Naran Huleg battles to surprise success in Takamatsunomiya Kinen

Outsider Naran Huleg sprung a surprise victory in the Grade 1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen over six furlongs at Chukyo for trainer Yoshitada Munakata.

The six-year-old son of Gold Allure was settled off the pace in the early stages by Kyosuke Maruta but he responded to his jockey's urgings to hit the front. He held off the late lunge of Lotus Lane on his outside by a neck with Kir Lord a nose back in in third. Grenadier Guards, a Grade 1 winner by Frankel, was sent off favourite but could only finish 12th.

Naran Huleg is a son of Gold Allure, another stallion son of the deeply influential Sunday Silence, and a four-time Grade 1 winner on dirt in Japan. The former Shadai Stallion Station resident died at the age of 18 in 2017 and is the sire of five Grade 1 horses on dirt with Naran Huleg his first turf Grade 1 winner.

Bred by Mrs Setsuko Sakato out of Kelley's Beauty, a winning daughter of Brian's Time, Naran Huleg's previous best result was second in the Grade 3 Ocean Stakes earlier this month. He is the winner of six of his 29 starts.

It was the first Grade 1 win of jockey Kyosuke Maruta's 16-year career and the delighted rider said: "I'm happy to emerge out of the stalls last. He has little experience of such soft ground but he ran well. Every time I set him on the rear position, and I thought only of keeping his rhythm. I bundled him to the inside with confidence.

"I've been indebted to Munakata for a long time, and I'm happy to be able to give him back. I want to continue to do my best with Naran Huleg."

It was also the first top-level victory for winning trainer Yoshitada Munakata.

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