Hideko Kondo’s homebred COMPANY (Miracle Admire) closed his career on a high
note with a rallying victory in Sunday’s $2,366,000 Mile Championship (Jpn-G1)
at Kyoto. The eight-year-old veteran had become the oldest horse ever to win a
Japanese Grade 1 title last time out, when finally earning his first top-level
triumph in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (Jpn-G1), and therefore saved his best efforts
for his final two races. Dispatched as the 2-1 favorite in his swan song, the Hidetaka
Otonashi charge blitzed the metric mile in 1:33.20 on the firm turf to register
his ninth career graded victory.
Company settled into a rail-skimming spot beneath regular rider Norihiro
Yokoyama, roughly in midpack off the early pace carved out by Meiner Falke (Mutafaweq).
Captain Thule (Agnes Tachyon) stalked in second, while English shipper Eva’s
Request (Soviet Star) and Hikaru Ozora (Manhattan Cafe) formed the next flight.
Nearby, French raider Sahpresa (Sahm) was traveling conspicuously well herself,
ahead of Company.
Swinging for home, Meiner Falke kept on relentlessly up front, and the nearly
40-1 longshot threatened to duplicate the front-running shock posted by Queen
Spumante (Jungle Pocket) in last Sunday’s Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup
(Jpn-G1) at the same venue. Captain Thule tried to mount a challenge, but lost momentum
while drifting out wide in the stretch.
Then Company burst from the pack to quash Meiner Falke’s bid for an upset.
Peeling off the fence and slicing through between horses, Company finished with
a flourish and drew clear by 1 1/4 lengths. Meiner Falke held on for second by a neck from the closing Sahpresa, who in
turn crossed the wire a nose in front of Captain Thule.
Absolute (Tanino Gimlet), who bided his time in 17th in the 18-horse field
early, flew home to grab fifth. Smile Jack (Tanino Gimlet), Hikaru Ozora, Fifth
Petal (King Kamehameha), Live Concert (Singspiel [Ire]), Eva’s Request, Zarema
(Dance in the Dark), San Carlo (Symboli Kris S), Toreno Jubilee (Sakura Bakushin
O), Strong Garuda (Dance in the Dark), Fine Grain (Fuji Kiseki), Suzuka Causeway
(Giant’s Causeway), Sandalphon (Sakura Bakushin O) and Maruka Shenck (Sunday
Silence) completed the order of finish.
Company retires with a mark of 35-12-4-1 and a bankroll of approximately
$10.5 million. He was taking his third swing at the Mile Championship, having
finished fifth in 2007 and fourth last year. His marked progress in this race
mirrors his six-year career in general.
Runner-up in the Radio Tampa Sho (Jpn-G3) and Keihan Hai (Jpn-G3) during his
sophomore campaign in 2004, the bay recorded his first stakes score in the 2005
Keihan Hai and placed second in the Nakayama Kinen (Jpn-G2). At five in 2006,
Company captured the Sankei Osaka Hai (Jpn-G2), but was well beaten in his Grade
1 attempts. Although he raced only three times in 2007, he showed a fair deal of
improvement. Besides landing the Sekiya Kinen (Jpn-G3), he finished third in the
prestigious Tenno Sho (Autumn) and a close fifth in the Mile Championship.
Company took another step forward last year at the age of seven. Successful
in the Nakayama Kinen and Yomiuri Milers Cup (Jpn-G2) early in the season, he
wrapped up 2008 with a near-miss fourth in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) and a
respectable fourth in the Mile Championship.
The grand old campaigner opened 2009 in similar fashion, defending his title
in the Nakayama Kinen, but falling short by a neck in the Yomiuri Milers Cup.
Again holding his own at the Grade 1 level, Company finished fourth in both the
Yasuda Kinen (Jpn-G1) and Takarazuka Kinen (Jpn-G1).
So far, the eight-year-old seemed to be stuck in his same script. All of that
changed, however, this fall. Returning to action in the October 11 Mainichi Okan
(Jpn-G2), Company rolled past reigning Horse of the Year Vodka (Tanino Gimlet)
to win by one length. Although many observers expected Vodka to gain revenge
next time out in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), Company repeated the dose even more
convincingly, while Vodka wound up two lengths adrift in third.
Besides making him the oldest-ever Grade 1 hero in Japan, his coup in the
Tenno Sho (Autumn) was notably his eighth career graded score, the most by any
current JRA horse in training. Furthermore, since Company had defeated Vodka
twice, he thereby enters calculations for
championship honors himself.
The Japanese-bred is a half-brother to Japanese Grade 2 victor Leningrad (Tony Bin) and
stakes scorer New Very
(Fuji Kiseki). They are out of the winning Northern Taste mare Brilliant Very,
who is herself a full sister to Japanese champion steeplechaser Big Taste and
Grade 2 hero Big Shori. Brilliant Very is also a half-sister to stakes winners
Spicule (Sunday Silence) and Battle Banyan (Jungle Pocket).
Company will enter stud at Shadai Stallion Station next season.