Like father like son as Daiwa Major colt runs away with Mile Championship

Serifos delivered a power-packed finish under Damian Lane to win the Group 1 Mile Championship at Hanshin on Sunday.

The colt had been positioned towards the rear before moving up coming to the home turn. He was angled out widest to the outside at the top of the home stretch and mowed down all his rivals with a burst of acceleration that left Danon The Kid behind to the tune of a length and a quarter.

All-white mare Sodashi, who took the lead halfway down the straight, was half a length back in third. The favourite Schnell Meister, under Christophe Lemaire, was fifth, while Salios was only 14th of the 17 runners under Ryan Moore.

Serifos is a three-year-old son of the 2006 and 2007 Mile Championship winner Daiwa Major, out of Le Havre’s French bred Listed-winning daughter Sea Front, and was making it a fifth win from eight career starts, including two Group 2s.

Australian jockey Lane was winning his first Japanese Group 1 in three years, since the 2019 Arima Kinen with Lys Gracieux.

He said: “Arigato Gozaimasu ('thank you very much'). I am very happy to win a Japanese Group 1, it's been a long time since my last one, and I am happy to be able to enjoy that feeling.

Damian Lane: pleased to win another top-level race in JapanCredit: Masakazu Takahashi

"Watching videos of the last race [of Serifos], and riding him in training last week, gave me confidence. I ended up in a position that wasn't ideal, but when I entered the straight I was able to catch the front two or three, because his response was so good.

"He is still young and showing growth. I think that the owner and the stable will think about it, but I personally think that he is a horse that can be active anywhere overseas."

Hayato Yoshida, Sodashi’s jockey, said: “Her condition was very good. I could ride her in good rhythm, even when the other horses came in the middle of the race. She stretched out in the straight but the winner had the legs on her.

"She runs well if it is up to one mile in distance and even when she was feeling it, she was going to be tough.”

Lemaire said about Schnell Meister: “It was a good race but he couldn’t accelerate in the straight like usual. I think it is because of the wet ground.”

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