Champion Liberty Island Tops Japanese Guineas Field

Reigning Japanese juvenile filly champion Liberty Island kicks off her 3-year-old campaign April 9 in the Oka Sho (Japanese One Thousand Guineas, G1) at Hanshin Racecourse, facing a full field and some new challenges.

The race is the first, and shortest at 1,600 meters (about one mile), of the Japanese classics. For the fillies, it is followed by the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1) at 2,400 meters (about 1 1/2 miles) May 21 at Tokyo Racecourse and the Shuka Sho (G1) at 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles) at Kyoto in October.

Liberty Island, by Duramente  out of the All American  mare Yankee Rose, won at first asking in July at Nigata Racecourse, then was a close second in the Artemis Stakes (G3) at Tokyo Oct. 29. She jumped up from that to win the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1) Dec. 11—good enough to clinch the division championship.

All of her previous races were at 1,600 meters but she will face the new challenge of racing right-handed, starting on a slight downward tilt on the Hanshin backstretch.

"Giving her ample time to mature in between her debut and the Artemis Stakes was a great help," trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida said. "I think her strong points are her acceleration and her ability to shift gears into top speed. She is still immature in some ways, so I am hoping she will mature more mentally."

Liberty Island also will face a speedy and promising rival in Light Quantum, from the last crop of the late Deep Impact. Light Quantum burst on the scene Nov. 12, winning a newcomer race at Tokyo Racecourse by 2 1/2 lengths, leading gate to wire. She then overcame a slow start to win the Sho Shinzan Kinen (G3) at Chukyo Racecourse Jan. 8 with a lightning stretch run. She has not raced since.

"She's been getting work over a long span of time and I feel that all has gone well," said Light Quantum's trainer, Koshiro Take. "In her previous race ... she did act up a bit in the gate and raced from further back than in her debut. She leaned to the right in spots and it wasn't the smoothest race. She was still able to win and there was enough time between that race and the Oka Sho.

"She has speed, so I think if she breaks well, she'll be able to get a pretty good forward position," Take added. 

In four of the last 10 years, the Oka Sho has been won by a filly with just one previous win. If that trend is to continue, Kona Coast, Perifania, June Orange, Conch Shell or Doe Eyes would fit the bill.

From those, Doe Eyes is one to keep an eye on. The Rulership  filly out of a Deep Impact mare won at first asking and is winless since but finished third in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies and prepped for this with a second in the Daily Hai Queen Cup (G3).

Harper, winner of the Queen Cup, also returns for the Oka Sho. Sing That Song returns from a victory in the Hochi Hai Fillies Revue (G2) at Hanshin but adds 200 meters to that race.