Fierce Pride seeks significant impact in G1 Victoria Mile
DUBAI: Fierce Pride hopes to claim a landmark G1 success for her sire Deep Impact when she makes her first top-level appearance in the Victoria Mile at Tokyo on Sunday, 12 May.
Deep impact is currently tied with sunday silence on 71 JRA G1 wins and victory for the Godolphin mare would make him the most prolific G1-winning sire of all time on Japan’s principal racing circuit.
Trained by Sakae Kunieda, Fierce Pride has developed into a proven Graded-race performer over the past 18 months with top four finishes in the 2022 G3 Turquoise Stakes and last season’s G3 Sekiya Kinen and G2 Fuchu Himba Stakes.
The full-sister to the 2020 G1 Shuka Sho third Soft Fruit registered a first G3 success in December’s Turquoise Stakes, when she showed an impressive turn of foot to comfortably beat Feel Sympathy.
Fierce Pride commenced her six-year-old campaign in the G3 Nakayama Himba Stakes in March, in which she kept on at the same pace to finish a close ninth.
Kunieda said: “The pace dropped partway through the Nakayama Himba Stakes, so Fierce Pride made her move early, and another possible reason for her poor result may have been the headwind. Also, the distance [1,800m] may have been too far for her. Still, her result was really something I hadn’t anticipated.
“She went to the farm and preparations started for this race as the target. She returned to Miho at the beginning of April and her work has gone smoothly. I had her chase down another horse on 1 May. She caught and passed her. She moved well and is in good shape, even returning from time off.
“She had a rather weak constitution, so her debut was delayed and she only really started to mature last year. I think even though she’s six years old now she’s still getting better. The Tokyo 1,600m should suit her and I think she has a chance.”
Meanwhile, Trial winner Romantic Style and unbeaten filly Rock’n Swing provide Godolphin with two strong contenders for the G1 Poule d’essai des Pouliches at Longchamp on Sunday.
Romantic Style was supplemented for the French Classic after scoring by half a length over subsequent 1,000 Guineas third Ramatuelle in last month’s G3 Prix Imprudence at Deauville.
Seventh on debut at Newbury in August, the Night Of Thunder filly went on to dominate a Yarmouth novice race before ending a progressive two-year-old campaign with a clear-cut success in Newmarket’s Listed Bosra Sham Stakes.
Her trainer Charlie Appleby said: “Romantic Style goes into this in good order on the back of her win in the Prix Imprudence. She has definitely come on for that run and we are hopeful that she can see out the mile, although being drawn in 14 will make things slightly harder.”