Regaleira made history by becoming the first filly to win the Hopeful Stakes, setting a race record time of 2:00.2. The victory marked Suave Richard's first G1 title as a sire. Trained by Tetsuya Kimura and ridden by Christophe Lemaire, Regaleira's explosive burst of speed secured her trainer's eighth and jockey's 50th JRA-G1 wins. Shunsuke Yoshida, representative of Sunday Racing, the owner of Regaleira, expressed plans to likely race her in the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) next spring.

Breaking slowly from an outside draw, Regaleira settled third from the rear, showcasing impressive acceleration in the backstretch and the final corners. Christophe Lemaire strategically guided her to a clear path, where she displayed an extraordinary late charge, overtaking rivals 100 meters from the finish line.

Christophe Lemaire commented, “We had to travel near the rear because the filly missed her break, but she was very calm after that. She responded well at the last two corners and, after I steered her to the outside, displayed an incredible late charge. I look forward to her performances next year, and I think a longer distance would also suit her.”

Second pick Shin Emperor, a Siyouni chestnut, secured a runner-up seat after breaking smoothly, traveling well, and accelerating in the stretch. Despite being overtaken by the fast-closing winner 100 meters out, Shin Emperor outperformed the rest of the field by two lengths.

The 13th choice, Sunrise Zipangu, showed promise by advancing to third after a sharp break, easing back to around fifth in the backstretch. The Kizuna colt closed in on Shin Emperor in the final turn but was overtaken by the eventual winner in the last 100 meters, finishing third with limited room behind the runner-up.

Image JRA