When they turned the money in the Shuka Sho (G1) at Kyoto Racecourse on October 19, Embroidery again the distance question that had humiliated her five months earlier in the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks-G1) was asked.
This time the Admire Mars the filly had the right answer and floated smoothly along the pace Erika Expressonly to come around to capture the final leg of Japan’s Filly Triple Crown by half a length from that rival. She became the fourth winner of the Oka Sho-Shuka Sho double and the first since Daiwa Scarlet in 2007.
The spacing question was a legitimate concern. Borduring had won four of her first five starts, but only once did she venture beyond 1,600 meters (about 1 mile), the distance of the Oka Sho or Japan’s Thousand Guineas. When asked to stay on the Yushun Himba’s 2,400 meters (about 1 1/2 miles), she finished ninth behind the winner, Kamunyakthe favorite on the Shuka Sho court.
The 2,000-meter Oka Sho split the difference, but trainer Kazutomo Mori said before the race that he was more concerned about the relatively tight layout of Kyoto’s indoor grass circuit than the added distance.
“To be honest, I don’t think the 2,000-meter indoor course will be easy,” he said. “She has a very big step and does better on a wider course.”
Jockey Christophe Lemaire attacked the issue head-on. After a clean start from gate No. 11, Borduur raced in the middle of the group around the first corner, staying wide and out of the way of potential traffic problems. Lemaire started the backstretch and gave the filly some rein, and she closed quickly to move to the outside and enter the long stretch turn just behind the Erika Express. From there the question of the day was asked and answered.
Kamunyak’s experience was the opposite mirror. On the way home she was in position to run, but quickly fell back through the field to finish 16th. Paradise Queen was in contention for third place when Embroidery stopped the timer at 1:58.3.
“I had every confidence in the filly she would deliver today as the Oaks did not suit her in terms of distance,” Lemaire said of Borduren.
“She was calm and relaxed in the first half of the race, and as the pace slowed in the backstretch we were able to move into a better position. It took a while for her engine to kick in, but she showed incredible foot movement in the last 200 meters.”
Embroidery, from the Look for it mare Rottenmeierwas bred by Tenei Horse Park. She wears the powder blue silk with red dots from Silk Racing.
She started her racing career with a second-place finish in a newcomers’ race at Tokyo Racecourse in June 2024 and followed that with a victory in a maiden 1,800-meter (about 1 1/8-mile) event at Nigata in July – until the Shuka Sho, her longest career.
She finished third in the Safron Sho at Nakayama in September and won a 1,400 meters (about seven furlong) allowance heat at Tokyo Racecourse in her final youth start – seemingly an unlikely venue for a candidate for next season’s classics.
She returned to win the Daily Hai Queen Cup (G3) at 1,600 meters in her only preparation for the Oka Sho.
Borduur’s Oka Sho and Shuka Sho wins are her trainer’s only Japan Racing Association Grade 1 scores. Lemaire achieved his 55th and fourth in the Shuka Sho.
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