Daring Tact wins Oka Sho at Hanshin.
Sunday's The Oka Sho (Japanese 1,000 Guineas) (Gr 1, 1600m) at Hanshin was won by the Haruki Sugiyama-trained Daring Tact (3 f ex Daring Bird by King Kamehameha) who became the first Grade 1 winner for her sire Epiphaneia (Symboli Kris S).
Daring Tact scored a one and a half length victory over favourite Resistencia (Daiwa Major), with Smile Kana (Deep Impact) third.
The winner raced keenly after breaking from stall nine and then settled towards the rear of the field before making her move rounding the final turn. She showed a good turn of foot to reel in Resistencia and scored a comfortable victory.
‟I concentrated on her rhythm more than where to position her today," said winning jockey Kohei Matsuyama.
"We were far behind the leaders and desperate to catch up, but she responded beautifully and stretched incredibly all the way to the line. I'm not worried about the added distance in the coming Japanese Oaks but she does have issues to work on such as being relaxed. I'm praying that the day we can race in front of the crowd again will come soon."
Unbeaten in three starts to date, Daring Tact is the only winner out of the once-raced King Kamehameha (Kingmambo) mare Daring Bird who is a half-sister to three winners being out of the Grade 3 winner Daring Heart (Sunday Silence). Her third dam is Daring Danzig (Danzig), the dam of 11 winners headed by US Grade 1 winner Ecton Park (Forty Niner).
A Listed winner already, Daring Tact is the only stakes winner by the Shadai Stallion Station-based Epiphaneia, who has two crops of racing age and has also sired seven stakes performers and 44 winners to date.
