Japan: New York-bred filly Rieno Tesoro gets shot at Grade 1 win in NHK Mile
The New York-bred filly Rieno Tesoro, purchased for $250,000 as a yearling at Saratoga in 2015, will make her Grade 1 debut in Sunday’s $1,821,571 NHK Mile for 3-year-old colts and fillies at Tokyo Racecourse.
Rieno Tesoro, one of five fillies in the field of 18, reeled off four consecutive wins to start her career as a 2-year-old. The streak ended with a fourth in the Anemone Stakes at a mile on turf at Nakayama Racecourse on March 11.
Despite the loss, Rieno Tesoro fits in the crowded field of the NHK Mile, which lacks a standout.
Jo Strictly won the Grade 2 New Zealand Trophy at 51-1 at Nakayama on April 8, his third win in seven starts. Karakurenai was fourth in the Grade 1 Japanese 1000 Guineas for fillies at Hanshin on April 9, the second loss in her five-race career.
Aerolithe was fifth in the Japanese 1000 Guineas, while Outliers was 12th in the Japanese 2000 Guineas at Nakayama on April 6.
Rieno Tesoro was bred by Oak Bluff Stables and is out of Akilina, by Langfuhr. Akilina won 6 of 26 starts and earned $316,460 from 2008 to 2011. She won two minor stakes and was third in the Grade 3 Honey Fox Stakes at Gulfstream Park in 2010.