Race favorite Kitasan Black vanquished his rivals in this year's Tenno Sho (Spring) by renewing the course and race record set by legendary Deep Impact in 2006 by 0.9 second and became the fourth contender to capture the title consecutively as he cruised to his fifth G1 victory. Since their recent G1 Osaka Hai triumph, trainer Hisashi Shimizu and jockey Yutaka Take celebrate their fifth and 73rd JRA-G1 titles, respectively. Take stretched his own record as the jockey with the most Tenno Sho (Spring) titles to eight.
The field got underway with Yamakatsu Raiden immediately taking the lead, putting six to seven lengths between the chasing group headed by Kitasan Black, Admire Deus and One and Only as he posted 58.3 in the first 1,000 meters. The front runner galloped more than 10 lengths in front of the trailing field which formed a long line down the backstretch but Kitasan Black waited patiently as the leader gradually squandered his huge lead, and shot up front at the 600meter marker. The son of Black Tide unleashed an incredible stretch drive in front of the cheering Kyoto crowds and secured a comfortable 1-1/4 length win.
“It was a really tough race—the pace never slowed down. Although the horse had little left, he showed amazing stamina and tenacity up to the end which only he can do. I never thought Deep Impact's record would ever be broken. This horse is just so much stronger than he was a year ago,” commented Yutaka Take.
Fourth favorite Cheval Grand traveled in a good fifth to sixth position, crept up steadily rounding the final corners to make his bid and entered the straight behind the winner in second. While struggling to catch the winner, last year's third-place finisher found another gear to shake off the fast closing Satono Diamond for a neck second.
Sent off second pick and archrival to Kitasan Black, four-year-old Satono Diamond was settled in mid-field throughout most of the journey, was steered to the outside before the last corner and chased the leader down the straight fiercely battling with Cheval Grand but was beaten while he slimly held third by a neck over Admire Deus.
Other Horses:
4th: (10) Admire Deus―traveled behind winner, sustained bid but weakened in final strides
5th: (7) Albert―settled in mid-pack, showed response but 3 lengths behind top finishers
6th: (9) Dee Majesty―raced 3-wide toward rear, advanced at backstretch, quickened, was too late
7th: (12) Gold Actor―broke poorly, traveled in mid-group, improved position at stretch
8th: (13) Tosen Basil―sat in mid-division, showed belated charge at stretch
9th: (1) Sciacchetra—was off slow, made headway to 5th, lacked needed kick at stretch
10th: (5) Fata Morgana―raced along rails in mid-pack, even paced
11th: (14) One and Only―ran near winner in 4th, ran gamely until final corner, outrun
12th: (16) Rainbow Line―trailed in rear, driven from 3rd corner, passed tired rivals thereafter
13th: (8) Tamamo Best Play―took economic trip in mid-group, failed to respond at stretch
14th: (4) Spirits Minoru―positioned among rear trio early, turned wide, never fired
15th: (17) Yamakatsu Raiden―set fast pace, sustained lead before final corner, faded
16th: (11) Proletariat―ran 2nd from rear, no factor throughout
17th: (2) Labradorite―hugged rails in mid-division, unable to reach contention
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