Japan Horse Racing Tips-Umanity.jp|CBC SHO(G3) is held this weekend

Hanshin Racecourse hosts the Takarazuka Kinen on Sunday, June 23, the grand finale to the heady heights of spring racing in Japan and the final Grade 1 event until the Sprinters Stakes kicks off the autumn campaign at the end of September. Along with the Arima Kinen (The Grand Prix) at year-end, the Takarazuka Kinen is a bow to Japan’s racing fans, who cast votes for their favorite horses, those they most want to see in the lineup. A 2,200-meter turf event, the Takarazuka Kinen marks its 60th running this year and currently boasts a purse of JPY325 million and a winner’s prize of JPY150 million.

Coming at the end of a long season, the field of the Takarazuka Kinen tends to be small and, this year, 12 horses are expected to compete. Fan-ballot No. 1 pick Almond Eye is not among them, but the next three ballot favorites are – Rey de Oro, Kiseki and Al Ain. Three other Grade 1 champions will join them – Makahiki, Suave Richard and Lys Gracieux. Three of the six are taking on the Takarazuka Kinen directly after returning from racing overseas, a factor that considerably raises the bar for finding a winning wager.

Run over the right-handed Hanshin inner course, the race starts at the far right of the stands, with 530 meters to the first turn. Out of the gate, the track rises two meters from 200 meters before the finish line, and from early in the backstretch, the course slopes gently downward until hitting the stretch hill once again 200 meters out.

The Takarazuka Kinen is the 11th race on the Sunday card of 12 at Hanshin. Post time is 15:40 local time. Here’s a look at the likely popular horses.

Kiseki: The 5-year-old Rulership-sired Kiseki captured the 2017 classic Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) and is looking, after six Grade 1 bids both at home and abroad, to notch his second big win. Winless in his last eight starts since the Kikuka Sho, Kiseki has not been far off the top and has figured in winning wagers in half of those starts. In last year’s Japan Cup, he ran second to Almond Eye and last out in the Osaka Hai, he finished only a neck behind winner Al Ain. Kiseki’s strong points are not only his speed but his stamina, and since changing his racing style to a more forward position from five starts ago, he has missed the top three spots only once. Kiseki has also matured and powered up. He’s racing a good 10kg heavier than he was for last year’s Takarazuka Kinen, in which he finished eighth, 0.9 seconds off the winner. Yuga Kawada, who has ridden his past five starts, is scheduled for the ride on Sunday. Three Kikuka Sho winners have won this race over the past decade.

Rey de Oro: Also 5 years old is Rey de Oro, a son of King Kamehameha. Winner of two Grade 1s, the 2017 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) and the 2018 Tenno Sho (Autumn), Rey de Oro is returning from Dubai, where he finished sixth in the Dubai Sheema Classic (2,410 meters, G1) at Meydan on March 30. Agitated on the day, Rey de Oro was unable to perform at his best, but back on home turf, racing in the daylight and at the track where he captured the Grade 2 Kobe Shimbun Hai (2,400 meters), he is likely to fare better. He has also won at the distance, albeit at Nakayama, in the Grade 2 Sankei Sho All Comers. Nonetheless, though the Miho-based Rey de Oro has been getting regular work and has handled the long trip west well before, his mindset on raceday will be key. Christophe Lemaire is set for the ride and is undoubtedly eager to make up for missed time. He will be gunning for his fourth JRA Grade 1 win of the year. Only three Japan-based jockeys have won four Grade 1 races in the first half of the year since the graded system was inaugurated in 1984 – Yutaka Take twice, Katsumi Ando and Yuichi Fukunaga once.

Suave Richard: The 5-year-old Heart’s Cry-sired Suave Richard is also returning from Dubai, where he beat Rey de Oro over the line in the Dubai Sheema Classic with his third-place finish. Though his most competitive racing has come racing to the left, Suave Richard aced the Osaka Hai (2,000 meters) last year at Hanshin. Though he has not made the winner’s circle in his five starts since, he has three thirds in Grade 1 company. Mirco Demuro is scheduled for the ride.

Al Ain: A son of Deep Impact, the 5-year-old was victorious in this year’s Osaka Hai, last out on March 31. Topping three other Takarazuka Kinen hopefuls, it was his first win in 11 starts, his first since winning the 2017 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas). Those 11 starts (all in graded-stakes races) did include three seconds and two thirds, however. Al Ain did have the advantage of an inside draw in the Osaka Hai, but wearing blinkers since two races ago seems to have helped. Able to handle a mile, Al Ain has the power to do well on a heavy track, always a possibility during the rainy season. He finished fourth in his only previous start racing under 58kg, but is expected to still prove competitive Sunday.

Lys Gracieux: The only female in the lineup is the 5-year-old daughter of Heart’s Cry. She is just back from a third-place finish in Hong Kong’s Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2,000 meters, G1) at Sha Tin Racecourse on April 28, her second Hong Kong race in some five months after running second in the Hong Kong Vase. Before that, she captured her first Grade 1 with the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2,200 meters, G1) at Kyoto, where she ran under 56kg, the same as she’ll carry in the Takarazuka Kinen. Sandwiched in between her overseas excursions was a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Kinko Sho over 2,000 meters. That’s three races competing against male horses where Lys Gracieux has finished in the money. A highly consistent runner, she has only figured out of the top three in three of her 19 career starts. That record, her late speed and weight advantage definitely call for a wager. Australian rider Damian Lane is expected to have the ride.

