Japan: Awesome Result looks to repeat in Breeders’ Gold Cup

Awesome Result, scratched from the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar after failing a vet check, runs for the third time this year in Thursday’s $358,900 Breeders’ Gold Cup in Japan.

Last year, Awesome Result won the Breeders’ Gold Cup by five lengths, a performance that propelled her into contention for the BC Distaff.

A 5-year-old Kentucky-bred mare by Justify, Awesome Result is part of a field of nine in the Breeders’ Gold Cup for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles at Mombetsu Racecourse in Northern Japan.

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Awesome Result starts following the first loss of her nine-race career, a second by a head in the $461,100 Empress Hai at about 1 5/16 miles on dirt at Kawasaki on May 14. Awesome Result was beaten by the three-time stakes winner Tenka Jo, and was four lengths clear of the third-place finisher in a field of 11.

The layoff from the Empress Hai to the Breeders’ Gold Cup should not be an issue for Awesome Result, who will be ridden by regular rider Yutaka Take for trainer Yasutoshi Ikee. Awesome Result won the 2024 Empress Hai and did not race again until the Breeders’ Gold Cup.

Awesome Result’s chief rivals in the Breeders’ Gold Cup are the undefeated W Heart Bond, and Sun Eau Claire, a stakes winner at Mombetsu earlier this year.

W Heart Bond has won five races, the most recent of which was the minor Sannomiya Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Hanshin on June 14. Sun Eau Claire won the North Queen Cap at Mombetsu on July 27. She was fifth in the Empress Hai, and fourth in the 2024 Breeders’ Gold Cup.

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