Japanese star Almond Eye seeks eighth Group 1 win in Yasuda Kinen

Following her impressive seasonal debut in the “Win and You’re In” Victoria Mile (G1) against female rivals three weeks ago, Silk Racing Co.’s 5-year-old super mare Almond Eye will seek a second Breeders’ Cup Challenge victory on Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse when she faces open company in the Group 1, $2.56 million Yasuda Kinen at a mile.

The winner of Sunday’s race on turf will receive an automatic berth and fees paid into the $2 million TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) through the international Breeders’ Cup Challenge.

The Breeders’ Cup Challenge is an international series of stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which is scheduled to be held at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, on Nov. 6-7.

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders’ Cup will pay the entry fees for the Yasuda Kinen winner to start in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile, which will be run at 1 mile over the Keeneland turf course. Breeders’ Cup also will provide a minimum travel allowance of US$40,000 for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships.

The 70th Yasuda Kinen, which drew 14 starters, will be run counterclockwise over the Tokyo course. The race will be televised live on TVG at 2:40 a.m. ET Sunday.

Almond Eye, trained by Sakae Kunieda and ridden by Christophe Lemaire, has won nine of 12 starts, including seven Group 1s. The most recent came on May 17 over the Tokyo course when the daughter of Lord Kanaloa cruised to a four-length victory, and earned a Breeders’ Cup Challenge spot into the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

She was supposed to begin 2020 in Dubai to defend her title in the Dubai Turf (G1) in March, but the Dubai World Cup night races were canceled because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

After winning the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1) last year, Almond Eye was headed for Hong Kong for the Longines Hong Kong Cup (G1), but her trip was called off when she came down with a fever.

She closed out 2019 with a ninth-place finish in the Arima Kinen (G1) at Nakayama.

Almond Eye has notched five wins out of six outings at Tokyo Racecourse, with her only defeat coming in last year’s Yasuda Kinen, won by Silk Racing stablemate Indy Champ. 

She closed strongly to finish third, beaten just three-quarters of a length after being compromised by traffic at the start. A win on Sunday will make Almond Eye just the second female to win seven JRA Group 1 races -- joining the great mare Vodka in that achievement -- and the only Japanese turf horse ever to win eight Group 1s in total.

“Last year, up against male horses in the Yasuda Kinen, a lot happened, but she did run well,” said Kunieda to JRA.com. “The Fuchu (Tokyo Racecourse) 1,600 is an easy race for her and if she runs normally I think it’ll go well. After the Victoria Mile, I waited to see how she was doing.

"She looked good and it had been an easy win for her, so she came come out of the race well. So, I figured she could run again with only two full weeks for training in between. It’s her first time with so little time between starts but mentally she’s very relaxed and very calm.”