Japan: Serifos closes to win Grade 1 Mile Championship

Sixth favorite Serifos landed his first Grade 1 victory with his win Sunday in the $2,769,921 Mile Championship at Hanshin, Japan, making him the first 3-year-old to win the race since Stelvio in 2018.

Breaking from post 10, Serifos (8-1) traveled fourth from the rear and three wide in the backstretch, was unhurried under Damian Lane in shifting out wide into the lane still near the rear and, with the fastest closing speed in the 17-horse field, stormed down the stretch to grab the lead 50 meters out and win by a growing 1 1/4 lengths.

“The horse was super today,” Lane said. “He’s very consistent, and I knew he would improve after watching his videos. I wanted to show how really competitive he is. The pace was good, and he was a bit keen early, but I was always confident.”

Eighth choice Danon the Kid (25-1), a 4-year-old colt, finished second of 17. He settled around seventh early, slightly dropped position rounding the final corners, met traffic but squeezed through horses and, just while digging in to grab the lead, was overtaken by the winner in the final strides.

Second pick Sodashi (3-1), a 4-year-old filly, sat in fourth or fifth in the early going, persistently showed effort to rally for the lead in the straight but failed to keep up with the top two finisher’s late speed. She held off the fast-closing rivals by a nose for third place.

Post-time favorite Schnell Meister (5-2) camped in mid-pack, struggled briefly for room in early stretch and found his best stride late but dug in the last half-furlong to finish fifth, a nose behind fourth-place Soul Rush (6-1).

Serifos’s winning time was 1:32.5 chasing fractions of 23.4, 46.6 and 1:10.1.

Since the 2020 Futurity Stakes victory with Grenadier Guards, winning trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida pocketed his fourth Japan Grade 1 triumph. Lane, who is riding in Japan under a short-term license, also registered his fourth Grade 1 victory and his first since the 2019 Arima Kinen with Lys Gracieux.

Sired by Daiwa Major, who won the Mile Championship in 2006 and 2007, the victorious chestnut colt raced to wins in his first three races last year, including the Niigata Nisai (G3) and the Hai Nisai (G2), and capped off his first season with a runner-up effort in the Futurity (G1), a half-length behind subsequent Derby winner Do Deuce.

The colt then turned in a fourth in the Mile Cup (G1) in May before his first challenge against older foes in the Yasuda Kinen (G1), in which he was fourth again. Serifos had just come off his Fuji (G2) win Oct. 22.