Gentildonna (JPN) became the first three-year-old filly to win the Japan Cup when she edged out heavy favorite and 2011 Japanese Horse of the Year Orfevre (JPN) by a nose at the wire and survived a stewards inquiry following the race.
As you watch the video, take note of the bumping that occurs about midway through the stretch drive when Gentildonna is angled off the rail to avoid the out of gas front runner. At the same time, Orfevre is moving slightly towards the rail when Gentildonna bumps into him quite strongly. While the contact clearly cause Orfevre to alter his path in the stretch, the stewards made no changes to the order of finish.
Gentildonna, the 2012 Japan filly triple crown winner, is a three-year-old filly by Deep Impact (JPN) out of a Bertolini mare (Donna Blini (GB)), trained by Sei Ishizaka and ridden by Yusunari Iwata. Gentildonna's owners, Sunday Racing Co. Ltd., also own runner-up Orfevre and third place finisher Rulership (JPN).