produced GSW Solar (Halo). Numerous SWs trace to her, including GISWs Bahamian Pirate (Housebuster) and Chinchon (Ire) (Marju {Ire}), with the latter winning Monmouth Park's GI United Nations S. (Click here for a recent Alan Carasso feature on Arrowfield Stud-consigned fillies by Lord Kanaloa pointing toward the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale on Wednesday.) Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
Monday, Kyoto, Japan
NIKKAN SPORTS SHO SHINZAN KINEN-G3, ¥72,650,000 (US$642,419/£473,482/€536,494), Kyoto, 1-8, 3yo, 1600mT, 1:37.10, gd.
1–ALMOND EYE (JPN), 119, f, 3, by Lord Kanaloa (Jpn)
1st Dam: Fusaichi Pandora (Jpn) (MSW & G1SP-Jpn, $3,264,457), by Sunday Silence
2nd Dam: Lotta Lace, by Nureyev
3rd Dam: Sex Appeal, by Buckpasser
FIRST BLACK-TYPE WIN. FIRST GROUP WIN. O-Silk Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn);
T-Sakae Kunieda; J-Keita Tosaki; ¥38,455,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0. *1st SW/GSW for
her sire (by King Kamehameha {Jpn}). Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for
the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Tsuzumimon (Jpn), 119, f, 3, Strong Return (Jpn)–Katamachi
Botan (Jpn), by Dance in the Dark (Jpn). O-Itohan Holdings;
B-Shadai Farm (Jpn); ¥15,130,000.
3–Cassius (Jpn), 126, c, 3, Kinshasa no Kiseki (Aus)–Love Dylan
(Jpn), by Dylan Thomas(Ire). O-Kanayama Holdings; B-Tanioka
Farm (Jpn); ¥9,565,000.
Margins: 1.3/4, NK, 2HF; Odds: 1.90, 15.70, 6.50.
Also Ran: Fast Approach (Jpn), Kafuji Vanguard (Jpn), Starry Stage (Jpn), Velgado (Jpn), Plus (Jpn), Blanc Monstre (Jpn), Hishi Cosmah (Jpn), Meiner Aimer (Jpn).
Click for the Racing Post chart. JRA Video.
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