Eighth-favorite Jour Polaire bested the all-female pack on the outside Sunday to capture the 13th running of the Victoria Mile and earn her first Grade 1 victory.
Jour Polaire, ridden by Hideaki Miyuki, held steady in the middle of the group before outdistancing the leaders in a late run against the rain at Tokyo Racecourse. She finished in 1 minute, 32.3 seconds, edging race-favorite Lys Gracieux into second by a nose.
Seventh-favorite Red Advancer was overtaken at the line by the two top finishers and settled a neck behind for third in the 1,600-meter turf race for fillies and mares age 4 and up.
Defending champion Admire Lead, ridden by Italian Mirco Demuro, finished eighth.
The 5-year-old Jour Polaire improved on her third-place finish here last year and was just 0.8 second shy of the record set by Straight Girl in 2016. She earned ¥105 million in prize money for the win.
But the maiden G1 title once again eluded Lys Gracieux, who has finished in the top three in 11 of her 13 starts.
The 4-year-old filly was ridden by veteran jockey Yutaka Take, who recently turned 49 and is now just four shy of 500 rides at the G1 level.