DARING Tact emerged as a potential star last Sunday as the Epiphaneia filly won the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) at Hanshin racecourse.

Unbeaten in three starts, the Haruki Sugiyama-trained daughter of the 2014 Japan Cup winner – who is a son of Group 1 winner Cesario – produced an extraordinary burst of speed from way back to pick off her rivals, catching favourite Resistencia a few strides before the line, in a race run behind closed doors.

She is now expected to tackle the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) on May 24th, and later an attempt at the final leg of the Japanese Fillies’ Triple Crown, the Shuka Sho, in October.

Winning rider Kohei Matsuyama said: “I concentrated on her rhythm more than where to position her today. We were far behind the leaders and desperate in catching up, but she responded beautifully and stretched incredibly all the way to the line.

“I’m not worried about the added distance in the coming Japanese Oaks, but she does have issues to work on such as being relaxed. I’m praying that the day we can race in front of the crowd again will come soon.”

The Japanese Fillies’ Triple Crown has been claimed by five fillies in the past, including Gentildonna and Almond Eye, both of whom went on to capture the Japan Cup and to be victorious on Dubai World Cup night.

No trouble for Tom

GRADE 1 winner Tom’s d’Etat returned to racing off an almost five-month layoff to take a strong renewal of the Oaklawn Mile at Oaklawn Park. The win was the third consecutive score for the son of Smart Strike.

The seven-year-old Smart Strike horse, who ended 2019 with a win in the Grade 1 Clark Stakes returned by capturing the Oaklawn Mile Stakes by three-quarters of a length over fellow Grade 1 winner Improbable.

Jockey Joel Rosario gave a confident ride as he hardly moved aboard the horse, giving him a relatively easy outing in his first start of the year.

Trainer Al Stall Jr. hopes to be able to start next in the June 27th Stephen Foster (Grade 2) at Churchill Downs if the lockdown restrictions on racing are eased.

Bred in Kentucky by SF Bloodstock, he is out of the stakes-winning Giant’s Causeway mare Julia Tuttle, whose dam, Candy Cane, is a full-sister to Grade 1 winner and sire Candy Ride. The Oaklawn Mile improved his record to 10 wins from 17 starts.

No more raceday Lasix

A NEW season of two-year-old racing began this week in the US with a four-and-a-half-furlong maiden race at Gulfstream Park on Thursday which marked a new era in the use of medication. It was run without the race day treatment of furosemide, more known commonly as Lasix.

The diuretic, banned across much of the racing world but widely used in North America to control exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage, begins a phase-out this year in races for two-year-olds at a range of tracks, including Gulfstream Park, before extending next year to stakes races for all ages, including the Triple Crown. Under the new regulations, two-year-olds cannot be treated with Lasix within 24 hours of a race.

Other tracks that have agreed to the Lasix phase-out include Del Mar, Keeneland, and all tracks owned or operated by Churchill Downs Inc., the New York Racing Association, and The Stronach Group, which includes Gulfstream.

Trainer Wesley Ward, whose stable is geared toward early two-year-old success, ran Lime who finished second in the first two-year-old race.