Akaitorino Musume Wins Shuka Sho as Sodashi Runs 10th

Akaitorino Musume stepped up to carry her owner's colors to victory in the Shuka Sho (G1) Oct. 17 at Hanshin Racecourse as her white compatriot, Sodashi, faltered through the final 200 meters to finish 10th.

The fillies are both are owned by their breeder, Kaneko Makoto Holdings, but have different trainers. Both were well fancied in the third leg of the Japanese Filly Triple Crown, with two-time grade 1 winner Sodashi the heavy favorite.

Through most of the 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles) it looked as though Sodashi was poised to pounce as jockey Hayato Yoshida had her just behind the early speed with daylight in front.

But as field turned into the stretch and hit the climb toward the finish, Sodashi began to labor while Akaitorino Musume, with Keita Tosaki at the controls, started to make up ground. Akaitorino Musume was in front with 100 meters to run and had enough to withstand a late run by the second favorite, Fine Rouge, by a half-length, clocked in 2:01.2.

Andvaranaut was third after briefly challenging the winner early in the stretch run.

"I was able to settle the filly in good position and race her in good rhythm," Tosaki said of Akaitorino Musume. "She responded willingly and stretched really well in the lane. I think she is a strong horse and felt that she has stepped up to the next level.

"I'm really glad we were able to claim the last leg of the Triple Crown … I look forward to her performances going forward," Tosaki said.

Fine Rouge, a Kizuna  filly, also has something to look forward to after her impressive stretch move. The Shuka Sho was her second straight impressive result at 2,000 meters after a victory in the Shion Stakes (G3) at Nakayama Racecourse.

"For the Shion Stakes, she was back bigger and stronger," Tomohiro Kusunoki, assistant to trainer Takaki Iwato, said of Fine Rouge. "And having gotten big, the distance was a concern. We decided if she couldn't handle the distance we'd pass on the Shuka Sho. But she was fine." 

Akaitorino Musume is regally bred, by the late Deep Impact  out of the King Kamehameha  mare Apapane , herself a four-time grade 1 winner including a sweep of the 2010 Filly Triple Crown.

"Her dam, Apapane, was a tough horse and powerful," Akaitorino Musume's trainer, Sakae Kunieda, said before the race, "and I'm hoping her daughter will carry on those traits."

Kunieda also trained Apapane and 2018 Filly Triple Crown winner Almond Eye .

After a learning experience in her career bow, Akaitorino Musume reeled off three straight wins before finishing fourth in the Oka Sho (Japanese One Thousand Guineas, G1) at Hanshin April 11. Sent 2,400 meters (about 1 1/2 miles) in the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1) May 23 at Tokyo Racecourse, she produced a promising effort, finishing second, and had been idle since.

Meanwhile, Sodashi's pure white coloring captured the loyalty of Japanese fans and she fanned the flames of fandom by winning her first five starts. By Kurofune, whose progeny appear to have distance limitations, she was caught out in the Yushun Himba, fading to finish eighth.

She rekindled hopes with a victory in the 2,000-meter Sapporo Kinen (G2) Aug. 22, a race in which Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) candidate Loves Only You  finished second.

Jockey Yoshida said prior to the race that Sodashi "doesn't have any particular quirks and I don't think the hill will pose a problem. She's (a) clever horse and it's not hard to get into position. Another horse can lead if she wants. There's no need to insist on any one strategy."

In the end, it was not strategy that was lacking but, rather, stamina.