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Sol Oriens Electrifies Crowd with Victory in 83rd Satsuki Sho
Making his third career start in the Satsuki Sho, Sol Oriens won for the third time with a powerful come-from-behind effort to maintain a perfect career record.
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Sol Oriens made history in the 83rd running of the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) on Sunday, April 16.
With a 1¼-length victory over Tastiera at Nakayama Racecourse, the Kitasan Black-sired colt became the first horse to win this Grade 1 race in their third career start.
Jockey Takeshi Yokoyama's partner also maintained a perfect career record: three races, three wins.
Sol Oriens, who turned 3 on April 4, made his debut in November 2022 in an 1,800-meter race for 2-year-olds at Tokyo Racecourse.
On January 15, Sol Oriens, ridden by Yokoyama for the first time in competition, triumphed in the G3 Keisei Hai, which was also held over 2,000 meters at Nakayama Racecourse. In his first race of 2023, Sol Oriens won by 2½ lengths.
Previously, Yokoyama guided Efforia to victory in the Satsuki Sho in April 2021 with a time of 2 minutes, 0.6 seconds.
That was the exact time of Sol Oriens' journey around the turf course in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, on Sunday. And the 24-year-old jockey earned his sixth career Japan Racing Association G1 win. (Watch the entire race on the JRA's YouTube channel.)
Trainer Takahisa Tezuka collected his ninth career Grade 1 victory in Japan.
The Satsuki Sho is the first leg of Japan's Triple Crown Classics (for 3-year-olds), with the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) on May 28 and the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) on October 22 still to come.
Continue reading the full story on SportsLook.
Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and Twitter ＠ed_odeven.
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