Victoria Mile Preview: The Spotlight Shifts to Older Fillies and Mares

On Sunday, May 17, Tokyo Racecourse hosts the second big event ― the Victoria Mile ― in a nonstop five-week run of Grade 1 competition. The race follows the NHK Mile Cup for 3-year-olds on May 10, with the spotlight this week on older fillies and mares in a 1,600-meter turf competition.

This year marks the 21st running of the Victoria Mile and 20 have been nominated for the maximum 18 spots in the race. It has a first-place prize of ¥150 million JPY (about $945,000 USD) and an overall purse of ¥326.5 million (roughly $2.06 million).

The race is open to female 4-year-olds and up, and most of the nominees are 4- and 5-year-olds. All, regardless of age, will carry 56 kg.

Three horses are currying a great deal of favor with the fans ― Embroidery, Kamunyak and Queen's Walk. Embroidery, winner of two of the 2025 Japanese Fillies' Classics ― the Grade 1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) and the Grade 1 Shuka Sho ― is likely to be sent off with the field's lowest odds. Kamunyak, who won the 2025 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) and the 5-year-old Queen's Walk, runner-up by a neck in last year's Victoria Mile, will also surely be a popular choice.

*Kamunyak (15), ridden by Andrasch Starke, competes in the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) en route to a narrow victory over Arma Veloce on May 25, 2025, at Tokyo Racecourse. (©SANKEI)*

Two races leading up to the Victoria Mile are considered to hold important insight into which horses are likely to do well. The two races restricted to fillies and mares only are April's G2 Hanshin Himba Stakes over 1,600 meters and the G3 Nakayama Himba Stakes over 1,800 meters run in March. Victoria Mile nominees that ran in one of those two races include Embroidery, Kamunyak, Paradis Reine, Erika Express, Nishino Ti Amo, Ka Pilina, Kana Tape, Kelly Fled Ask and Bond Girl.

About the Victoria Mile

The Victoria Mile begins at the top of the backstretch at the Tokyo venue, where races are run in a counterclockwise direction. It starts on a slight downward slope, and soon rises sharply until dropping again around the first bend. The ground rises again gradually as it turns into the straight, then hits an even sharper upward hill just before the 400-meter mark. At the top of that hill, it's still 300 meters to the finish line.

Though a hard test of skill, the Tokyo 1,600 meters is considered to be impartial when it comes to gate positions. Frontrunners and those who race on or very close to the pace tend to do well.

The pace is often slow and the fancied runners are often successful. And the race favorite has figured in the top 3 seven times over the past 10 runnings, and won three times in that same time period.

Nonetheless, surprise double-digit picks have finished four times in the top 3 over the same period. The most recent surprise winner was the 6-year-old Ten Happy Rose, who had come off a lackluster sixth-place finish 0.4 seconds behind the winner in the G2 Hanshin Himba Stakes immediately before the Victoria Mile.

Sunday's Victoria Mile is the 11th race on the Tokyo card of 12 with a post time of 3:40 PM.

Here's a look at some of the expected popular picks:

Embroidery Chases More Racing Glory

A 4-year-old daughter of champion miler Admire Mars (three-time G1 winner, including the 2019 Hong Kong Mile), Embroidery was recognized by the JRA as the Best Three-Year-Old Filly of 2025. She has won six of her 10 starts, with her wins including two G1s, a G2 and a G3.

Only two of her losses missed the board, including an overseas bid in the Hong Kong Mile in mid-December. Embroidery has the advantage of having the most experience (along with Bond Girl and Ma Puce) over the distance, with six of her runs at 1,600, two of those at Tokyo.

Furthermore, based at the nearby JRA Miho Training Center in Ibaraki Prefecture, she also has the home advantage and four of her career starts have been at Tokyo. After returning from Hong Kong at the end of 2025, Embroidery returned to the track four months later to win the Hanshin Himba Stakes on April 11.

Trainer Kazutomo Mori admits, "It would be ideal if she had a bit more time between races, but I'll have her largely back to the same condition as she was for [the Hanshin Himba Stakes]."

Jockey Christophe Lemaire is set to ride Embroidery on Sunday. Lemaire won this race in 2025 aboard Ascoli Piceno, giving him his record fourth Victoria Mile win.

Trainer Expects Kamunyak to Capitalize on Late Speed

Though she has not won over 1,600 meters yet (a second, a fourth and a sixth from three starts), Kamunyak's most recent race (the Hanshin Himba Stakes), where she finished only a neck behind Embroidery, makes for a promising performance here.

Gunning for her second big haul, Kamunyak has cred. She has four career wins (including the 2025 G1 Japanese Oaks and two G2s) from eight starts. In the Hanshin Himba Stakes, Kamunyak scored the top time over the final three furlongs (33.2 seconds), a time tied by another Victoria Mile hopeful, Kana Tape.

Trainer Yasuo Tomomichi sees Kamunyak's excellent turn of foot as a particular strong point for the Victoria Mile.

"This race is also over 1,600 meters and it's Tokyo with a nice, long stretch," Tomomichi said. "If she can race like her most recent race, I think she'll be able to draw on her late speed."

Yuga Kawada will ride Kamunyak on Sunday. If he can win this race, he'll join Lemaire, Masayoshi Ebina and Yutaka Take as the only jockeys ever to have won all of the current six G1 races restricted to fillies and mares.

Queen's Walk Ready for Tokyo Challenge

Interference in the straight here in 2025, may have well contributed to fourth choice Queen's Walk loss by a neck to race favorite Ascoli Piceno. Although she had raced over the mile and a furlong longer early in her career, her later wins have all come over 2,000 meters.

That said, due to the difficulty of the Tokyo 1,600 meters, it is known to favor horses with experience over 1,800-2,000 meters. In her most recent race, the Grade 2 Kinko Sho over the lefthanded Chukyo course on March 15, Queen's Walk finished in third place, a half length and a nose behind the winner.

Though Queen's Walk, who herself tips the scales at 542 kg, carried 1-2 kg less than most of the other runners, her performance brought praise from rider Yuga Kawada.

"She gave it everything she had until the very end. It was definitely an all-out effort," Kawada said.

Also, this year she had returned to the track from her fall campaign without a sharpener, unlike last year.

Trainer Mitsumasa Nakuchida commented, "After time at the farm, she came back to the training center on April 17 looking refreshed."

He also noted that she was taking well to the warmer temperatures.

Read the rest of this article about the Victoria Mile and the Japanese horses in contention on JRA News.