Venue: Tokyo
Distance: 2400m
Value: ¥326,500,000
The Yushun Himba is Japan’s Oaks and it was first run in 1938 when Asteri Mor was victorious. The filly, a daughter of the 1927 English Derby third Shian Mor who was later imported to Japan, would also run third in the Tokyo Yushun, the Japanese Derby.
The race is the second fillies’ classic after the Oka Sho at a mile, and is the second leg of the Fillies’ Triple Crown, which concludes with the Shuka Sho over 2000m.
Imamura’s Shot At History
A woman jockey has never won a Japanese classic race, so Seina Imamura will attempt to make history on Sunday when she rides Juryoku Pierrot in the Yushun Himba. It was as recently as the 2019 February Stakes that Nanako Fujita became the first Japanese woman to ride in any JRA Group 1 race.
But Imamura is not without a chance in the Yushun Himba, even at double-figure odds. Juryoku Pierrot has been a revelation in winning her last two races and was flagged in Idol Horse’s Global Blackbook section of its World Racing Weekly column. The filly started out on dirt, winning on debut before two defeats followed, but she has blossomed since switching to turf for those latest two wins and her smart victory in a Listed race at Hanshin last time earned her a shot at the Oaks.
The previous Yushun Himba winners to have debuted on dirt are Cosmo Dream in 1988, Silk Prima Donna in 2000, Mejiro Ramonu in 1986 and Chokai Carol in 1994.
Imamura, 22, has ridden Juryoku Pierrot in four of her five races for three wins. The rider was a sensation in her debut season in 2022 with 51 wins, taking the JRA’s Best Newcomer award. But in 2023 she was one of six young riders suspended for Smartphone use in the jockeys’ room, support stalled, and the following year she was down to just six wins. She bounced back with 22 wins last year and this year she has five, but her biggest win to date was the G3 CBC Sho, her only Graded stakes win so far, back in the summer of ‘22.
Star Anise Distance Doubt
Star Anise looks like being the firm favourite to become the 12th filly since 1984 to follow victory in the first fillies’ classic, the G1 Oka Sho, with success in the second, the Yushun Himba. The last to achieve the feat was the brilliant but ill-fated Liberty Island in 2023 and she went on to complete the Triple Tiara.
Like Liberty Island, Star Anise also won the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, making her the top two-year-old filly in Japan last year. But being by the speed influence Drefong, out of Epic Arome, a sprinting mare who herself failed to stay when 16th in the 2012 Yushin Himba. The dam’s best progeny so far have succeeded between 1400m and 1800m, so there must be some doubt about Star Anise seeing out the 2400m distance at Tokyo.
Matsuyama Eyes Classic Sweep
Star Anise’s jockey Kohei Matsuyama is aiming to continue his sweep of Japan’s classics. As well as Star Anise’s Oka Sho win, the 36-year-old rider took the first colts’ classic, the G1 Satsuki Sho, with Lovcen.
Should Star Anise triumph on Sunday, Matsuyama would head into the Derby, the G1 Tokyo Yushun, the following weekend with a big shout at taking all four of the spring classics, with Lovcen being the current Derby favourite.
The last time a jockey won the Oka Sho, Satsuki Sho and Yushun Himba in the same year was 1993 when Yutaka Take scored on Vega in the fillies’ races and Narita Taishin in the Satsuki Sho.
Like Mother, Like Daughter
Two daughters of Yushun Himba winners will line-up in Sunday’s Oaks. Yutaka Take’s mount Alankar is out of Sinhalite, the 2016 Yushun Himba winner, while Trinity’s mother is Nuovo Record who won the race in 2014.
Only two mother-daughter pairs have ever won the Oaks. The first time it happened was in 1954 when Yamaichi followed in the footsteps of her dam, Kurifuji, the 1943 Yushun Himba winner. It was another 42 years, the 1996 Oaks, before Air Groove emulated her mother Dyna Carle, who won the classic in 1983.
Take rode Air Groove to her victory but that win 30 years ago was the last time he won the Yushun Himba.
Sakai’s Classic Blank
Ryusai Sakai has emerged in the past couple of years as one of Japan’s most prominent riders under the age of 30. The 28-year-old has gained international fame within the sport as the rider of Forever Young, winning the G1 Saudi Cup back-to-back as well as the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
His primary backer is Yoshito Yahagi, Japan’s most prominent and successful trainer on the international stage. But Sakai has not yet won a classic race, the closest thing to it being the G1 Shuka Sho win with Stunning Rose in 2022. That race is recognised as the last leg of the Fillies’ Triple Crown, but it is not one of the five classic races: the majority of his major wins have come on dirt tracks.
Sakai will partner Enne on Sunday. The lightly-raced filly has raced only twice and was runner-up in one of the Oaks trials, the G2 Flora Stakes last time. She debuted with a win as recently as March 14, just 71 days before the Yushun Himba, so if she wins, she will break the record of the 1982 winner Shadai Ivor who debuted 77 days prior to her Oaks win. She would also become the first horse to take the Oaks at just her third start. ∎
