This year's G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen will be a memorable race for many as six-time graded stakes winner Meikei Yell will run for the last time. Kenichi Ikezoe will be taking the reins as his career-long partner.

He conducted a final piece of fast track work on the 20th, clocking 53.1 seconds for the final four furlongs. Ikezoe reflected: "Good movements as usual. She always eats up well even after hard-intensity work so we kept the intensity up high until the end. There was nothing wrong with her breathing as well."

She made her debut back in 2020 and became the unbeaten G3 Fantasy Stakes winner. Everyone thought She would become a champion but her dream fell short because of her aggressive personality. That is when she became a fan favourite after all sorts of unique accidents at the races.

Trainer Hidenori Take commented, "She is usually calm but the problem was the barriers. She gets crazy around the barriers and we could not do barrier practices. She is all good now."

She currently holds the most graded stakes wins among the active racehorses in JRA with six titles. Although She has six titles, he has never won a G1 title in her career from 10 tries. Trainer Take added, "I want to end her career on a high note. It will be a dream come true to celebrate a G1 win with all the fans." Jockey Ikezoe commented: "Six graded stakes wins are already amazing enough but we want her to win a G1 title. But, we also need a bit of luck to win it, and hopefully we will receive a bit of help on the day."