By Masakazu Takahashi -
Ten Happy Rose, virtually unconsidered in the Japanese markets when sent off at greater odds than 200-1, sprung an almighty shock in the G1 Victoria Mile at Tokyo on Sunday.
Trained by Daisuke Takayanagi, who saddled T O Password to finish an honourable fifth in the Kentucky Derby recently, the one-and-a-quarter length defeat of the Godolphin-owned Fierce Pride gave winning rider Akihide Tsumura a first Grade 1 win in a 21-year career.
There was certainly no fluke about the victory, as the six-year-old raced in midfield throughout under Tsumura before her rider manoevred his mount to the middle of the track as the field swept for home.
The more fancied duo Fierce Pride and pre-race favourite, Masked Diva partnered by Joao Moreira, looked to have the feature event between them in the latter stages of the stretch, but Ten Happy Rose found a change of gear inside the final 200m to overhaul her rivals and score decisively at the line.
Namur, runner- up in the Dubai Turf at Meydan on World Cup night, could never get involved following a slow start and eventually trailed in eighth.
The winner is a daughter of Epiphaneia out of Tanino Gimlet's winning mare Fatal Rose and her rider was understandably elated to have broken his Grade 1 duck.
He said: "I urged with all my might in the straight, but it felt so long. I knew she would be better racing on a left-handed course, so I trusted her and hoped it would go well around the last corner.
"It took me a while to win a Grade 1. I never gave up, and I worked hard even in the small races so that I could ride in a Grade 1 every year. My family supported me every time."
