Loves Only You sets stakes record in Japanese Oaks

Loves Only You won her graded stakes debut in Sunday’s Grade 1 Japanese Oaks at Tokyo Racecourse.

Ridden by Mirco Demuro, Loves Only You, the 3-1 favorite, set a stakes record of 2:22.80 in the race at 2,400 meters, or about 1 1/2 miles. Loves Only You closed from the middle of the field of 18 3-year-old fillies to take the lead over 93-1 Curren Bouquetd’or in the final sixteenth, winning by a neck over that rival.

“She has a heart of steel and can’t stand to lose,” Demuro told Japan Racing Association publicity.

Chrono Genesis, third in the Japanese 1000 Guineas on April 7, finished third in the Japanese Oaks, beaten 2 1/2 lengths by Love Only You. The $2.16 million Japanese Oaks is formally known as the Yushun Himba.

Owned by DMM Dream Club Co. Ltd and trained by Yoshito Yahagi, Loves Only You won twice as a 2-year-old last year and won the Wasurenagusa Sho at 1 1/4 miles at Hanshin Racecourse in her 3-year-old debut on April 7.

The Japanese Oaks was the longest race of her career. By Deep Impact out of the Storm Cat mare Loves Only Me, Loves Only You is a full sister to Real Steel, who won the Group 1 Dubai Turf in 2016.

Loves Only Me, a Kentucky-bred, did not race and was sold for $900,000 at the 2009 Keeneland November breeding stock sale.