Field Racing's Going To Sky handed jockey Yutaka Take a record-breaking sixth G1 Kikuka Sho score at Kyoto on Sunday. Holding the lead late in the stretch, the Contrail colt put his nose down where it counted to fend off the closing Basse Terre (Kitasan Black). Danon History (Epiphaneia) was back in third, a half-length in front of Sanono Greater (Greater London) in the final Japanese Classic of the season. Heavy favourite Lovcen (World Premiere), aiming to become the ninth Japanese Triple Crown Winner, did not handle the trip and finished 14th.

Previously tied with Christophe Lemaire on five wins apiece in the Kikuka Sho, Take now holds the lead with six in the 3000-metre Japanese St Leger. Lemaire finished third aboard Danon History, just a nose and a length from taking the record outright.

“I was hoping the rain would stay away, and it did,” Take said. “He started well, which put me in a good position. I didn't want to move in the trip – actually, we were in a spot where we couldn't move – so I waited for the final stretch and he reacted very well when the gap emerged. At about the 200m mark, I thought I might be able to win.

“I didn't know if I had won, but Yuga [Kawada, on Basse Terre] was frustrated after crossing the line, so that's when I knew we had won.

“The Aoba Sho was the first race I rode him, and after that race, I thought he would be a chance in the Kikuka Sho. From there, I worked with the trainer and stable staff, and I'm very happy with how everything worked out.”

Sent off at 11-1, third choice in the 18-horse field, the son of stakes winner Goin To The Window (Tapit) settled in midfield as King Glory (Danon Premium) zipped straight to the front and quickly opened up on the field. Ask Edinburgh (Leontes) sat second. The first 1000 metres was covered in :58.40, with King Glory ahead by about 15 lengths. The frontrunner extended his margin to almost 25 lengths for the backstretch run and he hit the 2000-metre mark in 2:00.70.

Starting to come back to the field at the 600-metre pole, King Glory abruptly looked leg-weary and it was Sea To Summit Maurice) who was closest to the tiring leader 400 metres from home. Several foes were unwinding powerful stretch drives, not least Danon History, but Going To Sky had yet to hit the front a furlong from the wire. A hole appeared and he dashed through, finding the lead with a half-furlong to travel and winning the bob from the rallying Basse Terre. Danon History stuck around for third. Lovcen sat 12th for much of the race and rallied up to midfield before fading.

Lovcen's jockey Kohei Matsuyama told Weekly Gallop, “I couldn't deliver results in this crucial race for the Triple Crown, and I'm truly sorry. That's all there is to it.”

Lovcen's trainer Harunori Suyama told the same publication, “We've been saying that 3000m might be a stretch given his build, but since he stood out in terms of ability in this generation, we approached it with the expectation that his talent would carry him through. However, in the end, we have to say it was the wall of distance.

“We'll have a good discussion with the owner about what kind of race would be best for this horse, and start over from scratch. We'll keep pushing forward.”

A winner on debut over 2000 metres at Tokyo last October, Going To Sky was third in the G3 Kyoto Nisai Stakes in November and did not resurface until a sixth-place run in the G3 Kisaragi Sho at Kyoto in February. Back on top in the G2 Aoba Sho trying 2400 metres for the first time at Tokyo in April, he found Lovcen too good when fourth in the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) at the end of May. He warmed up for the Kikuka Sho with a sixth-place finish in the G2 Asahi Hai St Lite Kinen behind Sunday's 10th-place finisher Justin Chicago (Suave Richard) at Nakayama on September 13.

Pedigree Notes

The first Group 1 scorer and Classic hero for his 2020 Japanese Triple Crown-winning sire Contrail, Going To Sky beat the stallion's other two Kikuka Sho entries, with Majorelle Bleu seventh and Congestus, a winner of the G2 Kyoto Shimbun Hai, eighth on Sunday. He has four worldwide stakes winners, all in Japan.

Part of former multiple U.S. Champion Sire Tapit's brigade of 152 stakes winners, 74 of which are at the group/graded level, Going To Sky is the 19th top-tier scorer out of a daughter of the Gainesway great. The grey's leading runner in that sphere is the six-time Japanese Group 1 heroine Gran Alegria, by Contrail's sire Deep Impact.

The seventh foal out of the U.S. stakes winner Goin To The Window, Going To Sky sold for ¥30,000,000 ($209,791) to TMK Racing from the draft of Chiyoda Farm during the 2023 JRHA Select Sale. He is followed by a two-year-old winning half-sister named Goin To Nova (Kitasan Black), and a yearling full-sister to the winner. Goin To The Window was covered by Real Steel last spring.

The dam earned her stakes win in Washington, but the family goes back to GI Maskette Stakes heroine and bluehen Too Chic (Blushing Groom). This is the family of champion Queena (Mr. Prospector) and her trio of stakes winners in GI Hollywood Derby hero-turned sire Brahms (Danzig) and GIII Tempted Stakes victress La Reina. GI Ashland Stakes heroine Chic Shirine is a full-sister to Queena.

FIRST GROUP 1 WINNER FOR SIRE
Sunday, Kyoto, Japan
KIKUKA SHO (JAPANESE ST LEGER)-G1, ¥420,200,000, Kyoto, 10-25, 3yo, c/f, 3000mT, 3:04.50, fm.
1–GOING TO SKY (JPN), 126, c, 3, by Contrail (Jpn)
            1st Dam: Goin to the Window (SW-US, $128,993),
                        by Tapit
            2nd Dam: Queens Full, by Indian Charlie
            3rd Dam: Puestera, by Forty Niner
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (¥30,000,000 Wlg '23 JRHAJUL). O-Field
Racing; B-Chiyoda Farm (Jpn); T-Yuki Uehara; J-Yutaka Take;
¥220,140,000.  Lifetime Record: 7-3-0-1, ¥336,298,000. Click
   for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk
   Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Basse Terre (Jpn), 126, c, 3, Kitasan Black (Jpn)– O'mambia
(GB), by Aldebaran. O-Silk Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn);
¥88,040,000.
3–Danon History (Jpn), 126, c, 3, Epiphaneia (Jpn)–Coasted, by
Tizway. *1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. 1ST
   GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (¥390,000,000 Ylg '24 JRHAJUL).
O-Danox Inc.; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥54,020,000.
Margins: NS, 1, HF. Odds: 11.00, 32.80, 2.00.
Also Ran: Sanono Greater (Jpn), Sea to Summit (Jpn), Shonan Hayanami (Jpn), Majorelle Bleu (Jpn), Congestus (Jpn), Audacia (Jpn), Justin Chicago (Jpn), Charing Cross (Jpn), Large Ensemble (Jpn), M's Begin (Jpn), Lovcen (Jpn), King Glory (Jpn), Narita Esperanza (Jpn), Ask Edinburgh (Jpn), Shonan Gulf (Jpn).
Click for the JRA chart & video.

G1 3000m (3yos, no geldings) Kikuka Sho at Kyoto:

Won by 3c 9. GOING TO SKY (Contrail x Goin to the Window (USA) (Tapit (USA)) under the legend that is Yutaka Take.

3:04.5

A nose to 3c BASSE TERRE (Kitasan Black) with 3c DANON HISTORY (Epiphaneia) in 3rd.

Exciting race with KING GLORY opening up a 25l lead in the run.

LOVCEN didn't get the trip, finished 14th.

#JRA
https://t.co/1AbeAGABtL

— Graham Pavey (@LongBallToNoOne) October 25, 2026