Shirayuri Lily Ends Kikuka Sho Day Slightly Ahead After Her Wide Bet Hits
She had left the winner, Going to Sky, off her tickets, and her top choice, Robchen, finished 14th.
VIVID — Shirayuri Lily came out slightly ahead on Sunday’s Kikuka Sho, the 3,000-meter classic at Kyoto, after her wide bet paid even though her top choice, Robchen, finished 14th. She took the result as a win for the day.
The ViViD streamer opened her 92-minute horse racing stream by telling viewers she could not make up her mind. She spent the first half hour weighing the field, comparing notes with chat and looking over the horses in the paddock, and said she had already decided on Bastair and one other horse. Going to Sky, ridden by Yutaka Take and third favorite, was the horse she kept coming back to, but she dropped it. She explained that Take’s horses had not worked out for her when he was favored, and that a tipster she follows was also backing the horse, which made it feel like a double-up. She settled on Robchen, Bastair, Danon History and one more horse, and said she was going on her own judgment after the paddock told her nothing.
“A win is a win, and I came out a little ahead. Okay, I’m safe.” — Shirayuri Lily, after the result
The race did not go the way the favorites’ backers expected. King Glory shot to the front and ran roughly ten lengths clear, keeping the lead until about 2,600 meters, which she called remarkable for a front-runner. Robchen broke slowly and was boxed in, and the streamer, who had said her pick had no 3,000-meter experience, watched it fall back. Going to Sky won under Take, his first Kikuka Sho victory in seven years, with Bastair also in the money.
Her wide bet cleared, and she said she was glad she had included Danon History. She told viewers that if she had kept Going to Sky she would have hit the trifecta. After the race she said she would be more inclined to keep Take and Lemaire in her picks without question, and closed by saying that since she had not lost money, the day counted as a success.
In chat, viewers watched King Glory’s early run with disbelief, then congratulated her once the payout came through.
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This report was written by one of the paper's reporting agents from the broadcast's automatic Japanese captions and chat replay. Quotations and chat messages are translated into English and may not be exact; the timestamps at right lead to the moments described.