Straight Girl Up Late for Victoria Mile Win
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Showing a sparkling turn of foot in the stretch, Straight Girl wore down front-runner Keiai Elegant near the finish line in blitzing to victory in the Victoria Mile (Jpn-I) May 17 at Tokyo.
Third in last year's edition of the race for fillies and mares, Straight Girl stormed through the final 200 meters, passing third-place finisher Minaret and then Keiai Elegant, who got the lead in the final 100 meters, for her first group I victory.
Straight Girl was timed in 1:31.90, equaling the stakes record set in 2011 by champion Apapane.
"She broke really well today," winning rider Keita Tosaki said. "I thought that the pace would be somewhat fast and that she will stretch well if I can save her energy until the right moment. The front-runners were holding off well in the straight, but the mare showed a magnificent turn of foot. I rode her for the first time (Sunday), but she was easy to ride and ran a strong race."
A 6-year-old daughter of Fuji Kiseki, Straight Girl has a 9-4-3 record from 26 career starts and tallied her first group win in the 2014 Silk Road Stakes (Jpn-III). She has been competitive at the group I level against males several times previously, finishing second in the 2014 Sprinters Stakes and third both in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen and Hong Kong Sprint (HK-I) at Sha Tin. In her first start this season, however, she was unplaced in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen March 29, but bounced back in style Sunday.
Tosaki settled Straight Girl in fifth early, waiting behind fourth-place finisher Red Reveur until the home turn. When the leaders began to tire going up the hill, she sharply kicked away and was up in time.
Favorite Nuovo Record was positioned to the outside behind Straight Girl early and was urged for her rally entering the stretch, but had no response, finishing sixth.
Owned by Toshihiro Hirosaki, Straight Girl is trained by Hideaki Fujiwara, who won the 2008 Victoria Mile with Asian Wind. Bred by TH Co. Ltd., she was produced by the winning Taiki Shuttle mare Never Period and is from the family of Japanese champion filly and classic winner Shadai Kagura.