 |
|
| Staff Writer |
 |
Stunning Rose, a filly at the age of three, won the Shuka Sho, the final leg of the Triple Crown. The King Kamehameha filly made her debut as a two-year-old in June of 2021; in her second career start, she broke her maiden, but in her subsequent three grade-race starts, she never finished higher than third.
Stunning Rose got off to a quick start, settled into a comfortable position behind the leaders and two-wide in fourth along the backstretch, made progress 600 metres out, shifted out slightly entering the short stretch, and wasted no time pinning Art House and Sound Vivace along the final 356 metres of the race, eventually winning by a half-length over Namur and Stars on Earth. After starting her career as a 3YO with two victories, the Kobushi Sho and the Flower Cup (Gr.3), she finished second in the Yushun Himba and first in the Shion Stakes (Gr.3) before claiming her first Gr.1 championship here.
Ryusei Sakai, who made his jockey debut in 2016, landed his first career Gr.1 victory in the race, and registered his tenth grade-race title overall; trainer Tomokazu Takano won his second Shuka Sho since with Shonan Pandora in 2014, and his fourth JRA-Gr.1 title; his most recent Gr.1 victory was the 2021 Osaka Hai with Lei Papale.
“I am grateful to have been given the chance to ride this filly and want to thank the connections for that and for conditioning her to how she was today. I was able to assess the filly’s maneuverability the last timed I rode her and I was able to position her near Art House during the trip. Her response at the straight was way much better than her last start and although I was aware of the horses coming strongly from behind, I felt her power under me would carry us to the wire in front,” commented Ryusei Sakai.