Town. The other fancied contenders in the eighteen runner field included Lily Noble, Mau Lea, Social Club, Cordierite, Tosen Bliss and Sayakachan. Lucky Lilac was settled in mid division towards the outside as the Las Emociones set the pace from Cordierite. Entering the straight the leaders began to fade and Lily Noble went to the front but Lucky Lilac produced a sustained run on the outside, gained the advantage in the last 200 metres and won by three quarters of a length with Mau Lea taking third place. After the race Ishibashi commented "She was a bit keen in her last start but was very relaxed today. We were in a good striking position at the top of the stretch which gave me all the confidence I needed. Her physical ability is extremely high and she is very intelligent too." In the official ratings for Japanese two-year-olds Lucky Lilac was rated the best juvenile filly of the year, two pounds ahead of Lily Noble and six pounds below the top-rated colt Danon Premium. In January 2018 Lucky Lilac was unanimously voted Best Two-Year-Old Filly at the JRA Awards for 2017. 2018: three-year-old season Lucky Lilac began her second campaign in the Grade 2 Tulip Sho (a major trial race for the Oka Sho) over 1600 metres at Hanshin on 3 March. She was made the odds-on favourite and won by two lengths and a neck from Mau Lea and Lily Noble. Her trainer Mikio Matsunaga commented "she was able to demonstrate her strength and ability, and looking ahead we could take a lot from that. She has good natural speed, does her work well, and because she's relaxed we can train her as we'd like". On 8 April the filly starts 4/5 favourite in a seventeen-runner field for the 78th edition of Oka Sho at Hanshin. After racing in fourth place she took the lead in the straight but sustained her first defeat as she was overtaken in the final strides and beaten a length and three quarters into second place by Almond Eye. Lucky Lilac was moved up in distance and started second favourite for the Yushun Himba at Tokyo on 20 May. She tracked the leaders before making steady progress in the straight and finishing third behind Almond Eye and Lily Noble. After a break of over four and a half months, Lucky Lilac returned for the Shuka