Gran Alegria, under a supremely confident ride by Christophe Lemaire, swept to a late-running, four-length victory in the Victoria Mile (G1) May 16 at Tokyo Racecourse.
The demolition of a talented field—most of it sired by the late Deep Impact—earned the 5-year-old mare a guaranteed spot in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) this November at Del Mar.
Gran Alegria broke in mid-pack as the 18-horse field set sail down the Tokyo backstretch. Lemaire was content to idle there around the sweeping turn while moving his mount into position outside rivals.
After climbing the rise through the early stretch, Gran Alegria hit full stride, looked every bit a winner 100 meters out, and easily distanced the others the rest of the way.
Second-favorite Resistencia, a 4-year-old Daiwa Major filly, took a brief lead late in the race but couldn't sustain the bid and finished sixth as Gran Alegria was clocked in 1:31.0 over good to firm going.
Longshots Rambling Alley and the progressive Magic Castle gave Deep Impact's progeny a sweep of the top three positions. Ten of the 18 runners were sired by Deep Impact, the breed-shaping son of Sunday Silence who died July 30, 2019, at age 17 and continues to top the 2021 leading sire list.
Lemaire, who tops the current Japanese jockey list, notched his 1,400th Japan Racing Association win and said the sky is the limit for his mount going forward.
"She showed that she's at a different level than her competitors and will probably win more grade 1 titles going forward," Lemaire said.
"She was very strong, as we had all expected. She's not a very good starter so we settled in mid-division but she raced in good rhythm. After I took her to the outside entering the lane, she showed a remarkable response and geared up on her own.
"Personally, I am delighted that I was able to score my 1,400th JRA victory today and to win another grade 1 race."
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Bred by Northern Farm, Gran Alegria is from the Tapit mare Tapitsfly, the 2012 winner of the Longines Just a Game (G1T) and First Lady (G1T) stakes as well as the 2009 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Kazuo Fujisawa trains for her owner, Sunday Racing.
She now boasts eight wins from 12 career starts. The Victoria Mile was her fifth grade 1 score and the impressive dismissal of her rivals prompted speculation about how she would stack up against some of the other top milers around the globe, including Palace Pier, who earlier in the weekend was equally impressive in winning the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes (G1) at Newbury in England.
In addition to the Breeders' Cup slot for the winner, the Victoria Mile guarantees the top three finishers admission to the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (G1) Sept. 5 in Paris and the Prix du Haras du Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois (G1) Aug. 15 at Deauville.
Rambling Alley's runner-up showing was a 75-1 stunner but Magic Castle had been showing signs she might be nearing a breakthrough. The 4-year-old Deep Impact filly won twice and finished second five times in 10 previous starts. She is trained by Sakae Kunieda, who won the race with Apapane and Almond Eye.
