Monroe Walk, the unbeaten filly whose classic season was wiped out by a bone fracture, made up for lost time in emphatic fashion at Hanshin on Sunday, taking the G2 Rose Stakes by three lengths to become the first filly in 24 years to win the Shuka Sho trial with an unblemished record.
The last to do it was Fine Motion, who in 2002 used the Rose Stakes as a springboard to an undefeated Shuka Sho and then the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup, a season that won her the JRA award for best three-year-old filly. Monroe Walk is not that horse yet. She is, however, four-for-four, and has never been asked a serious question.
Nor is she a secret. Back in June, David Morgan made her the Global Blackbook selection in World Racing Weekly – an unbeaten filly making up for lost time, her two wins to that point spread 10 months apart. Three months and a graded win later, the case has only strengthened.
Sent off an odds-on favourite for trainer Hiroyuki Uemura, Monroe Walk was keen early and had to be contained by Keita Tosaki, who settled her in a stalking second behind Fast Forward. Monroe Walk edged closer from there, took over without fuss and sprinted clear, stopping the clock in 1:44.5 for the 1800 metres and clocking 34.1 for the final three furlongs – the fastest closing sectional in the race, shared with third-placed Exceed, the full-sister to Equinox. Enne, like the winner a daughter of Kizuna, ran on for second, a length and a half clear of Exceed.
“It had been a while since I’d ridden her, but she performed very strongly and I’m glad to ride her again as I had high hopes on her,” Tosaki said.
“I had a feeling that if she got off to a good start she could naturally be up near the front. I think we were able to run at her own pace throughout the race. She was well under control and showed plenty of patience. In the home straight, I felt she is very responsive; as soon as I asked her to go, she responded immediately, and I was reminded once again of her excellent instinct. I didn’t use the whip at all in the home straight.”
The relief was understandable. Tosaki rode her debut win at Niigata in August last year, strolling in by three lengths over a mile for trainer Tetsuya Kimura, and was there when a bone fracture emerged afterwards and took the Oka Sho and the Yushun Himba off the table. She returned in June with a new stable and a new rider, winning twice over 1800 metres at Hakodate under Kazuo Yokoyama – the second of them on July 19 – to earn her way into graded company.
“Ever since her debut, I’ve felt she had excellent footwork,” he said. “I could really sense that she’s gained strength and matured after the summer. I’m delighted that she’s managed to win a graded race whilst on a winning streak, and I’m also relieved.”
A ¥68.2 million (US$421,000) foal purchase at the 2023 Northern Farm Mixed Sale and bred by Northern Farm for owner M’s Racing, Monroe Walk is by Kizuna, whose record now stands at 54 stakes winners, 35 of them at group level.
Her dam, Amphitrite, won the G1 Thousand Guineas at Caulfield in 2018 and finished third in the G1 Australian Guineas, racing first for Darren Weir and then for David Hayes before being sold to Japan. Monroe Walk is her third foal and her most accomplished, with a Lord Kanaloa two-year-old, a Contrail yearling and an Equinox weanling to follow.
The Shuka Sho, the final leg of the Fillies’ Triple Tiara, is at Kyoto on October 18, and the first three home at Hanshin all hold berths. Uemura has been pointing her at it since she came back from injury. Fine Motion managed the double 24 years ago; Monroe Walk has the same unbeaten record and the same impressive trial win in the bank.
Future Outlook: Monroe Walk looks a genuine Group 1 filly and the obvious form pick for the Shuka Sho. ∎
