Third favorite Museum Mile triumphed in the 85th Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas), the first leg of the Triple Crown, on Sunday, April 20.
The son of Leontes broke the race record by 0.1 seconds, finishing the 2,000-meter event at Nakayama Racecourse in 1 minute, 57.0 seconds.
Museum Mile kicked off the 2025 racing season with a fourth-place finish in the Yayoi Sho Deep Impact Kinen (G2, 2,000 meters) on March 9. He now has three wins in six career starts.
This win, in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, marked trainer Daisuke Takayanagi's first Classic title and third Japan Racing Association G1 victory after the 2024 Victoria Mile with Ten Happy Rose.
Joao Moreira became the sixth jockey since Christophe Lemaire in 2019 to claim both the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600 meters) — held a week earlier — and the Satsuki Sho in the same year. The Brazilian now has five JRA G1 titles under his belt.
A Late Burst of Speed Propels Museum Mile to Victory
Breaking smoothly from gate 11, Museum Mile traveled wide in mid-division, around eighth from the frontrunner. The Leontes colt swung wide turning for home to make a bid from the outside, rallying briefly with Croix du Nord 150 meters out. Then Museum Mile pulled away with a powerful turn of speed to capture his first G1 title by 1½ lengths. (Watch the full race on the JRA's YouTube Channel.)
"When I sat on him this afternoon, I could feel that he's very special, he's got a very nice body and temperament," Moreira said after the race. "I thought this might be the horse to win."
Moreira then described the path to victory in the Satsuki Sho.
"When we were turning for home, we were a bit unbalanced, maybe because the ground was not so smooth," the jockey commented. "But when I got him on the stretch, he just dashed home, and when he took the lead 150 meters to go, he kept running away, showing me that he's got so much ability."
He added, "It was so nice to ride this horse and I believe he's got plenty more to give."
Croix du Nord Falls Short in Satsuki Sho Title Quest
Best Two-Year-Old Colt of 2024 and overwhelming race favorite Croix du Nord (Yuichi Kitamura's ride) traveled around fourth, turned the last two corners wide and surged to the front at the top of the stretch to briefly take the lead at the 200-meter pole. Though overtaken by Museum Mile 150 meters out, the Kitasan Black colt ran persistently, holding off the strong charges from behind, to secure second place.
Fourth pick Masquerade Ball (Takeshi Yokoyama), who came off a victory in the Kyodo News Hai (G3, 1,800 meters) in February, sat behind the eventual winner around 11th. He angled out slightly for a stretch run with the second-fastest late drive (33.9 seconds over the final three furlongs) but failed to catch the top two finishers while securing third place by half a length.
Second favorite Giovanni (Kohei Matsuyama) and Satono Shining (Atsuya Nishimura) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
A Look Ahead
The G1 Tenno Sho (Spring), a 3,200-meter turf race, will be held at Kyoto Racecourse on May 4.
Read the full report, including details on each of the Satsuki Sho entrants, on JRA News.
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Author: JRA News
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