Deep Impact five-year-old lands Tenno Sho Spring
Having landed the Kikuka Sho (Gr 1, 3000m) in 2019, World Premiere (5 h ex Deep Impact - Mandela by Acatenango) added a second Grade 1 to his CV when he landed the Tenno Sho (Spring) (Gr 1, 3200m) at Hanshin on Sunday.
Last seen finishing third in the Nikkei Sho (Gr 2, 2500m), the son of Deep Impact (Sunday Silence) finished strongly to beat Deep Bond (Kizuna) by three-quarters of a length, while Curren Bouquetd'or (Deep Impact) was another two lengths further adrift in third.
“We had a weak start but recovered well since with the advantage from breaking from stall 1, and kept our eyes on the favorites from behind throughout,” said winning jockey Yuichi Fukunaga.
“I shifted him outside a little earlier than planned to secure a good striking position. He responded incredibly with a good turn of foot. It’s a great honor to have won such a prestigious race like this.”
This was the first time the five-year-old entire has saluted the judge since his win in the Kikuka Sho and he has now now four of his 11 starts.
Purchased by Ryoichi Otsuka for ¥240,000,000 (approx. $2,845,785) at the 2016 edition of the JRA Select Yearling and Foal Sale, World Premiere is out of Listed winner Mandela (Acatenango), who was herself bought by Katsumi Yoshida for US$1.4 million at the 2007 Keeneland November Breeding Sale.
World Premiere is a brother to Grade 2 winner World Ace and Listed winner and Grade 1 Weltreisende (Dream Journey).
Mandela herself is out of Listed-placed Mandellicht (Be My Guest), making her a half-sister multiple Group 1-winning champion Manduro (Monsun).
World Premiere is one of 48 top-flight winners and 172 stakes scorers for Deep Impact who stood at the Shadai Stallion Station for his whole breeding career until his untimely death in 2019.
He is represented in Australia by his sire sons Tosen Stardom, who stands at Woodside Park Stud and Coolmore Stud-based Saxon Warrior, while his three-time Group 1-winning son Fierce Impact will stand his first season in 2021 at Leneva Park in Victoria for an introductory fee of $16,500 (inc GST).
