VICTORIA MILE (GROUP 1)

GROUP 1 racing continued for a second weekend at Tokyo racecourse, this time for the 14th renewal of the Victoria Mile, just the second Group 1 on the Japanese racing calendar to be restricted to older fillies and mares.

While its history is relatively short, the Mile can boast an illustrious roll of honour including some of Japan’s greatest fillies and mares.

Seven-time Group 1 winner and two-time Horse of the Year Vodka, added the Victoria Mile to her CV in 2014 when winning by seven lengths. 2009 Fillies Triple Crown winner, Apapane, returned as a four-year-old in 2010 to capture the mile contest in an enthralling battle, eventually edging out horse of the year, Buena Vista, by a neck.

The €1.6 million contest contained a typically open field of 18 runners who raced in front of a crowd of 45,000.

Group 1-winning juvenile and twice classic-placed Lucky Lilac was sent off favourite, however it was fifth favourite, Normcore, that caused a minor upset to claim her first Group 1 success.

Drawn in stall four, Normcore, with Australian rider Damian Lane on board, broke well to defend her position close to the rail, sitting in behind a strong early pace set by Group 1 winner Aerolithe, who assumed her usual front-running tactics. While travelling well throughout, Normcore settled to race in mid-division as the leaders continued to set impressive fractions at the head of affairs.

As the field turned into Tokyo’s long home straight, Lane remained behind a wall of horses, weaving in search of a clear run. As the pace began to take an obvious toll on the prominent runners, a clear path emerged passing the two-furlong marker and Normcore, not needing a second invitation, showed an impressive turn of foot, powering to the lead deep into the final furlong. The Kiyoshi Hagiwara-trained filly passed the line a neck winner, smashing the previous track record by three quarters of a second.

Ridden from off the pace, the fast-finishing Primo Scene finished in second, setting the fastest final three-furlong time. Crocosmia finished a further half-length behind in third with Lucky Lilac securing fourth place.

The Northern Farm-bred Normcore, was a €190,000 purchase as a yearling at the 2016 Select Sale. The steel-grey filly is the seventh produce of JRA dirt maiden winner Chronologist (Kurofune). 2019 is proving to be an exceptional year for the dam as her three-year-old, Chrono Genesis, has won a Group 3 and also finished third in the Group 1 Oka Sho (1000 Guineas) in April.

Unbeaten in two starts as a two-year-old, Normcore improved to win at Group 3 level as a three-year-old including a placed effort in Group 2 company. The lightly-raced daughter of Harbinger has now earned prize money in excess of €1.5 million in nine career starts.

With the limited schedule of top-level races restricted to older females, the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Cup in November will be the likely main focus of Normcore’s connections for the remainder of the year.

LANE IN DEMAND

Normcore provided a first Group 1 win in Japan for the Australian-based jockey Damien Lane, riding for the first time on Japanese shores on a short term licence. Lane has quickly generated a lofty reputation in a short but highly successful stint here.

Just the day before the Victoria Cup, the Australian joined forces with Godolphin Japan to win the Group 2 Keio Hai Spring Cup aboard Tower Of London.

Since his arrival at the end of April, Lane has ridden 13 winners and nine placings in the JRA from 44 rides, earning prize money of €2.8 million.

Even before his maiden Japanese Group 1 success, Lane had secured the plum ride aboard likely odds-on favourite Saturnalia in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) next weekend.

He has also picked up the spare ride on the lively contender Contra Check in the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks).

The regular race rider for the pair, champion jockey Christophe Lemaire, will miss the rides while he serves a suspension. The Frenchman received a three-weekend ban and a demotion in the placings for interference caused by his ride aboard Gran Alegria in the Group 1 NHK Mile.