Japan: Durezza pulls away to 3 1/2-length victory in Kikuka Sho

Durezza conquered 1 7/8 miles on firm turf to score hisfirst graded-stakes and fifth consecutive win Sunday in the 84th annual Grade1, US$2,882,786 Kikuka Sho, also known as the Japan St. Leger. He put away thevictors of the first two legs of the Triple Crown in a stunning, 3 1/2-length triumphat Kyoto.

Bred in Japan by Northern Racing and owned by Carrot Farm, Durezza(6-1) started widest in the field of 17. He rushed to the front to take thelead while Pax Ottomanica (299-1), who eventually faded to finish last, sat onhis tails a length behind in second.

Digest G1 3yo 3000m Kikuka Sho (St Leger) Kyoto

Amazing win 3c 17. DUREZZA (Duramente x More Than Sacred:flag-au:) via a Christophe Lemaire :fr: masterpiece!

2nd Derby winner 7. TASTIERA x J. Moriera :flag-br:

3rd Satsuki Sho winner 14. SOL ORIENS x T.Yokoyama

— Graham Pavey (@LongBallToNoOne) October 22, 2023

“He made a flying start and was keen to go, so I decided tolet him take the lead,” Durezza’s jockey Christophe Lemaire said.

After covering the first five furlongs in 1:00.4, the son ofDuramente was steadied to third in the backstretch, briefly giving up the leadto Pax Ottomanica and eventual fourth-place finisher Libyan Glass (36-1).

As the field moved into the final turn, Durezza was in second.Turning into the homestretch, he kicked into gear catching Libyan Glass beforethe eighth pole to take command once again and stretched with the fastestclosing speed to clear the wire by open lengths.

“He responded well (in the final turn), which made meconfident that he was going to close strongly,” Lemaire said. “When heaccelerated in the stretch, I knew we were going to win. To see him beat such astrong field today over the 3,000-meter distance means we can look forward tohim doing well among Grade 1 company over (1 1/4 and 1 1/2 miles) also.”

Lemaire celebrated his third Kikuka Sho triumph following SatonoDiamond in 2016 and Fierement in 2018. His most recent Japan Grade 1 successwas with Equinox in this year’s Takarazuka Kinen.

Sunday’s race brought trainer Tomohito Ozeki his first JapanGrade 1 win since the 2017 Sprinters Stakes with Red Falx.

Sent off as the second betting choice and also owned byCarrot Farm, Tastiera (7-2) settled around ninth and traveled wide in thebackstretch before turning home alongside post-time favorite Sol Oriens (8-5).The winner of the Tokyo Yushun also known as the Japan Derby showed a good turnof foot down the middle of the homestretch with the second-fastest late kickbut failed to threaten the winner in his runner-up effort.

Sol Oriens was unhurried traveling wide in 11th to 12thplace, made headway early in the final turn and made a wide, sweeping bid intothe stretch. The winner of the Satsuki Sho that is Japan’s 2000 Guineas pickedoff his tired opponents and dug in fiercely in the final strides, finishing third.He was five lengths behind the winner.

Durezza’s time was 3:03.1 without a run-up on the clockwisecourse after early fractions of 24.4, 47.7, 1:13.2, 1:39.1, 2:04.2, 2:27.3 and2:50.4. The 3,000-meter distance of the race is about 19 yards short of 1 7/8 miles.

A brown colt sired by Duramente, Durezza broke his maidentwo months after his debut in September 2022 as a 2-year-old and had registeredthree allowance triumphs this season in the Yamabuki Sho in April, the HongKong Jockey Club Trophy in June and the Nihonkai Stakes in August. His recordis 6: 5-0-1 with career earnings of US$1,863,608 based on the current rate ofexchange.