Third favorite K T Brave displayed a remarkable stretch run against a stellar field of graded winners to claim this year’s JBC Classic. After registering an eighth in his debut start over turf as a two-year-old, the son of Admire Max was switched to dirt racing and has successfully collected 11 wins which are all over distances of 1,800 meters or more; the Hyogo Championship, the Hakusan Daishoten and the Urawa Kinen in 2016; the Nagoya Daishoten, the Teio Sho in 2017; the Kawasaki Kinen, the Diolite Kinen and his most recent win, the Nippon TV Hai this year. This is the first JBC Classic victory for both trainer Haruki Shigeyama and jockey Yuichi Fukunaga while Fukunaga has won the JBC Sprint with Sterling Rose in 2002.
K T Brave traveled two-wide in mid-field, made an early move after the third corner, moved up in position and entered the straight in third. With a clear path ahead of him, the chestnut unleashed an impressive run to the line swooping past the stubborn Sunrise Soar 100 meters out while holding off the fast closing Omega Perfume by 3/4 length for the title.
“The horse was in top condition which made me very confident today. He struggled a bit to keep up with the fast pace, but he has won at the highest level under the same kind of circumstances so I wasn’t worried about that. There’s no doubt he has many wins ahead of him and I’m happy we did well today”, jockey Yuichi Fukunaga commented after the race.
Three-year-old and second favorite Omega Perfume raced wide after breaking from stall 14 and was unhurried in lower mid-field, a length behind K T Brave. Kicking into gear after the third corner, Omega Perfume chased the eventual winner into the straight and with a tremendous burst of speed stormed down the stretch, tagging Sunrise Soar close to the wire, but was 3/4 length short from the winner for second.
Race favorite Sunrise Soar broke well and was driven to the front, briefly surrendered the lead between the third and last turn but quickened to hit the straight first, stretched well but succumbed to the fast closing speed of K T Brave 100 meters out and then Omega Perfume in the final strides for third.
Other Horses:
4th: (9) Nonkono Yume—trailed 3-length behind field, circled wide and made ground with fastest finish
5th: (7) Sound True—settled near the rear early, advanced along the rails after final turn
6th: (5) Asukano Roman—rated just off the rails in mid-pack, tracked Omega Perfume to join rally, left behind 200m out
7th: (15) T O Energy—rushed out of gate to dispute lead, pressed pace up to 200-meter pole, even paced
8th: (6) Meiner Basara—chased pace in front group, rallied up to final furlong, unable to quicken thereafter
9th: (2) Tagano Gold—saved ground further back than mid field, failed to threaten
10th: (13) All Blush—chased pace up front early, outrun early stretch
11th: (1) Centurion—raced mid division behind front runners advanced briefly into stretch but failed to fire
12th: (11) Katsugeki Kitokito—eased and rated between foes in mid-pack, outrun early stretch
13th: (12) Apollo Kentucky— raced 3rd from last, unable to reach contention
14th: (10) T M Jinsoku—stalked pace, briefly took over lead after 3rd corner, retreated in early stretch
15th: (16) Chrysolite—broke from farthest stall, fourth from rear, last to hit stretch, never fired
16th: (3) Stern Glanz—saved ground in 3rd to 4th, gradually retreated by last turn, no factor
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