Embroidery (Admire Mars) confirmed her standing as the outstanding older female in Japan with a dominant victory in Sunday's Victoria Mile at Tokyo. The Group 1 is a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.
Produced to lead by Christophe Lemaire with a furlong to run, Embroidery quickly asserted from there to register her third Group 1 success, having previously won both the Oka Sho (Japanese 1,000 Guineas) and Shuka Sho in 2025. At the line she had 1 1/4 lengths to spare over another Classic heroine from last year, the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) winner Kamunyak (Black Tide), with another 1 1/2 lengths back to 2025 runner-up Queen's Walk (Kizuna) as the three class acts in the 18-strong field came to the fore.
“It was a perfect race,” Lemaire said of his 60th top-level winner on Japanese soil. “We were able to break smoothly, which allowed us to race in a good position. She responded really well on the uphill stretch and I was confident we could win again. She's a smart horse with a strong mentality, and she's developing physically as well – she's truly a Group 1-calibre horse. I think she can compete both in Japan and overseas.”
Trained by Kazutomo Mori, Embroidery proved a disappointment on her only previous start outside of Japan, finishing down the field in December's G1 Hong Kong Mile at Sha Tin. She returned this year with a neck defeat of Kamunyak in April's G2 Hanshin Himba Stakes, having previously demonstrated her top-level credentials in a sparkling three-year-old campaign which also yielded her first Group-race triumph in the G3 Queen Cup. In total, she is now a seven-time winner from 11 career starts.
Such a classy filly! 🇯🇵
Embroidery (#エンブロイダリー) was a decisive winner of the Victoria Mile earlier this morning – Christophe Lemaire's 100th Group 1 triumph!#ヴィクトリアマイル #競馬 @netkeiba pic.twitter.com/0716S6k4WN
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 17, 2026
Pedigree Notes
Embroidery is one of three winners from as many runners out of the Kurofune mare Rottenmeier (Kurofune), who contested the Queen Cup herself when finishing third in 2016, before winning a Listed race at Hanshin on her next start.
Embroidery's third dam is the Japanese champion two-year-old filly Biwa Heidi (Caerleon), whose notable progeny include the Japanese Horse of the Year Buena Vista (Special Week); Japanese champion two-year-old filly Joie de Vivre (Deep Impact); G2 Kyoto Kinen winner and sire Admire Aura; G3 Epsom Cup hero and sire Tosen Reve; Listed-winning sire Admire Japan; and G2 Flora Stakes heroine Sang Real (Zenno Rob Roy).
Sunday, Tokyo, Japan
VICTORIA MILE-G1, ¥291,400,000, Tokyo, 5-17, 4yo/up, f, 1600mT, 1:30.90, fm.
1–EMBROIDERY (JPN), 123, f, 4, by Admire Mars (Jpn)
1st Dam: Rottenmeier (Jpn) (SW & GSP-Jpn), by Kurofune
2nd Dam: Adelheid (Jpn), by Agnes Tachyon (Jpn)
3rd Dam: Biwa Heidi (Jpn), by Caerleon
O-Silk Racing; B-Northern Farm; T-Kazutomo Mori;
J- Christophe Lemaire; ¥153,780,000. Lifetime Record: Ch.
3yo Filly-Jpn, 11-7-1-0, ¥547,811,000. Werk Nick Rating: A+++
*Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Kamunyak (Jpn), 123, f, 4, Black Tide (Jpn)–Dance Amiga
(Jpn), by Sakura Bakushin O (Jpn). (¥70,000,000 Ylg '23
JRAJUL). O-Makoto Kaneko Holdings; B-Shadai Farm;
¥61,080,000.
3–Queen's Walk (Jpn), 123, m, 5, Kizuna (Jpn)–Wavell Avenue,
by Harlington. O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm;
¥38,540,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 1HF, NS. Odds: 0.90, 4.30, 7.80.
Also Ran: Erika Express (Jpn), Coconuts Brown (Jpn), Nishino Ti Amo (Jpn), Lavanda (Jpn), Jocelyn (Jpn), Ma Puce (Jpn), Kana Tape (Jpn), Bond Girl (Jpn), Paradis Reine (Jpn), Ai Sansan (Jpn), Kelly Fled Ask (Jpn), Wide Latour (Jpn), Cervinia (Jpn), Ka Pilina (Jpn), Drop of Light (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video.
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