Jantar Mantar confirmed his status as Japan's pre-eminent miler as he thrashed a top-level field in the Mile Championship (G1) Nov. 23 at Kyoto Racecourse.
The victory gave the 4-year-old Palace Malice colt a sweep of this year's two grade 1 mile races, following the Yasuda Kinen (G1) June 8. He also won the NHK Mile Cup (G1) in 2024 and the Asahi Hai Futurity (G1), also at 1 mile, in his 2-year-old season.
The Mile Championship title makes him the first to win all four grade 1 mile events open to colts on the Japanese racing calendar.
He was sent to the post as the solid favorite in the Mile Championship despite the presence of five other grade 1 or group 1 winners, including English-trained Docklands. With Yuga Kawada in the irons, Jantar Mantar set sail smoothly from the No. 15 gate and raced in third behind a breakaway long shot rival down the backstretch.
He closed the gap around the sweeping turn, moved into the lead while negotiating the uphill stretch run and broke clear to win by 1 3/4 lengths. He finished in course-record time of 1:31.3.
Gaia Force followed Jantar Mantar into the stretch but jockey Takeshi Yokoyama ran into some traffic when he steered the 6-year-old son of Kitasan Black to the inside. After squeezing through a narrow gap between rivals, he made up ground through the final 100 meters to earn second. Water Licht, at odds of 130-1, won a multi-horse photo for third.
Docklands was well back in the running and finished ninth.
Jantar Mantar came into the Mile Championship off a runner-up finish in the Fuji Stakes (G2), won by Gaia Force, in October that followed a four-month layoff. Overall, he now has six wins from 10 starts.
"I'm glad we were able to prove that the colt is a true champion," Kawada said. "Although we lost our recent race, it was a good prep for today and enabled the colt to run in good rhythm with a good feeling. He responded smoothly and, in the home stretch with the sun setting behind us, I was able to check by the shadows that no one was sneaking up on us."
Trainer Tomokazu Takano noted before the race that his colt had a chance to make history by completing the sweep of grade 1 miles, and Kawada nodded to that job being done.
"Owing to his outstanding talent and to the hard work of everyone involved, the colt has won all grade 1 mile events open for colts and horses, which I think is absolutely incredible," he said.
The Victoria Mile (G1) is restricted to fillies and mares. This year's winner, Ascoli Piceno, finished seventh in the Mile Championship. She was second in the 2024 NHK Mile Cup and won the 1351 Turf Sprint (G2T) in Saudi Arabia in February.
The victory presents an opportunity for Jantar Mantar's trainer and owner, Shadai Racehorse, to address the only serious blot on the colt's record. After last year's Mile Championship, he traveled to Hong Kong but finished 13th in the Hong Kong Mile, won by Voyage Bubble.
With Voyage Bubble seemingly set on stepping up to this year's Cup distance Dec. 14, the Hong Kong Mile renewal could be an easier challenge.
Docklands' trainer, Harry Eustace, said his 5-year-old was hampered somewhat by the No. 16 draw but admitted the locals were superior in the circumstances.
"From our position in the field, we needed a stronger gallop," Eustace said. "So, he ran on well, but he was too far back. The track was fine, ground was fine, but the Japanese horses were too good today."
A foreign invader will get another crack at the Japanese runners Nov. 30 as the world's top-rated horse, Calandagan, contests the Japan Cup (G1).
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