NHK Mile Cup: Panja Tower Edges Magic Sands in a Thrilling Finish

Ninth favorite Panja Tower claimed his first G1 and second graded title in the 30th NHK Mile Cup on Sunday, May 11 at Tokyo Racecourse.

The bay colt, who is among the first crop of Tower of London, who won the 2019 Sprinters Stakes, broke his maiden in his debut start in September 2024 (Chukyo, 1,200 meters). And he immediately registered his first grade-race victory in the Keio Hai Nisai Stakes (Tokyo, G2, 1,400 meters) two months later.

On Sunday, Panja Tower provided trainer Shinsuke Hashiguchi with his second JRA G1 success following the 2018 JBC Sprint with Graceful Leap.

Jockey Kohei Matsuyama scored his sixth G1 title and his first since the 2021 Champions Cup with T O Keynes. 

The Path to Victory for 9th Favorite Panja Tower

Panja Tower was swift out of gate 11 and was reserved in a wide mid-pack position of the 18-horse field. Making the widest turn into the straight, the son of Tower of London unleashed a furious closing kick, drawing even with the frontrunner 300 meters out.

Panja Tower pulled away while rallying with, and narrowly holding off, Magic Sands (Yutaka Take's ride) on the inside and Cerbiatto (Michael Dee) digging in between them in the final strides. (Watch the race on the JRA's YouTube channel.)

"We were able to sit in a good position, but the rhythm was more of an important factor," Matsuyama said in a post-race interview. "And I'm happy he ran steadily in a good rhythm today."

The jockey added, "As you know, he's shown his strength since his debut and has a graded win in Tokyo, and the way he stretched incredibly today proves he has a bright future ahead of him."

Magic Sands Makes a Spirited Run in the NHK Mile Cup

Third choice Magic Sands was unhurried, settling second from the rear, and was steered to an inner route by Take rounding the final corner to make a bid.

The Kizuna colt, while launching the fastest drive over the last three furlongs (33.7 seconds) from behind, found a clear path 300 meters out and eventually dueled with the winner in the last 100 meters. But Magic Sands was a head short at the wire and had to settle for second.

Cerbiatto, the 12th pick, sat on the rails just behind Panja Tower and after straightening away, increased speed to shoot out from the pack. The filly dug in fiercely in the final strides, nearly catching the top two finishers but was a head-and-nose short at the wire to finish third.

Mondo dell'Amore (Keita Tosaki) and Lance of Chaos (Seinosuke Yoshimura) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Breaking smoothly from stall eight, race favorite Admire Zoom (Yuga Kawada) was a bit keen in the backstretch but settled on the rails to stalk the pace in second. Picking off the pacesetter in the early stretch, the Maurice-sired colt showed effort in sustaining his lead. But he dropped away once, overtaken by the eventual winner, and faded to 14th. 

Kawada stated after the race that the colt had lost a shoe 200-300 meters out of the gate.

A Look Ahead

The Victoria Mile on Sunday, May 18 at Tokyo Racecourse is the next G1 race on the JRA calendar.

Read the full report, including details on each of the NHK Mile Cup entrants, on JRA News.

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Author: JRA News