Japan's leading first season sire Lord Kanaloa had his first stakes winner at Kyoto Racecourse in Japan on Monday and it was well worth waiting for.
The Sakae Kunieda-trained filly Almond Eye had just one of the 11 starters behind her on the turn in the Group III Shinzan Kinen (1600m) before storming home under Keita Tosaki to defeat another filly, Tsuzumimon(Strong Return) by one and three-quarter lengths with the first colt home Cassius (Kinshasa no Kiseki) a neck back in third.
The long-striding daughter of Lord Kanaloa became the first filly to win the race since Gentildonna in 2012.
Runner-up in a Niigata maiden on August 6, Almond Eye broke her maiden at her most recent start at Tokyo on October 8.
She is the sixth winner from as many foals out of the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup runner-up Fusaichi Pandora (Sunday Silence), whose dam Lotta Lace Nureyev is a half-sister to El Gran Senor (Northern Dancer) and Try My Best (Northern Dancer).
Arrowfield Stud will offer two fillies by Lord Kanaloa at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. (View the story here).
