Victoria Mile: Embroidery Reigns as the Champion Female Miler

Overwhelming favorite Embroidery dominated the 21st running of the Victoria Mile on Sunday, May 17.

At Tokyo Racecourse, Embroidery captured her third Grade 1 title following her victory in the G2 Hanshin Himba Stakes (1,600 meters) on April 11.

Marking 2-1-0 out of four starts as a 2-year-old, the daughter of Admire Mars won three of five races in 2025 — the Queen Cup (G3, 1,600 meters), the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600 meters) and the Shuka Sho (G1, 2,000 meters) — which earned her the Best Three-Year-Old Filly title that year.

Trainer Kazutomo Mori scored his third Japan Racing Association G1 win, all with this filly.

Jockey Christophe Lemaire extended his record for the most Victoria Mile victories to five, having claimed the race in 2017 (Admire Lead), 2020 (Almond Eye), 2021 (Gran Alegria) and 2025 (Ascoli Piceno). Lemaire also celebrated the milestone of his 60th JRA G1 title.

'A Perfect Race' for Embroidery and Lemaire

Four-year-old Embroidery, breaking sharply from stall 12, eased back to settle around sixth behind frontrunner Erika Express (Yutaka Take's ride).

Racing wide around the corners, the Admire Mars filly advanced steadily up the hill in the early stretch and, after taking the lead at the 200-meter marker, accelerated strongly and easily pulled away for a comfortable 1¼-length victory. (Watch the race on the JRA's YouTube channel.)

Embroidery completed the race in 1 minute, 30.9 seconds.

"It was a perfect race," Lemaire said. "We were able to break smoothly, which allowed us to race in a good position. She responded really well on the uphill stretch, and I was confident we could win again."

The French jockey added, "She's a smart horse with a strong mentality, and she's developing physically as well — she's truly a G1-caliber horse. I think she can compete both in Japan and overseas."

The 21st Running of the Victoria Mile

Second pick Kamunyak (Yuga Kawada) broke smoothly and settled around seventh, tracking right behind Embroidery. The 4-year-old Black Tide filly continued to stalk the race favorite in the stretch and, although unable to threaten the winner, crossed the wire 1½ lengths clear of the rest of the field to finish second.

Third favorite and 2025 Victoria Mile runner-up Queen's Walk (Atsuya Nishimura) sat around eighth, a couple of lengths behind the winner, and angled out rounding the final corner to launch her late charge. The 5-year-old mare passed her rivals one by one in pursuit of Kamunyak. And, while failing to close in on the top two finishers, Queen's Walk eventually nosed out tenacious pacesetter Erika Express for third.

Coconuts Brown (Yuichi Kitamura) finished fifth.