KYOTO – Third pick Hat Trick charged down the homestretch to beat Daiwa Major by a nose at the Mile Championship on Sunday, claiming the title of No. 1 miler this fall in Japanese horse racing.
The 4-year-old colt, ridden by French jockey Olivier Peslier, covered the 1,600-meter turf race in 1 minute, 32.1 seconds at Kyoto Racecourse and won 94 million yen in prize money. Hat Trick won his first Grade One race while Peslier claimed his second Mile Championship crown and first since his triumph aboard Zenno El Cid in 2001.
Rhein Kraft came third, a length behind Daiwa Major. Top favorite Durandal, the winner of this race the past two years, slumped to eighth and failed to become the first-ever horse to win the same G-1 race for a third time in a row.
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