Gentildonna, under jockey Yasunari Iwata, has become the first filly since Apapane in 2010 and fourth in history to duplicate the feat in capturing the filly’s Triple Crown. The bay filly nosed out her biggest rival Verxina in a breathtaking photo-finish to claim the final leg, giving her owners Sunday Racing Co., Ltd. the Triple Crown title for fillies after achieving the same version for colts with Orfevre just last season.

This is the second achievement following Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co., Ltd. who captured both Triple Crowns with Deep Impact and Apapane. Gentildonna and her sire Deep Impact have become the first father/daughter pair in JRA history to accomplish this. For trainer Sei Ishizaka, it is his first Shuka Sho title, his third G1 victory this year (all three with Gentildonna), and ninth G1 win career wise. Following last season’s victory with Aventura, jockey Yasunari Iwata celebrates his second consecutive Shuka Sho win, not to mention his fifth G1 title this year which include the Sprinters Stakes, and 17th JRA G1 title overall. Due to suspension, he was forced to give up the reins of the starlet filly to Yuga Kawada in the second leg, the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks). Also sired by Deep Impact, Verxina executed a stubborn duel with the winner but had to settle for the runner-up position once again, becoming the only filly to finish second in all three Triple Crown races. It is the first time in JRA history that the same two fillies dominated the top two places in the same order in all three legs.

The field of 18 broke in front of the stands with Verxina, Meisho Suzanna and Ice Follies gunning for the lead, while Gentildonna sat right behind I’m Yours who camped seventh, and Aromatico and Bridge Climb hugged the rails in a file near the rear. With about half of the distance to go, Cherry Medusa suddenly came charging down the backstretch, surging past the field to take control and distancing herself from the others with more than eight lengths as she made the final turns.

Second to enter the stretch and in desperate pursuit of catching the fleeing leader, Verxina showed excellent acceleration as Gentildonna, after taking a wide trip throughout and making the turn for home in mid-field, had no trouble finding her stride to catch up with Verxina about 50 meters out. The two picked off the tiring leader in the final strides as they crossed the wire, resulting to a photo-finish?the result in favor for Gentildonna. In good striking position entering the lane, I’m Yours tried to keep up after giving way to the winner and gave in to the furious drive from both sides?Aromatico from the outside finishing 1-1/2 lengths from the runner-up in third, and Bridge Climb a 1/2 length from that in fourth. I’m Yours was a nose short to Cherry Medusa in sixth.

Other Horses:
7th: (11) Sunshine—camped inside in mid-pack, even paced
8th: (8) Quatre Feuilles—hugged rail in 3rd, ran gamely while outrun by rivals 100m out
9th: (7) Tosen Benizakura—never better than mid-field
10th: (5) Las Venturas—near rear of field, turned last to stretch, fastest over last 600m but too late
11th: (15) Midsummer Fair—tracked behind winner, circled out, lacked needed kick
12th: (9) Daiwa Zoom—sat in 5th, showed little at final stage
13th: (4) Hawaiian Wind—settled inside winner in mid-division, never threatened
14th: (18) Omega Heartland—trailed wide in rear, unable to reach contention
15th: (12) Ice Follies—chased leaders in 3rd or 4th, tired from early effort and faded in stretch
16th: (10) Hana’s Goal—raced behind mid-pack, 2nd to last to enter lane, failed to respond
17th: (16) Satono Jolly—was off slow, traveled near rear, no factor in homestretch
18th: (13) Meisho Suzanna—pressed pace in 2nd, then 3rd at backstretch, came up empty last 200m