Filly wins in Kyoto; Rahy's Attorney 9th

Blumenblatt scored one for the distaff side at Kyoto on Sunday as she sped to victory in the Grade 1, $2.07 million Mile Championship, leaving Canadian challenger Rahy's Attorney 3 3/4 lengths behind in ninth place.

A 5-year-old daughter of the Sunday Silence stallion Admire Vega, the 9.60-1 Sei Ishizaka-trained Blumenblatt split foes entering the stretch under Yutaka Yoshida to lead at the sixteenth pole in recording a three-quarter-length victory over the 1.30-1 choice Super Honet, who had finished second to Daiwa Major in last year's renewal as well. The time for the mile on firm ground was 1:32.60, just .50 of a second off the 7-year-old track record.

The 42-1 Rahy's Attorney found a good spot on the rail in fifth in the early going but just couldn't cope with the furious late pace, the last three furlongs going in 34.70 seconds. "The Japanese horses were just faster than we were," said his rider, Slade Callaghan, "but we gave it our best."

* South African Felix Coetzee, long a fixture on the Hong Kong racing scene, rode the winners of both Group 2, $387,000 races at Sha Tin on Sunday, partnering 9-2 Egyptian Ra to a front-running upset over Good Ba Ba in the International Mile Trial, then following with a narrow victory aboard the 6-1 Enthused in the International Sprint Trial.

Egyptian Ra's stunning 3 3/4-length tally over Sight Winner in the Mile Trial served notice to Kip Deville that he will be a force to be reckoned with in the Dec. 14 Hong Kong Cup. In leaving defending Hong Kong Mile winner Good Ba Ba 4 1/4 lengths back in third, the Tony Cruz-trained winner was timed in 1:33.28, just .18 of a second off the track mark. Aboard the John Size-trained Enthused, Coetzee outdueled Sunny Power to take the Sprint Trial by a nose, getting the six furlongs in 1:08.20.