Adding another victory to his already impressive record, race favourite LEMON POP (Lemon Drop Kid – Unreachable by Giant’s Causeway) captured this year’s February Stakes (G1) title, extending his wins to eight out of 11 career starts in which he finished second best in the rest.
There was plenty of interest in the Japanese race as it is a Win and You’re In event for the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Canadian-owned and trained SHIRL’S SPEIGHT was the first international horse to start in the race.
As feared by trainer Roger Attfield, however, Shirl’s Speight didn’t seem to enjoy the dirt track. The horse broke well from stall number two, ran in mid-field on the rails, shifted a path out for his stretch run, but struggled to find room and although showing effort, was unable to demonstrate his good late speed and finished ninth.
“From what the jockey was telling me, he wasn’t enjoying the kick-back that much but I think he ran an OK race. I just think he’s a superior turf horse, but we gave it a try,” commented trainer Roger Attfield.
“It’s a strong race and Shirl’s Speight wasn’t capable of handling the track over here which is extremely deeper than what he gets in North America. In the straight, even if he did get held up a little, he wasn’t really taking into the race indicating that he wasn’t going to be competitive,” jockey Joao Moreira said after the race.
LEMON POP, a $70,000 weanling purchase from the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Sale, won both of his two races as a two-year-old and was runner-up in his one and only start the following season. He then kicked off his 2022 campaign with another second before claiming four consecutive wins and concluded the season with a runner-up effort in his first graded challenge, the Musashino Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,600m).
The five-year-old was coming off his first grade-race victory in the Negishi Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,400m) on January 29 and is selected to run in the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1, dirt, 1,200m) on March 25. For winning trainer Hiroyasu Tanaka, who opened his yard in 2018, this is his second graded and first G1 triumph while jockey Ryusei Sakai, who took the reins of Lemon Pop for the first time, now has three JRA-G1 wins—his latest was in last December’s Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes with Dolce More.
The race unfolded with Shonan Nadeshiko taking the lead, followed closely by Helios and Keiai Turquoise while Sakai settled Lemon Pop a couple of lengths behind in fifth to sixth and three-wide.
Gradually improving position, the race favourite came out of the last turn in fourth, unleashed an incredible stretch drive overhauling Helios 300 meters out to grab the lead and romped to the wire 1-1/2 lengths ahead of the fast-closing runner-up for the win.
“I’m grateful to have been given the chance to ride such a strong and favoured horse and am happy we won. I rode him in workouts and found out he was laid-back and very easy to ride. Today we sat near the pace, just as planned. He responded well and pulled away strongly, all the way to the wire,” commented Ryusei Sakai.
Red le Zele, favoured third, was reserved second from the rear after breaking from the second widest stall. After shifting out wide for a clear path, the sixth-place finisher in last year’s version stormed down the stretch with the fastest late speed but failed to catch the winner and was second.
There were other Canadians who were ecstatic with the February Stakes result. Jay and Christine Hayden of Saintsbury Farm in Lucan, ON own Lemon Pop’s dam Unreachable, whose 3-year-old of 2023, Equivoque, is currently in training with Todd Pletcher.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK! 😍
The G1 February Stakes @HorseRacing_JPN goes to Lemon Pop for @godolphin, his first G1 win! 💙
Could he be bound for @RacingDubai? 🇯🇵 🇦🇪@netkeiba @JRA_WorldRacing #競馬 pic.twitter.com/0f4dvRvn1U
— World Horse Racing (@WHR) February 19, 2023
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