Shanon Pandora fights through traffic to win Japan Cup

Shanon Pandora, one of three females in a field of 18, scored a mild upset Sunday in the $4.68 million Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse, the fifth filly or mare to win Japan’s top race in the last seven years.

Shanon Pandora (8-1) finished a neck in front of the 22-1 Last Impact, who was a half-length in front of stretch leader Lovely Day, the 8-5 favorite. Ridden by Kenichi Ikezoe for trainer Tomokazu Takano, Shanon Pandora closed from midpack and overcame traffic in the stretch to reach the front in the final yards of the race at 1 1/2 miles on turf.

Ikezoe said Last Impact proved to be tough to catch in the final furlong.

“I was sure we had Lovely Day nailed, but there was another horse inside of us,” he said. “I prayed we’d cross the wire first. She’s certainly grown into a tough filly.”

Shanon Pandora won her first Grade 1 of 2015 in the Japan Cup. A 4-year-old filly by Deep Impact, Shanon Pandora won the Group 1 Shuka Sho for 3-year-old fillies in Japan in 2014. Owned by Tetsuhide Kunimoto, Shanon Pandora has won 5 of 16 starts.

Takano said races in Japan will be the focus of Shanon Pandora’s future, with a start in the Arima Kinen at Nakayama on Dec. 27 a possibility.

“She still has a lot of races within Japan to prove her ability,” said Takano. “The choice to race abroad is there but not under consideration until I have talked with the owner.”

The loss by Lovely Day ended a four-race winning streak in graded stakes in Japan that included a win in the autumn running of the Grade 1 Tenno Sho at Tokyo on Nov. 1, a race in which Shanon Pandora was fourth.

There were four foreign-trained runners in the Japan Cup field, all Group 1 winners in Europe this year.

Erupt, winner of the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris in June, finished sixth after racing in traffic in early stretch. Erupt was fifth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris in October.

Nightflower, who won the Group 1 Preis Von Europa in Cologne, Germany, on Sept. 27, finished 11th, three positions in front of Trip to Paris, who won the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup in England in June and was fourth Nov. 3 in the Melbourne Cup.

Ito, winner of the Group 1 Gross Preis Von Bayern in Munich on Nov. 1, failed to take his customary position near the front and finished last of 18.