Monroe Walk won the G1 Shuka Sho at Kyoto on Sunday and kept her unbeaten record, holding off Garavogue by a neck to complete her comeback from the leg fracture that cost her the spring classics.
The Kizuna filly, sent out the 1.3 favourite, became the fourth filly to win the Shuka Sho unbeaten, after Fine Motion in 2002, Kawakami Princess in 2006 and Daring Tact in 2020. Her time of 1:56.1 for the 2000 metres cut eight-tenths of a second off the race record.
“I am happy to have had such huge support as race favourite and to have finished with good results,” jockey Keita Tosaki said.
In four starts before Sunday, Monroe Walk had never been seriously tested, and Tosaki did not need the whip when she won the Rose Stakes at Hanshin last month. This time she sat fifth behind a strong pace, went for home early and had to fight Garavogue, the seventh favourite, through the final furlong before getting on top about 100 metres out. Dream Core, the Yushun Himba runner-up and second favourite, came from well back under Christophe Lemaire to finish third, a length and a quarter away.
“I just prayed that my filly would stay calm into the race,” Tosaki said. “She did get a little excited inside the gate, but she went into a nice rhythm, and although we were sitting behind horses in fifth, the pace was flowing nicely so the trip was smooth.
“Although we knew there were strong horses from behind, we made a bold move to make our bid a little early and she responded well.”
Tosaki rode Monroe Walk to a three-length debut win at Niigata in August last year. A fracture surfaced soon afterwards and ruled her out of the Oka Sho and the Yushun Himba. She returned in June for trainer Hiroyuki Uemura, won twice at Hakodate, and was reunited with Tosaki for the Rose Stakes.
Monroe Walk has been on Idol Horse’s radar since June, when, with two wins to her name, David Morgan made her his Global Blackbook selection in World Racing Weekly. Her Rose Stakes win last month then earned her a place in the Future Idols column, which named her the form pick for the Shuka Sho.
The Shuka Sho was Uemura’s fourth JRA Group 1 and his first since Bellagio Opera won the 2025 Osaka Hai. It was Tosaki’s 15th JRA Group 1, his first since the Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Regaleira last year, and his second Shuka Sho after Akaitorino Musume in 2021.
Both spring classic winners were missing from the field: Oka Sho winner Star Anise ran fourth in the Sprinters Stakes instead, while Yushun Himba winner Juryoku Pierrot was withdrawn after a mild bout of colic held up her training and is now aimed at the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup on November 15.
Sweet Happiness was pulled up lame on the home turn and did not finish.
Monroe Walk’s dam, Amphitrite, won the G1 Thousand Guineas at Caulfield in 2018, racing for Darren Weir and then David Hayes before she was sold to Japan.
“Having gained a Group 1 victory unbeaten shows how good a filly she is,” Tosaki said, “and I am looking forward to a bright future for this talented filly.” ∎
