Fierement Edges Etario to Win Japanese St. Leger

Making just his fourth career start, Sunday Racing's Fierement edged Etario after a tight stretch battle in the 79th running of the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1) Oct. 21 at Kyoto Racecourse.

Fierement, a 3-year-old Deep Impact colt, raced well back in the 3,000-meter (1 7/8 miles) event under Christophe Lemaire, while Etario attended the pace set by Generale Uno. As the field of 18 rounded the final turn, Etario, under Mirco Demuro, came wide to take the lead while Lemaire threaded through rivals to mount his challenge. Fierement and Etario raced together to the wire with the former prevailing by a nose. 

You Can Smile, a longshot in the big field, finished third for jockey Yutaka Take. The favorite, Blast Onepiece, was fourth.

Bred by Northern Racing and trained by Takahisa Tezuka, Fierement finished in 3:06.10 over firm turf. The race was his first start in a grade 1 event and first beyond 1,800 meters (1 1/8 miles).

Despite Fierement's limited experience at the grade and distance, Lemaire said he was confident before the race—but not so much at its conclusion.

"He felt good during the training," Lemaire said. "We briefly met traffic in the straight, but my mount stretched really well with his bursting kick. I congratulated Mirco right after crossing the wire, thinking we had lost. So it's unbelievable that we were able to win the race."

Fierement broke his maiden at first asking Jan. 28 at Tokyo Racecourse, won again nearly three months later at Nakayama, and suffered his only loss July 1 at Fukushima when he finished second in the Radio Nikkei Sho (G3) before taking the summer off.

Etario, a Stay Gold colt, finished second for the sixth time in his last seven starts—a string broken only by a fourth-place showing in the May 27 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1).

The Kikuka Sho was the third leg of the Japanese Triple Crown. Epoca d'Oro, winner of the Satsuki Sho (Japanese Two Thousand Guineas, G1), finished eighth. Wagnerian, victor in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1), bypassed the Kikuka Sho and is expected to face older horses Oct. 28 in the Tenno Sho Autumn (G1) at Tokyo Racecourse.