Almond Eye Looks to Bounce Back in Victoria Mile

Four of the fillies and mares lining up for the Victoria Mile (G1) May 17 at Tokyo Racecourse have nine top-level wins among them, with six of those victories belonging to one horse and likely race favorite Almond Eye.

The race is a relatively recent addition to the Japanese racing calendar—it was run for the first time in 2006—and is the newest addition to the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, with the winner receiving an automatic berth into the Nov. 7 Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) at Keeneland. The Victoria Mile will be televised live on TVG at 2:40 a.m ET, according to a news release from the Breeders' Cup. 

Almond Eye, a Lord Kanaloa mare, makes her first start as a 5-year-old. She was in Dubai in March and ready to try for a repeat win in the Dubai Turf Sponsored by DP World (G1) when the World Cup program was canceled. It took more than a week to sort out transportation to return Almond Eye and the rest of the Japanese contingent to their home bases.

The Dubai cancellation followed her only finish outside the top three in what remains her most recent outing—the Dec. 22 Arima Kinen (Grand Prix, G1).

"After her unfortunate result last year in the Arima Kinen, she still traveled to Dubai, but because of the cancellation there, she returned to Japan and saw out the quarantine before going to Northern Farm Tenei," trainer Sakae Kunieda said as he prepared Almond Eye for her return to the track.

Before the Arima Kinen's "unfortunate result"—she finished ninth, with jockey Christophe Lemaire saying she was "unable to relax"—Almond Eye's record was sterling. She had won eight of 10 starts, including all three legs of Japan's Filly Triple Crown and the 2018 Japan Cup in Association with Longines (G1) in addition to the dramatic stretch run that sealed the win in Dubai.

"Mentally, she's in the right place, too," Kunieda said. "In last year's Yasuda Kinen, she had trouble at the start, but, generally, you have to say the Tokyo mile suits her, and that even off a fast pace, she can get into a good position in the race."

Out of the Sunday Silence mare Fusaichi Pandora, Almond Eye was bred by Northern Racing and totes the powder blue with red dots colors of Silk Racing. Lemaire will be aboard as the mare breaks from the gate 12 in a field of 18.

A successful start to her campaign would reignite speculation about a trip to the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) this fall. Plans to contest the 2018 edition of that race—an elusive target for the Japanese—fell through when Almond Eye was judged too used up by her Dubai trip to merit further international travel that year.

The other grade 1 winners in the Victoria Mile field are Normcore, a Harbinger mare whose top-level victory came with a record time of 1:30.50 in this race last year; Loves Only You, a Deep Impact filly who scored in the 2018 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1); and Danon Fantasy, a daughter of Deep Impact whose grade 1 win was the 2018 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies.

Nine entries were sired by the late Deep Impact.

Normcore exits a 15th-place showing in the March 29 Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1) at 1,200 meters (about six furlongs)—her first race since finishing fourth in the Longines Hong Kong Mile (G1) in December. She has won five of 11 starts and is parked out wide for the return in the 16 stall.

Trainer Kiyoshi Hagiwara said Normcore has had a break at the farm between races, adding, "All being well, from now she'll get tuned up and be in similar condition as she was for the race last year."

Loves Only You will make just her sixth start. She won the first five, then finished third in the Nov. 10 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) at Kyoto and has not run since. She drew the inside gate, and Mirco Demuro will ride.

Danon Fantasy, after showing great promise at 2, has produced a spotty record with two victories from six subsequent starts, both coming in grade 2 events. She was last seen finishing fifth in the Sankeisports Hai Hanshin Himba Stakes (G2) April 11—her return after a six-month break.

Others to be considered include Sound Chiara, a 5-year-old Deep Impact mare sporting a three-race winning streak that includes the Hanshun Himba.

Another by Lord Kanaloa is Megere Su, whose dam, Asian Winds, won the 2008 Victoria Mile with Vodka second.

The Victoria Mile starts on the Tokyo Racecourse backstretch and winds around two sweeping corners into the uphill climb through the stretch. The purse is about US$2.1 million, with about US$973,000 to the winner.

Past winners include Vodka in 2009, Buena Vista in 2010, and Apapane in 2011. Only three favorites have won in the event's 14-year history.