While the focus on wonder horse Frankel’s progeny in Britain has bordered on the obsessive in 2016, his first Grade 1 win as a stallion came on the other side of the world on Sunday as Soul Stirring took the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in Tokyo, Japan.
Frankel
The filly, who is out of six-time Group 1 winner Stacelita, kept up her unbeaten record, moving to the front a furlong out under Christophe Lemaire and winning comfortably by a length and a quarter from second-favourite Lys Gracieux.
Lemaire, who also won the same race last year, told the Japan Racing Association: “I’m ecstatic. It’s so special because I used to also ride her dam Stacelita.
“I was confident from the beginning and we were in a good position and she was relaxed. She easily hit the front at the stretch and with her big strides and stamina. I think she can go a little bit further in distance.”
The Hanshin Juvenile Fillies is one of Japan’s leading contest for two-year-olds.
It has been won by future champions such as Vodka and Buena Vista, while last year’s winner Major Emblem also went on to record Grade 1 success at three in 2016.
www.racingpost.com
