Top favorite Dance in the Mood romped home unchallenged down the final stretch Sunday to win the 64th running of the Oka-sho, the opening leg of the Triple-Crown series for 3-year-old fillies.
With jockey Yutaka Take on board the filly sired by the top stud and trained by the top trainer, anything less than victory would have been seen as a major disappointment.
But Dance in the Mood more than lived up to pre-race expectations by running a superb race, winning in 1 minute, 33.6 seconds at Hanshin Racecourse to pick up the top prize of 89 million yen.