Palace Malice's half-brother wins Japan's Tenno Sho

Second favorite Justin Palace, coming off a victory in the Grade 2 Hanshin Daishoten in March, captured his first Grade 1 victory Sunday in this year’s Tenno Sho (Spring) held for the first time in three years at the newly renovated Kyoto Racecourse.

The 4-year-old colt is a half-brother to 2013 Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice.

Marking two wins and a runner-up effort in the Hopeful Stakes (G1) as a 2-year-old, the son of Deep Impact was ninth in both the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1) and the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1) in his 3-year-old spring campaign. He marked his first graded victory in the Kobe Shimbun Hai (G2) in September, a third in the following Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1), and capped off the season with a seventh in the Arima Kinen (G1).

The Tenno Sho win marked trainer Haruki Sugiyama’s fifth Japan Racing Association Grade 1 victory following his Shuka Sho title with Daring Tact in 2020. Jockey Christophe Lemaire registered his 44th JRA G1 win following last year’s Arima Kinen title with Equinox and third Tenno Sho (Spring) victory after his wins with Fierement in 2019 and 2020.

Lemaire will ride Derma Sotogake in Saturday's Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

“The horse was calm throughout the race and I was sure that he was going to win when we moved up behind Deep Bond and entered the straight. He has become a super horse over long distances, so I think he will do well in races like Arima Kinen in the future,” commented Christophe Lemaire.

Justin Palace, making a clean start from the innermost stall, eased back to settle eighth and ninth from the front along the rails and shifted slightly to the outside turning the second corner. The Deep Impact colt gradually made headway turning the last corner two wide, surged out behind Deep Bond entering the lane, overtook the eventual runner-up 300 meters out and pulled away for a 2-1/2-length victory with the fastest closing speed.

Race favorite Titleholder, settling in second after rallying with African Gold for the lead, assumed command at the first corner but pulled up before the final corner because of lameness in his right foreleg. He was scheduled to undergo an examination after the race. African Gold set the pace early but was pulled up after the second corner because of atrial fibrillation.