G1 NHK Mile Cup

Trainer Tetsuhide Tsuji celebrated his first Group 1 success at Tokyo on Sunday when Rodeo Drive (Saturnalia) denied Ask Ikigomi (Lord Kanaloa) in a pulsating finish to the NHK Mile Cup. Damian Lane took his medicine in the early stages aboard race favourite Rodeo Drive, who had a tricky draw to navigate in stall 17 of 18. Racing towards the rear of the field for much of the contest, the son of Saturnalia still trailed the pacesetters by the best part of 10 lengths entering the straight, shadowing the every...

Deep Creek's Panja Tower (Tower Of London) upset the G1 NHK Mile Cup at Tokyo on Sunday, producing a strong stretch run to sweep the spoils. The Shinsuke Hashiguchi-trained colt was winning his first Group 1 race. Rated in midfield through the early going, the 25-1 shot stayed out of trouble on the backstretch. Spun widest of all off the turn, he set sail for the pacesetter, Voulezvous (Satono Crown), just before the 400-metre mark. Several rivals had a similar idea, and the field was soon strung across the course...

A full field of 18 3-year-old milers line up for the G1 NHK Mile Cup at Tokyo on Sunday. Ante-post favouritism has been granted to G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes hero and Junko Kondo runner Admire Zoom. The son of four-time Group 1-winning miler Maurice warmed up for this with a stalking neck second in the G2 New Zealand Trophy at Nakayama in April behind Katsumi Yoshida's Immigrant Song (Makfi) and 1 1/4 lengths in front of the Saturnalia filly Caught Alliciant in third. Trainer Yasuo Tomomichi said, "He wasn't...

Saturday, Lingfield, post time: 15:35, WILLIAM HILL CHARTWELL FILLIES' STAKES-G3, £90,000, 3yo/up, f/m, 7fT Field: Great Generation (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), Fair Angellica (GB) (Harry Angel {Ire}), Jabaara (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), Spiritual (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Ziggy's Dream (Ire) (Inns Of Court {Ire}), Cathedral (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}). TDN Verdict: Cathedral takes on her elders, getting a significant weight-for-age advantage which could give her the edge despite her inexperience. Second in the G3 Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket in October, she had two of this season's...

Jantar Mantar (Jpn) (Palace Malice), who was crowned Japan's champion two-year-old colt in 2023, resumed winning ways with a decisive defeat of the unlucky-in-running Ascoli Piceno (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) in Saturday's G1 NHK Mile Cup at Tokyo Racecourse, his fourth win from six career starts. Unbeaten in three starts at two, culminating with a first top-level win in the Asahi Hai Futurity S. at Hanshin, Jantar Mantar had been forced to settle for minor honours on his first two starts as a three-year-old, including when finishing a close-up third...

A valiant second in the G1 Oka Sho last month, 2023 Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Ascoli Piceno (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) is looking for redemption in Tokyo's G1 NHK Mile Cup on Sunday having lost her unbeaten record. However, the 18-strong field boasts two champions and plenty of up-and-comers and her task is not straightforward. The mount of crack French reinsman Christophe Lemaire, the granddaughter of the high class G1 Meon Valley Stud Fillies' Mile heroine Listen (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) won both the G3 Niigata Nisai S. and the G1...

Over a course with conditions that could only be described as a soggy bog, Yoichi Aoyama's homebred Champagne Color (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) earned his first Group 1 win and third win in five career starts with his head victory here. After a stumble out of the gate, the chestnut colt had no choice but to hang back in the early going and rate with the early trailers while From Dusk (Bolt d'Oro) set all the pace. The 22-1 outsider made a bold move toward the front around the bend while...

The G1 NHK Mile Cup has attracted a field of 18 3-year-old milers, none better credentialed than morning line favourite Dolce More (Jpn). Racing for Three H Racing Company, the Rulership (Jpn) colt was undefeated at two, where he parlayed his G3 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup victory into a sparkling win in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. at Hanshin in December. Named the Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Colt, he is on a retrieval mission, as he lost his unbeaten tag to Eeyan (Jpn) (Silver State {Jpn}) in the G2 New...

Danon Scorpion (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn) recorded a career-high win when taking the G1 NHK Mile Cup at Tokyo Sunday. Unhurried in the early going exiting after exiting the widest stall, the colt settled in mid-division as the leaders slugged it out up front. Inching closer approaching the home turn, he reeled in late-leader and favorite Serifos (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn} in the stretch, drew even at the 100-meter marker and held off the late-closing Matenro Orion (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) by a neck with Kawakita Reverie (Jpn) (Drefong) a...

Narrowly leading the market for the G1 NHK Mile Cup at Tokyo on Sunday is 4-1 shot Serifos (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}). A winner of the G3 Niigata Nisai S. and G2 Daily Hai Nisai S. at two, the relative of GI Pacific Classic hero Go Between (Point Given) lost his unbeaten tag when second in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. to Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) last December and makes his 3-year-old bow in this competitive contest from stall four. "He ran solo in his last piece...

Sunday Racing's Schnell Meister (Ger) (Kingman {GB}) closed late to take the G1 NHK Mile Cup in a bobbing finish on Sunday, his first black-type victory. Second choice in the wagering at 5-2 behind Group 1 winner Grenadier Guards (Jpn) (Frankel {GB}), the Sunday Racing colourbearer broke well from one of the widest draws and punched the breeze out in the centre of the course while unhurried early. Up front, Pixie Knight (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) led under minimal pressure from Ho O Amazon (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}), with Grenadier Guards...

Lauda Sion (Jpn) (Real Impact {Jpn}), ninth choice in the wagering at 28-1, bested 2-1 crowd's pick and 2019 Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Resistencia (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) by 1 1/2 lengths in the G1 NHK Mile Cup at Tokyo on Sunday. It was the colt's first win at group level. As the gates flew, Resistencia motored straight to the head of affairs, but Lauda Sion soon joined her. He eventually settled just off her flank on the outside as the favourite blitzed fractions of :22.70 for the quarter mile...