Race replay plus all the details as Sodashi, the all-white Thoroughbred cult heroine of Japanese racing, masters a talent-laden field to win the G1 Victoria Mile at Tokyo racecourse – a ‘Win and You’re In’ race for the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland.
Tokyo: Victoria Mile G1 ¥281.8m ($2.45m/£1.78m) 1m, turf, 4yo+ f/m
Sodashi (Naosuke Sugai/Hayato Yoshida)
To the delight of her masses of adoring fans, the great white wonder Sodashi regained the winning when she charged home to beat a star-studded field in the Victoria Mile – a Breeders’ Cup Challenge ‘Win and You’re In’ race for the Filly & Mare Turf at Keeneland on November 5.
After a series of less exalted efforts, the massively popular four-year-old ‘idol horse’ landed her third G1 success in fine style, scoring by a couple of lengths at the head of an 18-runner field featuring a slew of Japan’s top fillies and mares.
“It was like a dream for a white horse to be able to win a Grade 1 race at Tokyo racecourse,” commented winning jockey Hayato Yoshida.
White horses are a rarity – that’s officially white, not very light grey, like most of them – anywhere in the world of racing, and Japan’s enthusiastic racing fans have long since taken the striking Sodashi to their hearts.
Also described as a 'unicorn', Sodashi is a daughter of champion dirt horse Kurofune (a grey) out of the much loved spotted-white mare Buchiko, whose dam was another white mare in Shirayukihime, which translates as ‘Snow White’.
Last year she added a Classic to her laurels when she broke the course record to win the Oka Sho (Japanese 1,000 Guineas) at Hanshin; she also beat subsequent Breeders’ Cup winner Loves Only You in a G2 event at Sapporo in August before her form tailed off.
Sodashi was back with a vengeance on Sunday, tracking the pace before being moved off the rail to make her bid in the straight, where she overwhelmed front-running longshot Rosa Noir for an emphatic win at odds of 4.7-1.
“The filly was relaxed and in good condition when I rode her in the post-parade,” reported Yoshida. “Once she entered the gate, she was focused and got a good break. I got her in a good rhythm without over-racing and she responded well at the stretch and when I urged her to go.”
Second place was taken by Christophe Lemaire’s mount Fine Rouge ahead of leading racemare Resistencia, former champion two-year-old filly. Further back in a field that read like a who’s who of Japan’s distaff ranks were Saudi winner Songline (4th) and Daring Tact (6th), the 2020 fillies’ Triple Crown heroine back from injury after a 13-month layoff.
Queen Elizabeth Cup winner Akai Ito was eighth, four places ahead of disappointing favourite Lei Papale, who beat Triple Crown winner Contrail and Gran Alegria in last year’s Osaka Hai.
As a result of her victory, Sodashi earns a guaranteed fees-paid berth at Keeneland for North America’s championship event, at which Loves Only You and Marche Lorraine made history with their ground-breaking success in 2021.
However, whether or not Sodashi is set to make the trip to the US remains open to question as owners Kaneko Makoto Holdings are by no means regular travellers and ‘Keiba’ Kate Hunter, the Breeders’ Cup’s representative in Japan, may need to be at her most persuasive.
• Visit the Japan Racing Association website and the Breeders' Cup website
On the road again: record-breaker Mickaelle Michel joins French jockey exodus to US
Shock move as Melbourne Cup heroine Verry Elleegant is switched to France from Australia
View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires