Family ties to the fore as Titleholder earns Arc price cut after Tenno Sho romp

Japanese St Leger hero Titleholder made it a second Group 1 success - and a first for rider Kazuo Yokoyama - when displaying his dominance on a quality field in the Tenno Sho Spring at Hanshin on Sunday.

A son of Duramente and out of the winning Motivator mare Mowen, the Toru Kurita-trained four-year-old was posting his fifth career success when pulling seven lengths clear of favourite Deep Bond, with T O Royal a further length back in third.

Titleholder is owned by Hiroshi Yamada and earned connections the equivalent of £1,308,463 for winning the two-mile turf race for four-year-olds and up, after which he was cut to 25-1 (from 40) for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe by William Hill.

Full result: Grade 1 Tenno Sho

The winning jockey is the oldest son of legendary Japanese rider Norihiro Yokoyama and a brother to Takeshi, who partnered Titleholder to his five-length St Leger (Kikuka Sho) success last October.

It was Yokoyama's first win at the highest level and a third generation success for the family, following on from Tomio's 1971 win with Mejiro Musashi and Norihiro's 1996 strike with Sakura Laurel.

Yokoyama said: "I felt he was in very good form and I wanted to ride him to run on his own terms.

"When I finished I was absolutely delighted. I'm happy to win on him, as well as winning my first Grade 1. I thought it looked a tough race but he ran so strongly and I had plenty confidence. I'm also delighted to win the Tenno Sho Spring for the third generation in my family."

He added: "He can only get better, so I look forward to the continued support."

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