Yuga Kawada steered second-pick Chrysoberyl to his first Grade 1 victory at the Champions Cup on Sunday, stealing the spotlight from 2017 winner and race favorite Gold Dream at the wire.
Chrysoberyl paced with the front of the pack at Chukyo Racecourse until overtaking Gold Dream and this year's February Stakes winner Inti in the final stretch, clocking 1 minute, 48.5 seconds and winning by a neck.
The 3-year-old colt earned ¥100 million ($913,000) in prize money and picked up his sixth win in as many starts.
Third-favorite Inti, piloted by veteran jockey Yutaka Take, led for most of the 1,800-meter dirt race before falling back into third, 1¼ lengths behind Gold Dream, ridden by Christophe Lemaire.