Embroidery is made of Classic material for Admire Mars in Japanese Guineas

Joao Moreira weaved his magic on Embroidery to provide her sire Admire Mars with the dream result of a Classic winner from his first crop in Sunday's Oka Sho (Japanese 1,000 Guineas) at Hanshin.

It was a fourth win from six career starts for the Silk Racing filly, who won the Grade 3 Daily Hai Queen Cup on her warm-up run in February and thwarted the challenge of last season's Grade 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies heroine Armor Veloce by a neck in miserable conditions.

Brazilian ace Moreira, who is on a short licence in Japan for a month, had to be watchful for trouble in a large field as he held Embroidery in mid-division but found right gaps in the home straight to let his mount demonstrate her speed. 

Admire Mars, by Daiwa Major, was a top-level winner as a juvenile in the Hanshin Futurity and was fourth in the Japanese Guineas of 2019 before landing the Grade 1 NHK Mile Cup and Hong Kong Mile within that same season. 

He has fielded an impressive 19 winners from 56 runners to date, with Embroidery being his only offspring to have struck at Group or Graded level. He is standing at the Shadai Stallion Station for a fee of  Y5,000,000 (£27,000/€31,000).

Embroidery, who was bred by Northern Farm, is the second foal to have raced out of Rottenmeier, a Kurofune mare who also finished third in the Queen Cup in the Silk Racing colours. Her half-brother Sesemann was a maiden winner while she has a two-year-old colt by Real Steel and a yearling filly by Chrysoberyl.

It was a first Grade 1 victory for trainer Kazutomo Mori, who is in his second season as a JRA trainer. Moreira, who had partnered Embroidery on her debut last June, was going back-to-back in the Oka Sho after success last year with Stellenbosch.

Moreira said: "We didn’t really know how she was going to handle the track as it’s been raining for nearly half of the day and there was a lot of moisture out there and not many of the horses out there could handle it, but she proved that she can and I was just a lucky boy to have been able to sit on a nice horse in another Grade 1 race in Japan.

"She's a wonderful filly. I think she's a filly any jockey would want to ride. She showed good footwork, handled the track well, and showed great finishing speed. I think she's a new star among three-year-olds."

Embroidery parades for the crowd after her Classic success at a damp HanshinCredit: Masakazu Takahashi

Mori added: "I'm just happy. I'm grateful I've been able to be entrusted with so many good horses since my first year of my training career. I thought she was good when I first saw her as a one-year-old, so I'm happy that she achieved the best result.

"Her condition was really good, so I just wanted her to stay calm and take on the challenge. The problem was the ground condition. The rain was heavier than expected, and the track got worse, but the jockey escorted her well. As for the future, I think she can handle a little longer distance than a mile, but I will discuss it with the owner and make a decision. I want to do my best to live up to the name of the Oka Sho winner."

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