Wholeness flashes home for third in G3 Mermaid Stakes

Wholeness took another step forward with a fast-finishing third on her G3 debut in the Mermaid Stakes at Kyoto, Japan, on Sunday, 16 June.

The Lope de Vega filly, who lined up in the 10-furlong contest on the back of three consecutive wins for Hideaki Fujiwara, was held up in mid-division of the 16 runners as eventual winner Alice Verite opened up a substantial lead over the field.

Having been shuffled back a couple of places after the first half-mile, Koji Nishizuka steered a wide course on Wholeness entering the straight. The Godolphin four-year-old stormed home inside the final furlong, missing out on second by a neck.

Harry Sweeney, President of Godolphin in Japan, said: “It was a decent run by Wholeness and she demonstrated her competitiveness in Group class. She is a lightly raced filly and indeed was only having her fifth career start and has maintained her record of making the frame in every outing. She is a big filly with a long stride and would probably welcome a slightly longer trip and a track like Tokyo with its long climbing finishing straight would probably suit her even better.”