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Justin Palace wins this year’s Tenno Sho (Spring) at Kyoto.
Second favorite Justin Palace, coming off a victory in the Hanshin Daishoten (G2, 3,000m) in March, captured his first G1 victory in this year's Tenno Sho (Spring) held for the first time in three years at the newly renovated Kyoto Racecourse. Marking two wins and a runner-up effort in the Hopeful Stakes (G1, 2,000) as a two-year-old, the son of Deep Impact was ninth in both the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m) and the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m) in his three-year-old spring campaign but marked his first graded victory in the Kobe Shimbun Hai (G2, 2,200m) in September, a third in the following Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m), and capped off the season with a seventh in the Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500m). This win marked trainer Haruki Sugiyama's fifth JRA-G1 victory following his Shuka Sho title with Daring Tact in 2020. Jockey Christophe Lemaire registered his 44th JRA-G1 win following last year's Arima Kinen title with Equinox and third Tenno Sho (Spring) victory following his wins with Fierement in 2019 and 2020.
"I'm really happy to have won the first Tenno Sho held at the newly renovated Kyoto Racecourse. The horse was calm throughout the race and I was sure that he was going to win when we moved up behind Deep Bond and entered the straight. He has become a super horse over long distances, so I think he will do well in races like Arima Kinen in the future," commented Christophe Lemaire.
Four-year-old Justin Palace, making a clean start from the innermost stall, eased back to settle 8-9th from the front along the rails and shifted slightly to the outside turning the second corner. The Deep Impact colt gradually made headway turning the last corner two-wide, surged out behind Deep Bond entering the lane, overtook the eventual runner-up 300 meters out and pulled away for a 2-1/2-length victory with the fastest closing speed.
Fifth pick Deep Bond settled wide in seventh in front of the eventual winner early, gradually made headway to take command turning the final corner and, while surrendering the lead passing the 300-meter marker, held fast-closing Silver Sonic by a length to mark his third consecutive runner-up effort in this race.
Unhurried around 13th, sixth choice Silver Sonic advanced on the outer route after the third corner to close in on the front rivals and, while unable to threaten the top two finishers, showed the second fastest late drive for a third.
Race favorite Titleholder, settling in second after rallying with African Gold for the lead, assumed command at the first corner but pulled up before the final corner due to lameness in his right foreleg. He is scheduled to undergo an examination after the race.
Other Horses:
4th: (12) Breakup—raced around 9th behind winner, showed effort but needed more
5th: (14) Matenro Leo—traveled around 9th, gradually closed in on leaders,
weakened in last 100m
6th: (13) Boldog Hos—ran 3-wide around 10th, advanced after 3rd corner, lacked
needed kick
7th: (15) End Roll—rated 2nd from rear, showed belated charge on outer stretch
8th: (10) Sanrei Pocket—trailed in rear, angled out, passed tiring rivals
9th: (11) Diastima—saved ground around 5th, gradually fell back
10th: (9) Humidor—hugged rails around 12th, never fired at stretch
11th: (6) Ask Victor More—ran near pace in 3rd on rails, outrun after 3rd corner
12th: (4) Melody Lane—took economic trip around 13th, unable to reach contention
13th: (5) Iron Barows—chased leaders, inherited lead at 3rd corner, used up 300m
out
14th: (2) Deep Monster—tracked leaders in 4th, faded after final corner
15th: (8) Tosen Cambina—positioned in 13th, no factor throughout trip
FF: (17) African Gold—set pace early, pulled up after 2nd corner due to atrial
fibrillation