2025 Satsuki Sho: Group 1 Review
Venue: Nakayama Racecourse
Distance: 2000m
Value: ¥434,000,000 (US$3,048,085)
The Sunday Racing colours took the G1 Satsuki Sho (2000m), the first leg of the Japanese Triple Crown, as was widely anticipated – but the winning horse was perhaps less expected as Museum Mile upset hot favourite Croix du Nord to land Japan’s 2,000 Guineas.
Croix du Nord was expected to join Genuine, Unrivaled, Orfevre, Duramente, Al Ain and Geoglyph as a Sunday Racing winner of the Satsuki Sho, but he had no match for a rampant Museum Mile who unleashed an extraordinary turn of foot to take the feature in race record time.
In doing so, Museum Mile gave Joao Moreira his third Group 1 win in four weeks after he won the fillies’ equivalent, the G1 Oka Sho (1600m), on Embroidery last week and the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen (1200m) on Satono Reve.
THE RACE
As is usual over the Nakayama 2000m, there was a strong pace in the early stages before it slowed heading towards the back stretch.
There was a major scrimmage going into the first turn between Eri King, Masquerade Ball, Fukuno Blue Lake and Satono Shining. Masquerade Ball’s rider Takeshi Yokoyama was given a 50,000 yen fine, although it looked as though Masami Matsuoka on Fukuno Blue Lake was more at fault, even though he ended up high in the irons and was perhaps most affected.
Once out of the straight (and into the view of the JRA’s flashy new drone angle, a departure from their formulaic and somewhat bizarre race coverage), Shu Ishibashi on Piko Chan Black slowed the field up dramatically – to the point that Makoto Sugihara on Faust Rasen whipped around from a clear last to put his head in front at the 900m. Alohi Alii also covered that move, while outsider Dragon Boost tried to match motors too.
As Alohi Alii followed Faust Rasen, he drifted in on Dragon Boost who then also checked Croix du Nord. It brought the favourite off the bit and Yuichi Kitamura had to stoke him up past the 800m to keep his mind on the job. Alohi Alii’s rider Kazuo Yokoyama was fined 30,000 yen.
Akihide Tsumura was also fined 30,000 yen after he allowed Nishino Agent to veer wildly around as the complexion of the race changed. He impacted eventual winner Museum Mile and fourth Giovanni.
That meant that most of the field had suffered some sort of interference through the first three-quarters of the race.
Flushed out four deep, Croix du Nord accelerated into the race nicely while Museum Mile also made ground between runners. Entering the short straight, Croix du Nord hit the lead and looked destined to join the Satsuki Sho’s storied honour roll, but as soon as he struck the front, his run came to an end and he was left a sitting shot for someone, anyone, to roll on by.
That someone was Museum Mile, who strode past Croix du Nord even as Moreira dropped the reins out of his left hand. While Croix du Nord stuck on for second, he was a length and a half behind Museum Mile at the line while Masquerade Ball charged home for third, a further neck away.
The time of 1:57.0 was a race record, a tenth faster than last year and only the fourth time a Satsuki Sho winner had broken 1:58.
THE WINNER
Museum Mile had built a good reputation as a two-year-old, breaking his maiden at his second start at Kyoto over 1800m in October before winning the Kigiku Sho over 2000m at Kyoto in November.
He was sent out as second favourite for the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (1600m) and ran to market expectations, two and a half lengths behind Admire Zoom.
At his three-year-old debut, he was a beaten favourite in fourth in the G2 Yayoi Sho Deep Impact Kinen (2000m). All three placegetters there – Faust Rasen (15th), Vincentio (ninth) and Alohi Alii (eighth) – finished behind him in the Satsuki Sho.
THE JOCKEY
Moreira became just the second jockey in the last 30 years to win both the Japanese 1,000 Guineas and Japanese 2,000 Guineas in the same year, joining Christophe Lemaire who won the 2019 Oka Sho on Gran Alegria and that year’s Satsuki Sho on Saturnalia.
It was his 47th Group 1 victory worldwide and his third for the year. The win also moved him into fourth in the ‘World’s Best Jockey’ title race behind James McDonald, Ryusei Sakai and Ethan Brown.
THE TRAINER
Museum Mile gave trainer Daisuke Takayanagi a first Classic victory and a third JRA Group 1 win after T O Keynes’ 2021 Champions Cup and Ten Happy Rose’s Victoria Mile last year.
The 47-year-old has trained since 2018 and has shown a desire to race abroad, given he took T O Keynes to the Middle East twice and Ten Happy Rose to the United States.
