The key to the smart money was in the name Sunday as ninth pick Win Kluger made winning look easy after leading the field from the 200-meter mark for a length-and-a-quarter win of the NHK Mile Cup (G1).
Win Kluger outpaced the field of 18 3-year-olds over 1,600 meters of turf in a time of 1 minute, 34.2 seconds.
Next over the line was fifth choice Eishin Tsurugizan helping boost the return on the exacta to over 400-fold. Win Kluger (klug is German for clever) jumped sharply from the gate and jockey Koshiro Take decided to let him go.
"He has a tendency to get keen but today he was calm. Nobody wanted to go at the start but I thought it best not to hold him back, so we went."
The 3-year-old chestnut son of champion miler Taiki Shuttle is now 4-for-8 with 153 million yen in prize money.
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