Almond Eye rebounds with dominant Victoria Mile win

Almond Eye recorded the widest winning margin of her 12-race career in Sunday’s Grade 1 Victoria Mile for fillies and mares at Tokyo Racecourse, narrowly missing the course record.

Almond Eye, who paid $3.10 in American pools, closed from sixth in a field of 16 to win by four lengths over Sound Chiara, a 11-1 chance who made her Grade 1 debut in the $1.9 million Victoria Mile.

Ridden by Christophe Lemaire, Almond Eye was timed in 1:30.6, a tenth of a second behind the course record. Normcore (10-1) finished third.

Almond Eye, the 2018 Japanese Horse of the Year, won her seventh Grade 1 or Group 1 race in the Victoria Mile. She earned a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland in November.

Prior to Sunday, Almond Eye’s widest win was a three-length victory in the autumn running of the Grade 1 Tenno Sho at 1 1/4 miles against males last October.

The Victoria Mile was Almond Eye’s first start since an uncharacteristic ninth-place finish in the Grade 1 Arima Kinen at Nakayama Racecourse in December, the only time she has finished outside the top three.

Almond Eye has won six Grade 1 races in Japan and the Group 1 Dubai Turf in the United Arab Emirates in March 2019. Almond Eye was sent to Dubai for the Dubai Turf in March, but the race was canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Lemaire has been aboard for all seven of Almond Eye’s Grade 1 or Group 1 wins.

“I think she’s matured well, as she was relaxed from the paddock to the start of the race,” Lemaire told Japan Racing Association publicity Sunday.

“I was able to [put] her in good position behind Sound Chiara and race her in her own rhythm without getting any pressure from the outside. She felt good during the race and displayed her powerful strides to the end.”

Sunday’s race was Almond Eye’s first start against females since she won the Grade 1 Shuka Sho Stakes at Kyoto Racecourse in October 2018, completing a sweep of the Japanese Triple Crown for 3-year-old fillies.

Owned by Silk Racing Co. Ltd. and trained by Sakae Kuneida, Almond Eye is a 5-year-old mare by Lord Kanaloa