Aerolithe among 18 in Victoria Mile
Aerolithe, who finished ninth in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park in January, is part of a field of 18 in Sunday’s Grade 1 Victoria Mile on turf for fillies and mares at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan.
Aerolithe has not raced since finishing 22 lengths behind Bricks and Mortar in the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. In Japan, the 5-year-old Aerolithe was a Grade 2 winner last October and won the Grade 1 NHK Mile for 3-year-olds in May 2017.
Trained by Takanori Kikuzawa for Sunday Racing Co., Aerolithe was fourth, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the 2018 Victoria Mile.
Sunday’s race, with a purse of $1,864,289, lacks a strong favorite.
Other contenders include Lucky Lilac, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2017, who was second in the Grade 1 Japanese 1000 Guineas and third in the Grade 1 Japanese Oaks last year; Crocosmia, who was second in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup for fillies and mares at Kyoto Racecourse last November; and the durable Let’s Go Donki, a 7-year-old.
Let’s Go Donki will have her fourth consecutive appearance in the Victoria Mile on Sunday, having finished 10th in 2016, 11th in 2017, and sixth last year. She won the Japanese 1000 Guineas in 2015.
Earlier this year, Let’s Go Donki was sixth in the Grade 1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at six furlongs on turf against males at Chukyo Racecourse in March.
