Venue: Tokyo
Distance: 1600m
Value: ¥326,500,000 (about US$2,107,000)
The Victoria Mile is a chance for Japan’s older fillies and mares to establish the pecking order in the distaff division before the three-year-olds step out of their age restricted comfort zone. It is the only opportunity exclusive to this demographic and it is also a stepping stone to the G1 Yasuda Kinen when the fillies and mares are forced to take on the best of the males.
The race has been won by some of the great mares of Japanese and world racing this century, including Almond Eye, Gran Alegria, Buena Vista, Apapane, Sodashi, Songline and Vodka.
Round Four For The Classic Queens
Embroidery and Kamunyak were the two stars of last year’s fillies’ classics, with Embroidery winning the G1 Oka Sho over a mile and Kamunyak the G1 Yushun Himba at 2400m. The Yushun Himba, the Oaks, was the first time they met, and Embroidery was a non-staying ninth. But the rematch in the G1 Shuka Sho over 2000m, the last leg of the Triple Tiara, brought a different result, with Embroidery successful and Kamunyak a disappointing 16th.
While Embroidery went to Hong Kong in December and failed to fire in the G1 Hong Kong Mile, Kamunyak was put away until the spring. The two fillies reunited in competition first up for the year in the G2 Hanshin Himba over 1600m on April 11: Embroidery was the 2.8 favourite and duly won, but Kamunyak, the 7.8 fourth pick, was a running-on second, beaten only a neck over a distance deemed well short of her best.
The pair will clash again at the mile on Sunday, and while Embroidery’s natural speed will again see her take favouritism, Kamunyak clearly has the class and the heart to take it to her rival. Will it be 3-1 to Embroidery, or can Kamunyak bring the scores level at two wins each?
Cervinia’s Test
Before Kamunyak and Embroidery, there was Cervinia, winner of the Yushun Himba and the Shuka Sho in 2024. She rounded out that three-year-old season with a solid fourth in the G1 Japan Cup behind Do Deuce. But since then, not much has gone right.
Cervinia’s 2025 campaign was a big disappointment: beaten in the G2 Kyoto Kinen and the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, then second when favourite for a Group 3 race she should have been winning; her autumn was no better – seventh in the G2 Mainichi Okan and 10th in the G1 Mile Championship.
This season started with fifth in the G2 Nakayama Kinen, a fair effort on balance, but this race is the litmus test to show whether or not she will recapture the form of her classic campaign or fade further into the shadows.
Favourites On A Roll
The JRA’s spring turf Group 1 races have rewarded favourite backers, with all six contests going to the market’s top pick, and we can make that seven if we include the Nakayama Grand Jump.
It started with Satono Reve in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at the end of March, winning at odds of 3.5 and continued on Sunday with Rodeo Drive winning the G1 NHK Mile Cup as the 4.6 favourite.
Embroidery is the projected market leader and is likely to be solid, so will the Victoria Mile maintain the streak?
Lemaire The Main Man
At the risk of banging the Embroidery drum, her jockey Christophe Lemaire has been the man to follow in recent years when it comes to the Victoria Mile. He won the race last year on Ascoli Piceno, giving him his fourth win in nine editions.
Next best is Keita Tosaki with three wins, two of those with Straight Girl in 2015 and 2016, and this time he rides the recent Kokura Himba Stakes winner Jocelyn.
Another former champion jockey Yuga Kawada has never won the race though, and this time he takes the reins on Kamunyak.
Goncalves’ Debut
Francisco Leandro Goncalves had his first taste of Japanese racing at last September’s World All-Star Jockeys contest, but he is back this spring on a short-term licence and the Victoria Mile will be his first time riding in a Japanese Group 1.
The Brazilian, a multiple champion in Argentina, has had 25 rides during his current spell for three wins. Two of those came at Niigata last Saturday. He will partner the outsider Ma Puce in the Victoria Mile, a Group 3 winner at Chukyo last year who will have to find plenty if she is to deliver a fairytale result. ∎
