Soul Rush Romps to Victory in the Mile Championship

Fourth favorite Soul Rush captured his much-awaited first Japan Racing Association Grade 1 victory in the 41st running of the Mile Championship on Sunday, November 17 at Kyoto Racecourse.

The race got underway with Rulership-sired Soul Rush, guided by jockey Taisei Danno, reserved on the shoulder of the race favorite in mid-division and two-wide in the backstretch.

While the field fanned out wide entering the stretch and still in fourth to fifth from the front, the dark bay horse launched an incredible stretch drive to overtake Win Marvel (Kohei Matsuyama's ride) near the 100-meter marker to power clear and pull away to a comfortable 2½-length victory.

For Danno, it was his second G1 victory, following his winning partnership in the 2023 Takamatsunomiya Kinen with First Force.

Trainer Yasutoshi Ikee is now the proud winner of 23 JRA G1 wins. Before Sunday, his most recent G1 triumph was a 2023 Sprinters Stakes victory with Mama Cocha. Moreover, this marks his second Mile Championship title following the 2017 version with Persian Knight.

Danno Reacts to Mile Championship Victory

"I feel great. I was initially thinking of positioning him further in front, but racing among such strong contenders, sitting in an ideal position wasn't so easy," said Danno, the 24-year-old winning jockey. "However, with some of the key members within eyesight, I kept cool and waited for the moment."

Added Danno, "His movement was really good and he wanted to make his move rather early but I let him go as he pleased and he continued to respond really well. In the end [with a good 2½ lengths between us and the rest of the field), I couldn't hear any thundering hooves from behind, only the cheering crowd."

How the Mile Championship Unfolded

After breaking sharply from the widest stall, seventh pick Elton Barows (Atsuya Nishimura) took a wide trip around eighth place and angled out farther for his stretch run. And although lacking the speed to match that of the winner, he passed his rivals one by one, then closed in strongly to catch Win Marvel at the wire for second place. (Watch the full race on the JRA's YouTube channel.)

Tenth choice of the 17-horse field, Win Marvel showed a good break and chased the pace in fourth before launching a strong turn of foot down the center of the lane. The I'll Have Another progeny took command before the 200-meter pole. But he was caught by the eventual winner 100 meters out, and then pinned right before the wire by Elton Barows.

As a result, Win Marvel had to settle for third, a neck's length behind the runner-up.

In an attempt to earn her second G1 title, race favorite Brede Weg (Christophe Lemaire) broke well but was shuffled back to sit in midpack. As the field straightened away, the Lord Kanaloa filly kicked into gear while splitting horses and closed well to engage in a brief four-horse rally in the final strides. But she was nosed out by Win Marvel to finish fourth.

Disappointing Result for Irish-Born Entrant Charyn

Sent off as the third pick, Charyn (Ryan Moore), the Mile Championship's only overseas contender, missed his break and was forced to race behind in third from the rear.

After shifting far out entering the straight, the 4-year-old chased the frontrunners with the second fastest stretch speed (33.6 seconds over the final three furlongs). But he had too much ground to make up and finished a neck behind the race favorite in fifth.

Second favorite and 2023 Mile Championship winner Namur (Cristian Demuro) finished last among the 17 runnners.

"He ran a very good race but he was slow coming out of the gate so the first furlong cost him in the end— you get behind and wide around the whole field," said Roger Varian, Charyn's trainer.

"After the start he wasn't able to secure a good position and afterwards, it was always going to be hard work for him. He finished strong, so I thought the horse performed very well — in defeat he proved himself to be a very good horse."

What was jockey Moore's assessment of Charyn's performance?

"He couldn't make a good jump at the start and had to race behind," Moore said. "But despite the disadvantages, he gave a terrific effort at the straight."