Overwhelming favorite Embroidery dominated this year’s Grade 1 Victoria Mile (1600m) at Tokyo on Sunday, capturing her third G1 title following her victory in the Hanshin Himba Stakes (G2, 1,600m) on April 11.
Marking 2-1-0 out of four starts as a two-year-olds, the daughter of Admire Mars won three of five races in the following season— the Queen Cup (G3, 1,600m), the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m) and the Shuka Sho (G1, 2,000m)—which earned her Best Three-Year-Old Filly title that year.
Trainer Kazutomo Mori scored his third JRA-G1 win, all with this filly, while jockey Christophe Lemaire extended his record for the most Victoria Mile victories to five, having claimed the race in 2017 (Admire Lead), 2020 (Almond Eye), 2021 (Gran Alegria) and 2025 (Ascoli Piceno). He also celebrated the milestone of his 60th JRA-G1 title.
Four-year-old Embroidery, breaking sharply from stall 12, eased back to settle around sixth behind frontrunner Erika Express. Racing wide around the corners, the Admire Mars filly advanced steadily up the hill in the early stretch and, after taking the lead at the 200-meter marker, accelerated strongly and easily pulled away for a comfortable 1-1/4-length victory.
“It was a perfect race. We were able to break smoothly, which allowed us to race in a good position. She responded really well on the uphill stretch, and I was confident we could win again. She’s a smart horse with a strong mentality, and she’s developing physically as well—she’s truly a G1-caliber horse. I think she can compete both in Japan and overseas,” commented jockey Christophe Lemaire.
Second pick Kamunyak broke smoothly and settled around seventh, tracking right behind Embroidery.
The four-year-old Black Tide filly continued to stalk the race favorite in the stretch and, although unable to threaten the winner, crossed the wire 1-1/2 lengths clear of the rest of the field to finish second.
Third favorite and last year’s runner-up Queen’s Walk sat around eighth, a couple of lengths behind the winner, and angled out rounding the final corner to launch her late charge. The five-year-old mare passed her rivals one by one in pursuit of Kamunyak and, while failing to close in on the top two finishers, eventually nosed out tenacious pacesetter Erika Express for third.
THE 21ST VICTORIA MILE (G1)
4-year-olds & up, Fillies & Mares, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, May 17, 2026 Tokyo Racecourse 11th Race Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 326,500,000 (about US$ 2,107,000 <US$1=¥155>)
4-y-o & up: 56kg (about 123-124 lbs), 1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2022
Course Record: 1:30.5 Race Record: 1:30.5 [Normcore (JPN, by Harbinger), 2019]
Safety factor: 18 runners Going: Good to Firm Weather: Fine
FP BK PP Horse Jockey S&A Color Wgt Odds (Fav) Margin (L3F) Sire Dam (Dam’s Sire) Owner Breeder Trainer
1 6 12 Embroidery (JPN) Christophe Lemaire F4 b. 56.0 1.9 (1) 1:30.9 (33.0) Admire Mars Rottenmeier (Kurofune) Silk Racing Co., Ltd.
Tenei Horse Park Ltd Kazutomo Mori
2 4 8 Kamunyak (JPN) Yuga Kawada F4 b. 56.0 5.3 (2) 1-1/4 (33.1) Black Tide Dance Amiga (Sakura Bakushin O) Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co., Ltd. Shadai Farm Yasuo Tomomichi
3 4 7 Queen’s Walk (JPN) Atsuya Nishimura M5 d.b. 56.0 8.8 (3) 1-1/2 (33.1) Kizuna Wavell Avenue (Harlington) Sunday Racing Co., Ltd.
Northern Racing Mitsumasa Nakauchida
Other contenders:
4th: (4) Erika Express—set pace, sustained bid after overtaken by winner, missed 3rd place by nose
5th: (9) Coconuts Brown—sat around 11th on rails, showed effort between horses
6th: (16) Nishino Ti Amo—advanced to 2nd from wide draw, showed tenacity, weakened in last 100m
7th: (6) Lavanda—saved ground around 8th, quickened in last 200m, blocked behind rival before wire
8th: (14) Jocelyn—sat around 8th, angled out to lane, briefly met traffic, never threatened
9th: (3) Ma Puce—raced near pace around 3rd, failed to sustain bid in last 200m
10th: (13) Kana Tape—settled around 13th, unable to reach contention
11th: (11) Bond Girl—ran in 11th, gradually switched to outside, needed more
12th: (17) Paradis Reine—positioned wide around 13th, lacked needed kick
13th: (15) Ai Sansan—broke poorly, traveled around 16th, edged to inside 350m out, showed little
14th: (5) Kelly Fled Ask—raced around 16th, angled out to launch fastest late speed but belatedly
15th: (2) Wide Latour—hugged rails around 15th, checked by rival 350m out, even paced
16th: (18) Cervinia—ran wide around 3rd, remained in contention until 300m out
17th: (1) Ka Pilina—tracked leaders around 3rd on rails, sustained bid until 200m pole
18th: (10) Drop of Light—bumped at break, trailed in rear, quickened but had too much ground to cover
Fractional time (sec./furlong): 12.4 – 11.0 – 11.2 – 11.3 – 11.4 – 11.1 – 11.2 – 11.3
Last 4 furlongs: 45.0 Last 3 furlongs: 33.6