Indy Champ shocks Almond Eye to win the Yasuda Kinen

Japanese superstar Almond Eye suffered a shock defeat in the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo, with Indy Champ, like Almond Eye owned by Silk Racing, winning under Yuichi Fukunaga.

Almond Eye, winner of the Fillies' Triple Crown in Japan last season, was making her domestic return after a taking success on Dubai World Cup night in the Dubai Turf.

With connections opting against a European campaign, which could have included visits to York's Ebor meeting and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, Almond Eye was odds-on favourite for this return to Japan.

Those expecting the four-year-old filly to extend her winning sequence would have been concerned early on, as the Sakae Kunieda-trained star immediately met traffic after breaking from stall 14.

She was forced to settle back in the field, and although she found room a furlong and half out to unleash her trademark burst of speed, she had too much ground to make up on Indy Champ and runner-up Aerolithe.

Winning trainer Hidetaka Otonashi said: "Fukunaga told me his plan to ride and he rode the race as he said, so I watched with expectation.

"He has been better than the previous race and should improve."

Almond Eye's jockey Christophe Lemaire said: "After the break she crashed with the other horses and lost five lengths. But after that she ran cool and stormed home well."

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