World Premiere Takes Kikuka Sho in Grade 1 Debut

World Premiere, with Yutaka Take riding, emerged from a tightly bunched pack at the top of the stretch and ran on to win the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1) Oct. 20 at Kyoto Racecourse.

Satono Lux was in hot pursuit but fell a neck short, and favorite Velox was another length back after 3,000 meters (about 1 7/8 miles) on firm going. The first two finishers are colts by recently deceased sire Deep Impact.

The Kikuka Sho was the third leg of the Japanese Triple Crown, which this year had different winners in each of the races.

World Premiere jumped nicely from gate 5 on the backstretch but was taken in hand quickly by Take as Caudillo made the early going. After a circuit of the outer turf course, Take moved his mount into a challenging position, and when the leaders separated, he got first run to the lead.

Satono Lux and Velox both were left with too much to do, and World Premiere found just enough to get the job done.

"He came into the race in good condition, and we had a good draw," Take said. "So I was concentrating on giving our best race. He was a bit keen at first but was in hand nicely during the race. … He's still got a lot to improve, so I'm looking forward to his future races."

The win was Take's first in the Kikuka Sho since he guided Deep Impact to victory in 2005.

"He wasn't able to run in the first two of the Triple Crown races," Take said of World Premiere, "so I am glad that he was able to claim the last one."

Saturnalia won the first leg of the series, the Sasuki Sho (Japanese Two Thousand Guineas, G1) but passed on the Kikuka Sho in favor of a shot against older horses in the Tenno Sho (Autumn, G1) Oct. 27 at Tokyo Racecourse. Roger Barows, another by Deep Impact, won the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1) but subsequently suffered a career-ending injury.

World Premiere, trained by Yasuo Tomomichi, had a more modest run-up to the Kikuka Sho, winning twice from five starts. In his previous outing, he reported third in the Kobe Shimbun Hai (G2) at Hanshin, a 2,400-meter (about 1 1/2 miles) affair won by Saturnalia. The Kikuka Sho was his first grade 1 start.

Tomomichi said before the Kikuka Sho the campaign had worked well for his charge.

"He's recovered over the summer from his spring campaign of races, and it's good he's had the one recent run to sharpen him up," the trainer said. "While he can misbehave a little, he seems to have improved on this front, and in some ways, I think this is actually good for him."