Sodashi Bounces Back

Mark Smith - Sunday August 22

The lone three-year-old sent into battle against the elders in Saturday’s $1,726,000 Group II The Sapporo Kinen (2000m), glamour filly Sodashi was flushed out to take the lead at the 600m and did not look back.

Advertisement

The snow-white daughter of Kurofune bounced back from her first defeat in six starts when unplaced behind Uberleben (Gold Ship) in the Group 1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) over 2400m at Tokyo on May 23.

With Hayato Yoshida in the saddle, the Naosuke Sugai-trained filly was content to lob along behind Taurus Gemini for the first part of the race. When Yasunari Iwata made a lightning mid-race move on Blast Onepiece, it forced Yoshida’s hand.

Vigorously ridden before the home turn, Sodashi held on bravely to turn back the challenge of the favourite Loves Only You (Deep Impact) by three-quarters of a length with Persian Knight (Harbinger) a head back in third.

There will be few more competitive Group II’s around this season, with the first three proven Group 1 performers.

Sodashi advances her record to six wins from seven starts.

The Champion 2YO Filly in Japan in 2020, Sodashi is the first foal of the King Kamehameha mare Buchiko, a three-quarter sister to Group III winner Hayayakko and a half-sister to triple Listed stakes winner Yukichan (Kurofune), the granddam of Group II winner Meikei Yell (Mikki Isle).

Advertisment
More Reading...
Sires With Winners - Thursday July 17
Here is the full list of 40 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Another Aussie Stakes-Winner for Lope de Vega
It’s just as well Australian owners are keen on bringing in imported tried horses to Australia or the $200,000 Listed Grafton Cup (2350m) on Thursday would have looked a very skinny event, but as it happened there was a promising young stayer on top in Don Diego de Vega (Fr).
Pure White Sodashi Stays Perfect in Oka Sho
Making her 2021 debut, snow-white filly Sodashi kept her record at a perfect five for five in Sunday's Group 1 Oka Sho (1600m) (Japanese 1000 Guineas) at Hanshin.
Unbeaten Filly a New Stakes-Winner for Ghaiyyath
Darley shuttler Ghaiyyath (IRE) is not returning to Australia this year after four seasons at Darley Victoria, but he was in the news overnight with a new stakes-winner after his unbeaten three year-old filly Al Uqda won the Listed Vichy Prix Madame Jean Couturie (2000m).
Exciting Aussie 3YO Awarded Champion HK Griffin
The title of Champion HK Griffin is one not bestowed lightly on a talented three year-old with two of the past three winners being Champion Sprinters Ka Ying Rising (NZ) and Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) and the exciting winner for 2024/2025 was announced last night at the final meeting of the season at Happy Valley.
Karaka Graduates Shoot for Selangor’s Seven-Figure Prize
A quality cast of four-year-olds will clash in Malaysia’s richest race this weekend, with a significant NZB influence throughout the 16-horse field.
Breeding To Win – Crystal Ball – New Season 3YOs to Follow
Who are we highlighting this week? - Analysis of the G1 winning 3YO’s for this season has made us realise how many horses on this list took giant strides from two to three, so we are looking into the crystal ball to find some juveniles we believe could end next season as G1 performers if not G1 winners.
Farnan Filly Impresses at Kembla
Selected as a foundation sire for Kia Ora Stud, Golden Slipper winner Farnan has provided a dream start for the Hunter Valley farm with a slew of smart winners from his first crop this season including Commanding Belle, who became his 11th winner on Thursday.
Group 1 Winner at Two-Three and Four - Sodashi is Back
To the roar of 30,000 lucky fans, the white wonder Sodashi was back in the winner’s circle for the first time since April last year when she left a star-studded field in her wake in Sunday’s $2,825,000 Group 1 The Victoria Mile (1600m) for fillies and mares at Tokyo racecourse.
What Stallions Can Step Up in Hong Kong?
The Hong Kong racing season is over for another year, so a look at their sire tables by earnings and winners is always interesting and there is no surprise at the top with now pensioned Deep Field claiming his fourth consecutive champion sire title, but given he is now out of the picture the big question is what sires will replace him?