THE four-year-old filly Gran Alegria ran out a convincing winner of the Group 1 Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo on Sunday as the favourite Almond Eye suffered a troubled run and could not get on terms with the Deep Impact-sired winner.

Almond Eye had been in line to become the first Japanese horse to land eight Group 1 turf wins.

Gran Alegria, winner of the 2019 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) and voted the best season’s three-year-old filly, showed a good runner-up effort in her first sprint challenge, this year’s Group 1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen, but, in what might have been a blessing, she missed her scheduled Victoria Mile start three weeks ago when she ran a fever.

That race went to Almond Eye but, against better class opposition here, she looked a bit below her best and met trouble in running from a slow start. By the time she got running, Gran Alegria and jockey Kenichi Ikezoe had flown.

For the winning trainer Kazuo Fujisawa it was a third Yasuda Kinen success (1997 Taiki Blizzard, 1998 Taiki Shuttle) and his 30th JRA-Group 1 victory following his latest in last year’s Sprinters Stakes with Tower Of London.

In an empty Tokyo Racecourse, the filly was in the clear from the top of the straight and by the furlong pole Gran Alegria was in no danger maintaining a powerful drive to the wire. She won by a convincing two and a half lengths from Almond Eye, Indy Champ and the fast-finishing Normcore. The winner is out of the dual US Grade 1 winner Tapitsfly.

“She just gave her best with such a tenacious run down the stretch. I was afraid up to the line that we were going to be caught, especially by Almond Eye,” winning jockey Kenichi Ikezoe commented.

Almond Eye missed the break, similar to last year’s race where she was bumped after the start and finished third. The five-year-old mare raced in fourth to fifth from the rear on the heels of Indy Champ, but had a lot to do from the turn-in.

“We had a poor break but I think we recovered well and made a smooth and strong bid turning for home with Gran Alegria in aim. She showed her good turn of foot but she could have done better. The winner was just so strong, it wasn’t our day,” commented Christophe Lemaire.

Last year’s winner Indy Champ raced on the rails behind Gran Alegria and chased the winner from the furlong marker but was caught in the last 50 metres to finish a half-length third.