Japan: History on the line in Mile Championship

The Japan Autumn International series rolls on into Saturday night’s Mile Championship (G1) at Kyoto (post time 1:40 a.m. ET), where #15 Jantar Mantar (6-5) seeks to make history.

The champion son of 2013 Belmont (G1) star Palace Malice has won three marquee mile events – the 2023 Asahi Hai Futurity (G1) that anointed him as Japan’s champion two-year-old colt, the 2024 NHK Mile Cup (G1) for sophomores, and the June 8 Yasuda Kinen (G1). If Jantar Mantar can add the Mile Championship to his resume, he would complete an unprecedented grand slam of the Japan Racing Association’s open-company Grade 1s at the distance.

Turning the Yasuda Kinen/Mile Championship double in the same season is also a major feat, although one accomplished on a more regular basis. Eight have swept the spring and fall features – Nihon Pillow Winner (1985), North Flight (1994), Taiki Shuttle (1998), Air Jihad (1999), Daiwa Major (2007), Maurice (2015), Indy Champ (2019), and Gran Alegria (2020).

Jantar Mantar has the virtue of consistency to go along with his natural talent. His only poor effort came in last December’s Hong Kong Mile (G1) at Sha Tin, attempting to take on older horses abroad off a seven-month layoff. 

Nearly unbeatable over a metric mile at home, Jantar Mantar recently sustained his first loss at the trip in Japan, in the Oct. 18 Fuji (G2). But he was beaten just a half-length by #6 Gaia Force (13-2) in that key prep, while conceding weight as the 130-pound co-highweight. Gaia Force was previously runner-up in the Yasuda Kinen, reiterating the rock-solid nature of the form.

Jantar Mantar promises to be sharper for this main target, and his 2-for-2 local mark at Kyoto is a plus. Like Regaleira in last weekend’s Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1), he looms as a deserving favorite. 

Defending champion #17 Soul Rush (9-2) is bidding for a slice of history himself, if he can become the seventh repeat winner. The veteran is making his fourth consecutive appearance in this race. Improving in each attempt, Soul Rush was fourth in the 2022 Mile Championship and a near-miss second in 2023 before breaking through last November.

Soul Rush scored an even more significant victory when toppling Hong Kong’s mighty Romantic Warrior in the April 5 Dubai Turf (G1) on World Cup night at Meydan. Although he was subsequently third to Jantar Mantar and Gaia Force in the Yasuda Kinen, Soul Rush exited that effort with an injury. He resurfaced with a useful third to Gaia Force in the Fuji, where he ranked as the co-highweight along with Jantar Mantar.

Yet at the age of seven, Soul Rush must defy the demographic trends in this race. Since 2003, only one winner was older than six – Company, a venerable eight-year-old when he wore the victor’s sash in 2009. Chances are that Soul Rush reverts to playing a supporting role in his title defense.

The other eminently logical contender, #5 Ascoli Piceno (15-2), is eligible to rebound from her subpar sixth in the Aug. 17 Prix Jacques le Marois (G1) at Deauville. The Daiwa Major filly simply didn’t transfer her game to the straightaway, but she wasn’t disgraced when crossing the wire 3 1/2 lengths behind Diego Velazquez. Note that the unlucky runner-up, Notable Speech, would go on to Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) glory.

Ascoli Piceno has held her own versus males in the past. A badly hampered second to Jantar Mantar in last year’s NHK Mile Cup, she prevailed narrowly in the 1351 Turf Sprint (G2) on Saudi Cup night. But her biggest wins have come in her own division, a championship-clincher in the 2023 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1) and the May 18 Victoria Mile (G1).

In these big fields, it’s usually worthwhile to cast about for longshots, and champion filly #7 Cervinia (33-1) could be the surprise package back down in trip. By Harbinger, sire of Mile Championship scorers Persian Knight (2017) and Namur (2023), Cervinia won two classics going longer last season – the Japanese Oaks (G1) and Shuka Sho (G1). She also proved her mettle against world-class males when fourth in the Japan Cup (G1) behind Horse of the Year Do Deuce and the dead-heating Shin Emperor and Durezza. 

Cervinia failed to sparkle this season until she reverted to a metric mile and placed second in the June 22 Shirasagi (G3) at Hanshin. Not seen again until a ring-rusty seventh in the about 1 1/8-mile Mainichi Okan (G2), Cervinia is reportedly thriving ahead of the Mile Championship. She also gets a rider switch to Tom Marquand, who adds another enticing variable to the equation. 

Cervinia’s assistant trainer, Yu Ota, offered the following comments on japanracing.jp:

“The Mainichi Okan was a complete loss, and I don’t know what the reason for it was. I suppose, looking at the seventh-place finish, I’d have to say she had excess weight (weighed 500 kg, up 16 kg from her last race). 

“She had only a short break at the farm, but this time she came back looking light in both heart and body, and I think she’s in a much better place than she’d been for the previous race. The sheen on her coat has improved, and she has handled solid daily workouts. I think we’ll be able to have (her) completely fit. As she matures, she has changed in how she’s able to adapt to a race, but I’m hoping that she’ll be able to handle the Kyoto mile.

“With a jockey (Marquand) that can give her a stronger ride, I think we’ll be able to see some change in her.”

The lone international entrant, #16 Docklands (99-1), is largely here because of the bonus dangled for the winner of the Queen Anne (G1) at Royal Ascot. Indeed, the caveat is that his best form is on a straightaway, with a special fondness for Ascot. And he’s not operating at the level of last year’s European mile star, Charyn, who finished fifth in the 2024 edition of this race. 

Yet the Harry Eustace charge reunites with Australian jockey Mark Zahra for the first time since their Royal Ascot upset, and on official ratings, Docklands is not much behind Soul Rush and Jantar Mantar. If Docklands springs another surprise, he’d become the first foreigner to plunder the Mile Championship.

You can make a case for several others in the “potential overlays” category, including three-year-old #4 Magic Sands (33-1). The near-misser in this year’s NHK Mile Cup when rallying from the tail of the field, he was taken out of his game a bit last time in the Fuji. The Kizuna colt reportedly will be handled more patiently here, and it wouldn’t be a shock if he makes it into the frame late. 

Magic Sands is intriguing because his NHK Mile Cup gives him collateral form with older horses, with the first fillies’ classic, and even in Australia. NHK Mile Cup hero Panja Tower was a better-than-appears fifth to Australian celebrity Autumn Glow in the Nov. 1 Golden Eagle at Randwick, where soft ground worked against him.