Little Amapola turned in a big race to win the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup on Sunday afternoon, as the highly touted filly finally captured the first Grade 1 title of her career.
Christophe Lemaire's 3-year-old held off top choice Kawakami Princess to hit the wire in 2 minutes 12.1 seconds over 2,200 meters at Kyoto Racecourse on firm going. Second favorite Bella Rheia came home third among a full field of 18 in the first race of the Japan Autumn International, a new G1 series offering more than 1.2 billion yen in prize money.
The 33rd running of the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup started off with a brief scare, when third pick Portofino stumbled out of her barrier, throwing off jockey Yutaka Take in the process. Take hit the ground hard, but fortunately his injury was not serious; he was diagnosed with bruised shoulders, and the Katsuhiko Sumii-trained 3-year-old filly left the track unharmed.
The 29-year-old Lemaire won his first G1 race in Japan since the 2005 Arima Kinen, when he rode Heart's Cry to a stunning victory over the Take-ridden Deep Impact as the French rider handed the now retired superstar his only defeat on home soil.
"Every time it's a great pleasure to win a Group 1 (race)," Lemaire said. "All the big races are very, very important for the jockeys, especially in Japan where the fans and the crowd are helpful. The Arima Kinen was a great moment for me, but this one will be also. I saw some banners for Little Amapola so thank you very much for the support."
With 4-year-olds Vodka and defending champion Daiwa Scarlet having passed on the race, this year's Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup was believed to be for 5-year-old Kawakami Princess' taking. Kawakami Princess crossed the finish line first in the race two years ago, but was stripped of the title after being found guilty of cutting off her opponents on the final straight.
Kawakami Princess was coming off a second-place finish in the 1,800-meter Fuchu Himba Stakes at Tokyo last month with new partner and big-race veteran Norihiro Yokoyama, and after showing excellent form in her workouts this week, was made the overwhelming favorite at post time.
Little Amapola, meanwhile, had disappointed in the filly's triple crown series. The Shadai Race Horse-owned horse was fifth in the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas), seventh in the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) as the favorite and sixth in last month's final leg, the Shuka Sho, also held at Kyoto.
Under Koshiro Take's guidance, Little Amapola had predominantly been a stretch runner, coming from behind in her races. But after flopping in the filly's Classic races, clearly, the Agnes Tachyon daughter needed to do something different, and trainer Hiroyuki Nagahama trusted Lemaire with the task.
Ironically, it was Yutaka Take's mount who helped Lemaire get the job done. The loose horse ended up setting a decent pace to the race, and Little Amapola turned for home toward the front of the pack, only having long-shots Cosmo Platina, German entry Fair Breeze, Pisa no Juban and Biennale to beat on Kyoto's flat straight. Kawakami Princess was not too far off, but the slight margin proved to be the difference in the end, as Yokoyama's mount finished a length and a half behind the winner and Bella Rheia taking the tape another three-quarters of a length back.
Lemaire said a smooth first half to the journey proved to be decisive for Little Amapola.
"The filly was very comfortable, the pace was quite good and she jumped very well from the gate so I could take a good position," he said. "After that, I just had to wait until the last stretch. In the stretch she accelerated very, very well and she was tough enough, when Kawakami Princess came from behind, my filly responded very well and she was very generous."
Lemaire, who had never ridden Little Amapola before, said he didn't discuss a great deal with Nagahama prior to the race, which may in the end have turned out for the better.
"Not that much because he doesn't speak English," he said, when asked about the extent of his pre-race conversation with the trainer. "I just watched the videos and rode the filly in the morning. I learned on the videos and my feeling on the horse. That was a good point."
Little Amapola, out of Little Harmony, has four wins from eight starts, and the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup was her first international graded victory. Her earnings topped 161 million yen after cashing in Sunday's winner check of 90 million yen.
The next race of the Japan Autumn International is the Mile Championship on next Sunday, to also be held at Kyoto. One overseas entry, 4-year-old Canadian bred Rahy's Attorney, is set to enter.
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