Japan: Liberty Island Bids To Become Seventh Winner Of Fillies’ Triple Crown
There is big racing action again this week, with Kyoto Racecourse hosting the 28th running of the Grade 1 Shuka Sho, the 3-year-old filly pinnacle which wraps up the fillies' Classic races. This year, the Shuka Sho is returning to its usual venue after a two-year sojourn at Hanshin while Kyoto underwent massive renovations.
Like last year, the fillies' triple crown is once again on the line, as super filly Liberty Island, winner of the first two events, aims to claim her third win in the series. If successful, she will not merely bag the JPY110 million winner's prize, but will become only the seventh filly in Japanese racing history to capture all three races comprised of the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas), the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) and the Shuka Sho, run over distances of 1,600, 2,400 and 2,000 meters, respectively.
Twenty-three fillies have been nominated for the 18 berths of the Shuka Sho and five of those nominees are tied for earnings and will be vying for the final lineup's last two spots.
Here's a look at the likely popular picks.
Liberty Island: On a three-way Grade 1 winning streak that includes the first two tests of the fillies' Classic and the 2-year-old Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, Liberty Island (Duramente) is expected to be way out in front as the Shuka Sho favorite. If her six-length winning margin in the Japanese Oaks is any indication of what's to come, she'll be way out in front at the finish line on Sunday too. It will be her first time at Kyoto, but she'll have the home advantage as she is based at Ritto, and she is proven over both clockwise and counterclockwise tracks. With four wins and one second from her five starts thus far (spanning distance from 1,600 to 2,400 meters), Liberty Island's blistering late speed has stood her well, whether traveling from fore of midfield or from the rear. She has, however, never drawn terribly wide, and she's going straight from the Japanese Oaks to the gate, a spell of nearly five months. She spent the summer at Northern Farm and returned to Ritto in mid-September. If she can pocket the Shuka Sho, Liberty Island will become the seventh filly to do so, and the first since Daring Tact accomplished the feat in 2020. Yuga Kawada, currently trailing leading jockey Christophe Lemaire by one win, has ridden all her starts, and is expected up.
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