In Museum Mile, he might have the horse who can give him a first victory on the world stage.
THE SIRE
Nine years after Leontes finished fifth to Dee Majesty as second favourite in the Satsuki Sho, he finally added the race to his resume through Museum Mile.
Leontes won the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes but has been eclipsed, both on the racetrack and in the breeding barn, by his half-brother Epiphaneia and his three-quarter brother Saturnalia. All three are out of the amazing Yushun Himba and American Oaks winner Cesario.
Museum Mile became Leontes’ second Group 1 winner after last year’s Tenno Sho (Spring) hero T O Royal, while he has also produced Saudi Derby winner Pink Kamehameha and NHK Mile Cup placegetter Logi Leon.
THE BEATEN FAVOURITE
Croix du Nord was sent out at $1.50 – the shortest-priced favourite since Deep Impact in 2005 and the first odds-on elect since Saturnalia in 2019.
Of course, both Deep Impact and Saturnalia won but the Takashi Saito-trained Croix du Nord was no match for Museum Mile.
As mentioned earlier, he suffered interference mid-race but it was not enough to hamper him entirely. He still ran well, but he looked a tired horse when Museum Mile raced past him.
THE QUOTES
Joao Moreira (jockey, Museum Mile, 1st): “Such a nice horse, isn’t he? As soon as I sat on him, straight away, I could feel he was good – very scopey, very strong, great temperament. He didn’t have the smoothest race throughout but he still overcame all those obstacles and was still able to win in an impressive way. I was the luckiest man to be aboard him today. The trainer has done an amazing job with him. I think he can go even higher, he’s a special horse.
“I think he can handle the longer trip (in the Tokyo Yushun), everything indicates that. He’s very calm, very relaxed, travelled very nicely for me throughout the race. I don’t see any problems for him. Thanks to everyone in Japan who has supported me, I’ve had a great time while I’ve been here and Japan is one of the greatest places in the world.”
Takashi Saito (trainer, Croix du Nord, 2nd): “There was interference on the backstretch. I believe he would have won if not for that. When you’re bumped at a crucial point, you have to brake, and it costs stamina to get going again. Still, he was able to make a strong move into the final turn and no horse coming from behind other than the winner was able to catch him. We’ll look to bounce back in the Derby.”
Yuichi Kitamura (jockey, Croix du Nord, 2nd): “Going into the second corner, I thought we were in the best position, but when a rival moved up, we got squeezed from the outside and had no choice but to pull back. That’s part of racing and there’s nothing we can do about it, but even with the interference, he recovered well and ran a strong race to the end. He’s truly a remarkable horse.”
Takahisa Tezuka (trainer, Masquerade Ball, 3rd): “Many people thought that Nakayama wouldn’t suit him, but the result was a good one. His condition was excellent. I was worried about getting caught up in the traffic on the inside, but he finished strongly from there. He really has ability and I’m looking forward to what’s ahead.”
Takeshi Yokoyama (jockey, Masquerade Ball, 3rd): “He was slow to jump and I couldn’t get a forward position, but he showed a strong late kick in the final stages. He still doesn’t seem to like Nakayama, but he was able to deliver that performance purely on his talent today.”
Haruki Sugiyama (trainer, Giovanni, 4th and Satono Shining, 5th): “Satono Shining drew an outside gate, and since this year the race was run on the C-course, I think there was some ground loss. There was also a scramble going into the first corner, and he got a bit excited there. Those two factors were the reason for the loss. Both horses handled the transport well though which is good for the Tokyo Yushun.”
Atsuya Nishimura (jockey, Satono Shining, 5th): “We suffered multiple bumps at the first corner and along the back stretch. It ended up being a stressful race from start to finish. He’s always a little unresponsive around the corners, but even so, I thought we might catch the leaders in the straight. Luck just wasn’t on our side today.”
Christophe Lemaire (jockey, Vincentio, 9th): “He was bumped several times and couldn’t get into a rhythm. He kept going to the finish and wasn’t bad, but he didn’t feel quite right, and he couldn’t keep up with the flow through the third and fourth corners.”
Yuga Kawada (jockey, Eri King, 11th): “His condition was good. We will aim for a better showing in the Derby.”
THE FUTURE
Most of these colts will likely meet again on June 1 in the Tokyo Yushun, the Japanese Derby, at Tokyo Racecourse.
As for Moreira, he rides in Hong Kong next Sunday, primarily to ride Japanese raider Satono Reve in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize, before heading to Louisville for his first ride in the Kentucky Derby aboard Japan’s Luxor Cafe. ∎
