I Need You

A course-and-distance winner in December's G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, Star Anise (Drefong) picked up where she left off after a four-month absence to overpower her 17 rivals in Sunday's G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1,000 Guineas), the first leg of the fillies' Triple Crown in Japan. Heading the betting for this Classic ahead of the G3 Queen Cup heroine Dream Core (Kizuna) and the unbeaten Lily Joie (Silver State), Star Anise raced enthusiastically from the outset in the hands of Kohei Matsuyama, soon finding cover in mid-division as longshot Longing Celine...

Sunday, Hanshin, Japan, post time: 15:30, OKA SHO (JAPANESE 1000 GUINEAS)-G1, ¥266,000,000, 3yo, f, 1600mT Field: Festival Hill (Jpn) (Saturnalia {Jpn}), Saint Antoine (Jpn) (Drefong), Dear Diamond (Jpn) (Saturnalia {Jpn}), Elegance Ask (Jpn) (Poetic Flare {Ire}), Garavogue (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), I Need You (Jpn) (Fine Needle {Jpn}), Alankar (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}), Longing Celine (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}), Rule The Wave (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), Namura Cosmos (Jpn) (Danon Premium {Jpn}), Zippy Tune (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), Sweet Happiness (Jpn) ({Jpn}), Lily Joie (Jpn) (Silver State {Jpn}), Dream Core (Jpn) (Kizuna...