Whale Capture (grey) storms clear to record her maiden Group 1 triumph

  PICTURE: Masakazu Takahashi  

First Grade 1 triumph for Whale Capture in Tokyo

Report: Japan, Sunday

Tokyo: Victoria Mile (Grade 1) 1m, turf, 4yo+ f/m

WHALE CAPTURE (Kiyotaka Tanaka/Norihiro Yokoyama), placed in all three legs of last season's fillies' triple crown, finally scored at the top level in the Victoria Mile.

Settled close up in fourth, the four-year-old daughter of Kurofune collared the leader Queen's Barn in mid-stretch before taking command with a fine kick that earned her a half-length victory over Donau Blue.

Whale Capture was the 6.2-1 fourth favourite in an 18-runner field for the 177m yen (£1.38m) event in which the market leader Apapane, winner of the 2011 contest, could finish only fifth.

Although winning trainer Kiyotaka Tanaka was landing the fourth Grade 1 success of his career, it was his first since the 2001 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) with Lady Pastel.

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