Nominees for this Sunday’s (14 May) G1 Victoria Mile (1600m) went through their paces at Japan’s JRA training centres on Wednesday (10 May) ahead of a blockbuster clash between two of the race’s headline acts – Sodashi and Stars On Earth.

Pure white Sodashi, a Northern Farm-bred, five-year-old daughter of Kurofune, debuted in July, 2020, amid the pandemic, before empty stands. She leapt from her debut to Group 3 level, from her fourth start she was winning the two-year-old pinnacle G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (1600m), then kicked off 2021 with a record victory in the G1 Oka Sho (1600m), the first race of the Fillies’ Triple Crown.

But, she was stymied by either the distance or the surface as she was switched from grass to dirt and back again. Though she did notch a Group 2 over 2000m, it wasn’t until she was back at the mile, back on the grass, that she prevailed again in the 2022 G1 Victoria Mile (1600m), where she topped the field by two lengths.

Unfortunately, she once again seemed to lose her mojo, with a 5-2-3 from her next three starts. The most recent and the only test at her favourite distance was the G1 Mile Championship (1600m) in late November, where she finished third, just under two lengths behind colts Serifos and Danon The Kid.

So, when headlines Thursday (11 May) claimed “Sodashi is back!” hopes soared that the heroine can once again lead the field home in the Victoria Mile and, in doing so, become the third horse to win successive versions in the race’s 18-year-history.

But, this year there’s a new threat – Shadai Farm-bred Stars On Earth. One year Sodashi’s junior, the Duramente four-year-old has never, in her nine starts thus far, finished out of the top three. She’s been raced over 1600-2400 metres and has won once each at 1600m, 1800m and 2400m.

Although she can race from a more forward position, Stars On Earth has in her recent starts (all under Christophe Lemaire and due twice to a late break) attacked from the rear, rocketing down the stretch to figure, at worst, in the winning trio. Her most impressive late drive was in the 2022 G1 Japanese Oaks (2400m) where, after breaking from the far wide gate and remaining wide into the stretch, went yet further out to chase down and catch Stunning Rose and capture her second crown. (Stunning Rose, another Victoria Mile hopeful, avenged the loss by pocketing the final gem, the G1 Shuka Sho over 2000m.)

Stars On Earth has broken late in her last two starts, a definite factor in her losses, and a concern for Sunday’s race.

Christophe Lemaire said: “She’d been coming off a layoff in her previous race, but this time, with a race behind her, I think she has improved. She feels to be in perfect shape.

“With it being only 1600 metres, she’s going to have to have speed early on. I hope to be able to get the position I want, as not being able to do that led to her loss last out. The start will be important.”

Sodashi, on the other hand, has only been slow away once in her 14 career starts. Trainer Naosuke Sugai expressed his satisfaction with trackwork on Wednesday.

“I don’t see any big changes in her physically, but I do feel she has matured mentally,” he said.

There’ll be nothing “as usual” in the saddle though. Sodashi will have a jockey change, from Hayato Yoshida, who had ridden all her races to date, to new partner Damian Lane, who rode Sodashi in work two weeks ago. “He has been studying all her races and I want him to ride her as he feels is right,” said Sugai of Lane.

Sugai added: “There are a lot of top horses in the line-up but I want her to be able to bring out her best. Of course, I want results, but most important is that she runs safely and comes out of the race safely.”