To the Victory wins 2000 Queen Stakes at Sapporo

The 48th Queen Stakes (G3) was held on 13 August 2000 at Sapporo Racecourse. The filly To the Victory, trained by Ikegawa Tairo and ridden by jockey Shinji Fujita, broke from the gate and held off a late challenge from Eaida Queen, winning by a neck in a time of 1:46.8. The race also featured notable runners such as Sunday Picnic and Preminence. After this victory, To the Victory went on to win additional graded stakes, placed second in the 2001 Dubai World Cup, and later produced successful offspring as a broodmare.

A 2026 betting guide for the Queen Stakes highlights the race’s small‑turn Sapporo track and the importance of selecting popular horses or those with strong form in prior G1 or classic races. It advises bettors to consider horses that performed well at local tracks like Nakayama and to watch 3‑year‑old fillies outside the Victoria Mile and Oka Sho groups, noting that jockeys such as Christophe Lemaire and Yutaka Take have had recent success but should not be over‑relied upon.