by Myra Lewyn

Taking a giant step up in class on Sunday, Nagai Shoji’s Three Rolls overtook pacesetter and favorite Reach the Crown in the straight and outfinished runner-up Forgettable to win the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) by a nose at Kyoto Racecourse.

A two-time allowance winner at 1,800 meters (8.94 furlongs) in his three most recent starts for trainer Kohei Take, Three Rolls proved not only capable but tenacious as well when stretched out to the St. Leger’s 3,000 meters (14.91 furlongs) for the first time. He trailed the field in the early stages as Tokyo Yushun (Jpn-G1) (Japanese Derby) runner-up Reach the Crown set an uncontested pace and opened a long lead.

Three Rolls rapidly advanced into contention and entered the straight in close pursuit of Reach the Crown. He easily dispatched that opponent when called upon by jockey Suguru Hamanaka and had plenty of stamina when challenged by Forgettable, who bid late to his inside.

With a powerful thrust in the shadow of the post, he edged Forgettable by a nose to earn the classic victory while covering the distance in 3:03.50. The time was just eight-tenths of a second slower than the stakes record of 3:02.70 set by Song of Wind in 2006.

“The stretch seemed like there was no end to it,” Hamanaka said. “I don’t think the straight at Kyoto has ever felt so long to me. The horse let up a little bit when he went clear, but got right back into it when he sensed Forgettable coming up next to him. I definitely knew we’d won [when] we went under the wire. “

Forgettable finished 1 ¼ lengths in front of 2008 champion two-year-old male Seiun Wonder. Reach the Crown faded to fifth.

The top two finishers are colts by prominent Japan-based sire Dance in the Dark, a son of Sunday Silence who stands at Shadai Stallion Station on
the island of Hokkaido. Dance in the Dark captured the Japanese St. Leger in 1996 en route to honors as Japan’s champion three-year-old male. He also is the sire of 2004 Japanese St. Leger winner Delta Blues, who won the ’06 Emirates Melbourne Cup (Aus-G1).

Myra Lewyn is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor