Provides her sire Just A Way with his fourth stakes winner.
Sunday's Hochi Hai Fillies' Revue (Japanese 1000 Guineas Trial) (Gr 2, 1400m) at Hanshin was won by the Yoshihito Kitade-trained Epos (3 f ex Strike Root by Smart Strike) who provided her sire Just A Way (Heart's Cry) with his fourth stakes winner.
Settled towards the back of the field on the rail early on, Epos quickened impressively when asked in the closing stages and she pulled away to beat Yamakatsu Mermaid (Lord Kanaloa) by one and a quarter lengths. There was another half-length back to Nine To Five (Screen Hero) in third. A winner over 1600 metres at two last season, Epos has now won twice from four starts.
Owned and bred by Fujiwara Farm, Epos is out of the dual winner Strike Root (Smart Strike) who has also produced her winning half-brother Kaiser Minoru (Lord Kanaloa). Her second dam is the Irish Group 3 winner Tadwiga (Fairy King) who produced eight winners headed by the Grade 3 winner Rock Lobster (Mt Livermore), whilst she is also the grandam of the Italian joint champion two-year-old Sorella Bella (Clodovil) and South African Grade 2 winner Tellina (Silvano).
Just A Way, who has three crops of racing age, is standing the 2020 breeding season at Shadai Stallion Station for a fee of Y4,000,000 (approximately $60,000). His other stakes winners are the Group 3 winning pair A Will A Way and Lord My Way as well as the dual Listed winner Velox.
