Shonan Pandora

After finishing second on her only start as a juvenile in 2013 the filly made steady progress in the following year and won the Grade 1 Shuka Sho on her penultimate appearance.

She is from the fourth crop of foals sired by Deep Impact, who was the Japanese Horse of the Year in 2005 and 2006, winning races including the Tokyo Yushun, Tenno Sho, Arima Kinen and Japan Cup.

The Yushun Himba winner Nuovo Record started odds-on favourite ahead of Red Reveur (Hanshin Juvenile Fillies) with Shonan Pandora being made the 9.1/1 third choice in the betting.

[10] On her final run of the year Shonan Pandora was matched against older fillies and mares in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Kyoto in November and finished sixth behind the four-year-old Lachesis.

Shonan Pandora made little impact in her first two runs as a four-year-old, finishing ninth to Lachesis in the Osaka Hai and eighth behind Straight Girl in the Victoria Mile.

The horses finishing behind her included Toho Jackal (Kikuka Sho), Nuovo Record, Lachesis, One And Only (Tokyo Yushun) and Gold Ship.

[11] After a three-month summer break, Shonan Pandora returned in the Grade 2 Sankei Sho All Comers over 2200 metres at Nakayama Racecourse on 27 September.

On 29 November Shonan Pandora was one of sixteen horses to contest the 35th running of the Japan Cup over 2400 metres at Tokyo and was made the 8.2/1 fourth choice in the betting market behind Lovely Day, Gold Ship and Mikki Queen (Yushun Himba, Shuka Sho).

Ikezoe settled the filly in mid-division as the outsider Curren Mirotic set the pace, but began to make steady progress approaching the final turn.

Lovely Day went to the front in the straight but Shonan Pandora launched a strong challenge on the outside, closely followed by Sounds of Earth, whilst Last Impact made rapid progress on the inside rail.

[14] Shonan Pandora returned as a five-year-old and made her seasonal debut at Hanshin on 3 April when she finished third behind Ambitious and Kitasan Black in the Osaka Hai.

In January 2016 at JRA Awards for 2015 Shonan Pandora was named Best Older Filly or Mare, receiving 213 of the 291 votes to take the title ahead of Straight Girl.

Shonan Pandora's owner Tetsuhide Kunimoto
Kenichi Ikezoe, who rode Shonan Pandora to victory in the Japan Cup