There was no walking involved in the Shuka Sho (G1) Oct. 18 at Kyoto Racecourse as Monroe Walk emerged from behind a hot pace to win by a neck in course-record time while remaining undefeated after five starts.
The Shuka Sho is the final race in Japan's filly Triple Crown but the winners of the first two legs sat it out, leaving the door open to new faces. Monroe Walk, a Kizuna filly, and jockey Keita Tosaki seized the chance.
After starting smoothly from the middle of the 17-filly field, Monroe Walk raced comfortably in fourth or fifth position around the first turn and down the backstretch as T M I Run, a massive long shot, clipped along at a breakneck pace.
As she faded, Garavogue, runner up in the Oka Sho (Japanese One Thousand Guineas, G1), went to the front early in the stretch run with Monroe Walk closing stoutly to her outside. The two battled side-by-side, with Monroe Walk weaving slightly in and out before resuming course to grab the win. She completed 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles) over good to firm turf in 1:56.1.
Dream Core, second in the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1), finished 1 1/4 lengths back in third.
Tosaki said he was concerned that Monroe Walk would remain calm during the preliminaries.
"She did get a little excited inside the gate but she went into a nice rhythm, and although we were sitting behind horses in fifth, the pace was flowing nicely so the trip was smooth," he said. "Although we knew there were strong horses from behind, we made a bold move to make our bid a little early and she responded well."
The Shuka Sho was Monroe Walk's first effort at the grade 1 level and first at the distance. She won her debut in August of 2025 at Niigata and landed two victories at Hakodate Racecourse in Hokkaido before returning south to win the Rose Stakes (G2) Sept. 13 at Hanshin.
"Having gained a grade 1 victory unbeaten shows how good a filly she is and I am looking forward to a bright future for this talented filly," Tosaki said.
Trainer Hiroyuki Uemura also said before the race he sees steady improvement from Monroe Walk.
"She had lost condition from the trip back from Hokkaido. Leading up to the Rose Stakes, we had been dealing with getting that condition back. She wasn't 100%, but it was the best we could do. In the race, she showed us that she had even more ability than we'd imagined," the trainer said.
Monroe Walk was a strong favorite after Oka Sho winner Star Anise was sent to the Sept. 27 Sprinters Stakes (G1), where she finished fourth, and Juryoku Pierrot, winner of the Yushun Himba, suffered an interruption of her training because of a mild case of colic. She became the fourth undefeated winner of the Shuka Sho and first since filly Triple Crown winner Daring Tact in 2020.
Monroe Walk, out of the Sebring mare Amphitrite, was bred by Northern Racing. The owner is Masahiko Sugino's M's Racing.
Four of the first six finishers in the Shuka Sho—Monroe Walk, Dream Core, Enne and La Belle Scene—are daughters of Kizuna. Garavogue, by superstar sprinter Lord Kanaloa, was produced by Lexie Lou, winner of the 2014 Woodbine Oaks and Queen's Plate and that year's Sovereign Award Horse of the Year.
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