As they turned for the money in the Shuka Sho (G1) Oct. 19 at Kyoto Racecourse, Embroidery again was asked the distance question that had humbled her in the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1) five months earlier.
This time, the Admire Mars filly had the right answer, gliding smoothly alongside pacesetting Erika Express, then edging by to capture the final leg of Japan's Filly Triple Crown by a half-length from that rival. She became the fourth winner of the Oka Sho-Shuka Sho double and first since Daiwa Scarlet in 2007.
The distance question was a legitimate concern. Embroidery had won four of her first five starts but only once had ventured beyond 1,600 meters (about 1 mile), the distance of the Oka Sho or Japanese One Thousand Guineas. When asked to stay the 2,400 meters (about 1 1/2 miles) of the Yushun Himba, she finished ninth behind the winner, Kamunyak, the favorite in the Shuka Sho field.
The 2,000-meter (about 1 1/4-mile) Oka Sho split the difference, but trainer Kazutomo Mori said before the race he worried about the relatively tight layout of the Kyoto inner turf course more than the added distance.
"To be honest, I think the 2,000-meter inner course will not be easy," he said. "She has a very big stride and does better over a more spacious course."
Jockey Christophe Lemaire attacked the issue head-on. After a clean start from the No. 11 gate, Embroidery raced in mid-pack around the first turn while staying wide and out of any potential traffic trouble. Starting down the backstretch, Lemaire gave the filly some rein, and she quickly closed to take station outside and just back of Erika Express heading in the sweeping stretch bend. From there, the question of the day was asked and answered.
Kamunyak's experience was the mirror opposite. Turning for home, she was positioned to make a run but quickly fell back through the field and finished 16th. Paradis Reine was along for third as Embroidery stopped the timer at 1:58.3.
"I had every faith in the filly that she would deliver today since the Oaks didn't suit her distance-wise," Lemaire said of Embroidery.
"She was calm and relaxed in the first half of the race, and while the pace slowed down in the backstretch, we were able to advance to a better position. It took a while for her engine to get started, but she showed an incredible turn of foot in the last 200 meters."
Embroidery, out of the Kurofune mare Rottenmeier, was bred by Tenei Horse Park. She carries the powder blue silks with red dots of Silk Racing.
She started her racing career with a second in a newcomer race at Tokyo Racecourse in June of 2024 and followed that with a victory in an 1,800-meter (about 1 1/8-mile) maiden event at Nigata in July—until the Shuka Sho, her longest career run.
She reported third in the Safron Sho at Nakayama in September and won a 1,400-meter (about 7-furlong) allowance heat at Tokyo Racecourse in her final juvenile start—seemingly an unlikely spot for a candidate for the following season's classics.
She returned to win the Daily Hai Queen Cup (G3) at 1,600 meters in her only prep for the Oka Sho.
Embroidery's Oka Sho and Shuka Sho victories are her trainer's only Japan Racing Association grade 1 scores. Lemaire got his 55th and fourth in the Shuka Sho.
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