Monroe Walk seems set for the big time

Monroe Walk has gone off the beaten track in more ways than one in her bid to win the 250 million yen (S$2 million) Grade 1 Shuka Sho (2,000m) in Kyoto on Oct 18.

Most notably, the black daughter of Kizuna is attempting to become the first unbeaten runner to win the third leg of the fillies Triple Crown since Fine Motion in 2002.

The Hiroyuki Uemura-trained filly’s unblemished winning streak was not without some drama, though.

After a debut win over a mile with jockey Keita Tosaki up in the summer of 2025, a fracture forced her out of the spring Classics.

At her June comeback, she contested three races, all over 1,800 metres, winning the first two with jockey Kazuo Yokoyama up at Hakodate over the summer.

Despite the long return trek from Hokkaido to Ritto and a weight loss to deal with, Monroe Walk still smashed her rivals in the Grade 2 Rose Stakes at Hanshin on Sept 13.

Reunited with Tosaki – who will be in the saddle on Sunday – in the Shuka Sho trial, she again raced on the pace on her way to an impressive three-length win from Enne, another Shuka Sho contender.

Uemura, who already has won three feature races since his 2019 debut, said that Monroe Walk has kept thriving.

“She had the same workouts as before the Rose Stakes and I don’t feel a need to push her more,” said to the Japan Racing Association (JRA) website.

“As long as she can maintain her condition, the results will follow.”

If Monroe Walk does claim the 31st running of the Shuka Sho on Sunday, she would also pull off another rare feat.

Since Vivlos in 2016, no other participant has won the Shuka Sho without a stab at the first two Group 1 legs of the Triple Crown.

There is, however, a two-in-three chance someone else could break that record with as many as a dozen who have plotted a similar path outside the Triple Crown chase.

The quest begins with the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) over 1,600 metres at Hanshin on April 12, and followed by the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) over 2,400 metres at Tokyo on May 24.

As a matter of fact, this year also marks the first time in seven years neither winner of the first two Classics are competing.

Oka Sho winner Star Anise was sent to the Sprinters Stakes on Sept 27, in which she ran fourth to Puro Magic, and Yushun Himba champion Juryoku Pierrot, the horse who carried Seina Imamura into the history books, was withdrawn from the Shuka Sho due to illness.

The 22-year-old Imamura became the first female jockey in JRA history to win a JRA Grade 1 race and a Japanese classic.

Among the 18 fillies lining up in the Shuka So, six did run in either of the first two legs, including Oka Sho runner-up Garavogue and Oaks runner-up Dream Core.

They do, however, face stiff competition from the Triple Crown first-timers. Besides Monroe Walk, Grade 2 Shion Stakes (2,000m) winner Master Soarer will be another tough nut to crack.

The daughter of Siskin ran fourth in the Grade 3 Queen Cup (1,600m) won by Dream Core in Tokyo on Feb 14. Seven months later, she landed the Shion Stakes at Nakayama, beating Something Sweet – also in the fray on Sunday – and turning the tables on Dream Core who ran third.

Master Soarer’s chink in the armour is her nervousness, but trainer Masayoshi Ebina, who won the Shuka Sho as a jockey with Apapane in 2010, still believes the filly can hand him his first success at the Japanese elite level as a trainer.

“In the Shion Stakes, she rose to all the challenges – returning from time off, the distance, the clockwise track, heavy ground, and racing tightly in amid the other runners – and she learnt a lot from that race,” he said.

“She stayed calm after her most recent race and she’s completing her work as usual. This time we have her first long trip to the track, but I’ll have her in the shape that will help her handle any situation.”