Second Japanese Classic

http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/japan-second-classic-for-star-filly-gentildonna/1036945/#newsArchiveTabs=last7DaysNews

Gentildonna (second right): storms to a five-length win in Japanese Oaks

 PICTURE: Masakazu Takahashi 

Second Japanese Classic for star filly Gentildonna

 BY NICHOLAS GODFREY9:55AM 20 MAY 2012 

Report: Japan, Sunday

Tokyo: Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) (Grade 1) 1m4f, turf, 3yo fillies

GENTILDONNA (Sei Ishizaka/Yuga Kawada) emphasised her superiority over the Japanese crop of three-year-old fillies as she landed her second Classic on Sunday in the Yushun Himba.

Having defeated Verxina by a half-length to land the Oka Sho (1,000 Guineas) last month, the 4.6-1 shot extended the margin to five lengths with a comfortable victory in the Japanese Oaks.

Gentildonna raced towards the rear before overwhelming her rivals in the straight. She recorded a time of 2m23.60s for the 225 million yen (£1.8m) event, breaking the race record by 1.7secs.

The winner is a daughter of the great Deep Impact, who has made such a fantastic start to his career at stud.