Victoire Pisa wins emotional World Cup for Japan

Owned by Yoshimi Ichikawa and trained by Katsuhiko Sumii, Victoire Pisa had

previously earned his biggest victories at Nakayama. Over that right-handed

course, he captured the 2010 Satsuki Sho (Japanese Two Thousand Guineas)

(Jpn-G1) and Arima Kinen (Jpn-G1), defeating Japanese Horse of the Year and

World Cup rival Buena Vista (Special Week) in the latter, and he opened 2011

with a comprehensive success in the February 27 Nakayama Kinen (Jpn-G2). But

Victoire Pisa had failed to shine in his previous foreign mission to France last

campaign, and he was also attempting a synthetic surface for the first time

here. Answering any lingering question marks with a resounding affirmative, the

four-year-old presented Japan with its first World Cup trophy.

The confirmed front runner Transcend quickly took up his position at the head

of affairs, stalked by Coolmore's Cape Blanco (Galileo [Ire]), and Godolphin's

Monterosso (Dubawi) tracked them in a ground-saving spot. A fracas ensued

farther back in the field on the first turn, as Fly Down (Mineshaft) was checked hard on the

fence, and several others were jostled around.

Jamie Spencer was pleased with Cape Blanco's effort in his seasonal

reappearance.

"I was on the right side of a slow

pace," Spencer recapped. "I could have done with holding up a little bit longer, but he really stuck

his neck out at the finish. He really tried. Bear in mind, it was his first run

of the year and there will be more to come from him for sure."

Several other riders were lamenting the way the World Cup unfolded.

"The only two times I can remember (Gio Ponti) being strong with me was last

year here and today," jockey Ramon Dominguez said. "It's very unfair they're

going extremely, extremely slow and I feel my horse was taken out of his game.

Turning for home his kick, of course, isn't going to be as effective. Everybody

was kind of sprinting home."

"It's a go-cart race, not a workout," summed up Christophe Soumillon, who

rode Musir.

"The race played out terribly," Ryan Moore said of his trip aboard Buena

Vista.

"It was a messy race for everyone and

I never got into it at any stage," said Tom Queally, the rider of Twice Over.

"They went very slowly early and that

didn't suit him," Twice Over's trainer Henry Cecil observed. "He broke well and was up there but couldn't get back in. The

next minute they slowed it up and he got shuffled back through the field. He

never got anywhere and it is disappointing, but that is the way it goes. Tom

said he was pushed wide and out of the back. It is such a shame as he was very

well."

With the $6 million bonanza in his account, Victoire Pisa has amassed

$12,891,734 in earnings from his 13-8-1-2 mark. The hero of the 2009 Kyoto Nisai

S. and Radio Nikkei Hai Nisai S. as a juvenile, the dark bay also claims a win

in the 2010 Hochi Hai Yayoi Sho (Jpn-G2) at Nakayama and placings in last

season's Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) (Jpn-G1) and Japan Cup (Jpn-G1) at Tokyo.

In between those top-level races at home, he had embarked upon a French

adventure, finishing a well-beaten fourth in the Prix Niel (Fr-G2) and a

creditable seventh in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1).

Bred by Shadai Farm in Japan, Victoire Pisa is a half-brother to

Yasuda Kinen (Jpn-G1) winner Asakusa Den'en (Singspiel [Ire]) and a

three-quarter brother to Grade 3 victor and Grade 1-placed Swift Current (Sunday

Silence). Their dam, English/Irish highweight older mare Whitewater Affair

(Machiavellian), is herself a half-sister to Group 2 hero Little Rock (Warning

[GB]) and multiple Group 3 queen and classic-placed Short Skirt (GB) (Diktat). Victoire Pisa hails from the family of Irish St Leger (Ire-G1) winner Arctic Owl

(Most Welcome [GB]) and Sydney Cup (Aus-G1) scorer Marooned (Mill Reef).