Almond Eye

Foaled in Japan on 10 March 2015, Almond Eye was a daughter of Lord Kanaloa and the Fusaichi Pandora mare Fusaichi Pandora. She belonged to Lord Kanaloa’s first crop, while her dam was by Sunday Silence, giving Almond Eye a pedigree that joined her sire line with one of the most influential names in Japanese breeding.

Northern Farm bred her and retained a close connection to her racing identity through Silk Racing Co. Ltd. She was offered through the syndicate in 500 shares priced at ¥60,000 each, placing her within Japan’s established shared-ownership culture. Her preparation was entrusted to Sakae Kunieda at Miho.

Christophe Lemaire became the jockey most closely associated with Almond Eye. Keita Tosaki rode her in her first graded victory, the 2018 Shinzan Kinen, but Lemaire partnered her in the great majority of her races and in all of the major international and championship successes that followed. Visually, she was often recognizable in a black hood and white shadow roll.

Her three-year-old campaign began in the Grade 3 Shinzan Kinen at Kyoto on 8 January. With Tosaki aboard, Almond Eye handled good-to-soft ground and defeated Tsuzumimon over 1,600 metres. It was her first graded-stakes win and the bridge from maiden company to the highest level.

Almond Eye returned to Lemaire for the Oka Sho, the Japanese 1,000 Guineas, at Hanshin on 8 April. Facing 16 opponents over 1,600 metres, she defeated Lucky Lilac to secure her first Grade 1 victory. The result established her among the leading three-year-old fillies, but her next start required her to extend that form over a substantially longer distance.

The Yushun Himba, or Japanese Oaks, was staged over 2,400 metres at Tokyo on 20 May. Almond Eye answered the distance question by defeating Lily Noble in another 17-runner field. Having won a major mile race at Hanshin, she had now succeeded at a mile and a half at Tokyo within six weeks.

After a summer break, she completed the autumn portion of her three-year-old campaign in commanding fashion. At Kyoto on 14 October, she won the 2,000-metre Shuka Sho from Mikki Charm. That gave her top-level victories at 1,600, 2,000 and 2,400 metres during the same season.

Her year culminated in the Japan Cup at Tokyo on 25 November. Drawn in stall one against a field that included established older runners, Almond Eye defeated Kiseki over 2,400 metres. The victory moved her story beyond the three-year-old filly programme: she had taken on open-age competition in one of Japan’s principal international races and won.

Almond Eye returned at five in the Victoria Mile at Tokyo on 17 May 2020. Racing over 1,600 metres, she defeated Sound Chiara to begin her final campaign with another Grade 1 success.

Three weeks later she contested the Yasuda Kinen for a second time. On good-to-soft turf at Tokyo, she finished runner-up to Gran Alegria. It was her first second-place finish since her debut and demonstrated the strength of the mile division she faced in 2020.

She then stepped back up to 2,000 metres for the Tenno Sho (Autumn) on 1 November. Almond Eye defeated Fierement, with Chrono Genesis also among the field, to win the race for the second consecutive year. That repeat victory showed that she remained effective in open company across successive seasons, even after her defeat over the shorter trip.

Her final start brought the career back to the race that had defined her emergence as a three-year-old. In the Japan Cup at Tokyo on 29 November, Almond Eye faced a 15-runner field that included Contrail and Daring Tact. She defeated Contrail, with Daring Tact also among the prominent opposition, to claim her second Japan Cup and close her racing career with a Grade 1 victory over 2,400 metres.

Almond Eye retired after winning the 2020 Japan Cup. Her 15 starts yielded 14 finishes in the first three, with the 2019 Arima Kinen the sole exception. Eleven victories from such a compact career reflected both consistency and repeated exposure to major opposition.

The shape of her record is particularly distinctive. She won Japanese classics at three, defeated older horses in the Japan Cup that same year, succeeded internationally at four, and remained a leading open-age performer through five. Her two Japan Cups and consecutive Tenno Sho (Autumn) victories gave her repeat success in races central to Japan’s championship calendar, while the Dubai Turf supplied an international dimension.

As a Northern Farm-bred daughter from Lord Kanaloa’s first crop, raced through the Silk Racing syndicate and trained by Kunieda, Almond Eye joined pedigree, ownership structure and elite stable support with sustained results. Her winning farewell in the 2020 Japan Cup completed the career of one of the defining Japanese mares of the late 2010s and early 2020s.

• Wikipedia: Almond Eye
• netkeiba: Almond Eye profile and race record
• netkeiba: 2018 Oka Sho
• netkeiba: 2018 Yushun Himba
• netkeiba: 2018 Japan Cup
• netkeiba: 2020 Tenno Sho (Autumn)
• netkeiba: 2020 Japan Cup
• https://www.jbis.jp/horse/0000179122/
• https://en.netkeiba.com/db/race/201704020406/
• https://en.netkeiba.com/db/race/201705040202/
• https://en.netkeiba.com/db/race/201808010311/
• https://en.netkeiba.com/db/race/201808040511/