Star Anise faces stamina test in Japanese Oaks favorite role
Star Anise brings a 1:32.6 juvenile record and an Oka Sho win into Tokyo, but 2,400 meters will tell bettors whether her speed stretches to classic stamina.
Star Anise arrives at the Japanese Oaks with the résumé of a star and the one question that can still crack a short-priced favorite: can she truly carry her speed 1 1/2 miles? The 87th Yushun Himba goes Sunday, May 24 at Tokyo Racecourse, a 2,400-meter turf Grade 1 with ¥150 million to the winner, 18 possible starters and a 3:40 p.m. post. That is not just a class test. It is a stamina audit.
Her form says elite filly. Star Anise won the 2025 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in a race-record-equalling 1:32.6, then returned this spring to take the Oka Sho on April 12, giving Kohei Matsuyama his second title in that race and Tomokazu Takano his first classic victory. She did not get there by accident. She debuted fifth over 1,200 meters at Kokura, came back to win her maiden at the same track and trip, then handled males in the Chukyo Nisai Stakes over 1,400 meters to keep climbing the ladder.
But the Oaks is built to expose the limits of even the best filly, and Star Anise has a pedigree that points more toward speed than staying power. She is by Drefong out of Epice Arome, a two-time graded winner, and that family profile is why this race matters more than her last two victories. Tokyo’s long straight and the extra quarter-mile will demand a sustained finish, not just a sharp turn of foot. If she can travel comfortably, relax into the race and still quicken late, the conversation shifts from “can she stay?” to “how good is she really?”
That is what makes this race dangerous for the favorite. The Oaks has not been a ceremonial coronation in recent years: Kamunyak won in 2025, Cervinia in 2024, Liberty Island in 2023, Stars on Earth in 2022, Uberleben in 2021, Daring Tact in 2020, Loves Only You in 2019, Almond Eye in 2018, Soul Stirring in 2017 and Sinhalite in 2016. It is where the best fillies separate themselves from the merely fast.
There is also a milestone angle on the race. Seina Imamura was aiming to become the first female jockey to win a Japanese classic in the Yushun Himba, which adds another layer to a renewal already loaded with pressure. For Star Anise, the stakes are simpler and bigger at the same time: prove the speed is real over 2,400 meters, and she confirms herself as Japan’s next elite filly. Fail the trip, and the debate about her ceiling starts immediately.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
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