Etario: Of the Takarazuka Kinen entrants which have not yet captured a Grade 1 race, the 4-year-old colt Etario is attracting the most attention. He has only one win in 11 starts, but has, frustratingly, finished in second place seven times. The other three times he ran fourth. His last six starts have been in graded-stakes races, three of them Grade 1s and last out, he ran fourth in the 3,200-meter Tenno Sho (Spring) on April 28 while carrying 58kg. The colt has a tendency to quit running once away from the pack, but the shallower blinkers he wore last out are said to have helped him race more aggressively. Etario is sired by Stay Gold, whose progeny hold the record for most wins (five) in the Takarazuka Kinen. Paired with the colt for the first time is Norihiro Yokoyama, who has two wins of the Takarazuka, the last in 2014 aboard Gold Ship.
Another to watch is Makahiki, 2016 winner of the Japanese Derby. Sidelined for eight months with a fracture, he returned to finish second in the Grade 2 Sapporo Kinen in August 2018, but posted a lackluster 7-10 in his next two starts (both Grade 1s) through the end of the year. He started 2019 with a close third in Grade 2 company over 2,200 meters, then ran fourth in the Osaka Hai, only 0.2 seconds behind winner Al Ain. The extra distance this time should help this late closer.

Japanese glory in the American Triple Crown will have to wait for another day as the Koichi Tsunoda-trained Master Fencer finished fifth in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday evening.

Master Fencer, by triple Grade 1 champion in Japan Just a Way out of the Deputy Minister dam Sexy Zamurai, crossed the finish line almost three lengths behind the race’s new champion Sir Winston, trained by Mark Casse – who also works War of Will, winner of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown.

War of Will, the second choice in a field of 10, ended up a disappointing ninth. Tacitus, the top betting favorite, was runner-up a length behind Sir Winston with least-favored Joevia taking third. Sir Winston ran the 2,400 meters in 2 minutes, 28.30 seconds.

Tsunoda and jockey Julien Leparoux were gracious in defeat as they attempted to improve on Lani’s third-place finish in 2016 under Yutake Take in the “Test of the Champion.” Master Fencer was the eighth pick in the final leg of the U.S. Triple Crown.

“The horse was in excellent form and ran as well as he could,” the French-born Leparoux said of Master Fencer, who will leave for his trip back to Japan on Thursday. “But the pace was slow and I tried to get him going ahead of the final bend but he got left behind. He showed a lot of kick down the stretch, however, something he can be proud of.”

Master Fencer was trying to become the first Japanese-trained horse to win a G1 dirt race on United States soil. Go And Go, of Ireland in 1990, remains as the only non American-trained colt to have won the Belmont Stakes in the race’s 151-year history – the oldest of the U.S. Classic races.

After placing an impressive sixth in the May 4 Kentucky Derby on the slop at Churchill Downs, Master Fencer – the first horse bred in Japan to run in the Belmont Stakes – broke well from the No. 3 post and took a seat at the back for most of the journey along the railing to his style, blessed with far better than he had in the Derby a month ago.

Master Fencer made a valiant effort turning for home from the outside but by the time Leparoux’s mount hit top gear, Sir Winston and the frontrunners were well in the clear for the finish and a winner’s check of US$800,000 from a purse of US$1.5 million. Master Fencer did not run in the Preakness on May 18 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.

Tsunoda felt his horse could have done better but still proud of Master Fencer at the same time.

“We got off to a good start. The pace was gentle early on but it picked up going into the next to last turn and he just couldn’t keep up,” he said.

“It’s all part and parcel of racing so it is what it is but it’s tough to deal with because we were all in it to help Master Fencer win. The horse ran his heart out for sure. We’ll have to see how he recovers before deciding on when to race him next.”

Casse, the 10-time Sovereign Award winner, Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame member and 2019 nominee to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, was a happy camper the morning following the race.

“I'm not a drinker,” said the trainer, who was quoted by the official website of the Belmont Stakes. “But last night we all went out to dinner and the restaurant where we ate had a specialty drink on the menu called the Sir Winston.”

“So, I had one. It probably helped me sleep because I don't usually have one. I actually slept last night, and I slept good."
"There are lots of things going on right now. It usually takes me a few days, but we're very excited to win the Belmont. That was a great ride by Joel (Rosario).”

Master Fencer’s owner Katsumi Yoshizawa termed it all a good learning experience for his team.
“I had a really good time here and enjoyed the experience," Yoshizawa said. "I learned a lot for next time."

Fourth favorite Indy Champ claimed this year’s Yasuda Kinen in his first G1 challenge, renewing the race record to 1:30.9, 0.4 seconds shorter than previously set by Strong Return in 2012. Raced between 1,400 and 1,800 meters, the four-year-old Stay Gold colt immediately broke his maiden in his debut start in December as a two-year-old and registered three wins out of six starts last year. This season, he claimed his first graded win in his kick-off start, the Tokyo Shimbun Hai (G3, 1,600m), and came off a fourth in his latest Milers Cup (G2, 1,600m) start in April. For trainer Hidetaka Otonashi, this is his 10th JRA-G1 triumph following the Takarazuka Kinen with Mikki Rocket last year. Since his latest victory with Mr. Melody in this year’s Takamatsunomiya Kinen, jockey Yuichi Fukunaga is now the winning jockey of 24 JRA-G1 races, two of which are Yasuda Kinen titles—the other with Strong Return in 2012.

Indy Champ broke well and secured a rail trip in fifth up to the top of the straight. After struggling behind a wall of horses in early stretch, the four-year-old bay threaded out two furlongs out, displayed a good turn of foot up the hill and stretched strongly, overtaking the pacesetter in the final strides to clear the wire first.

“He was tuned up well, was in great shape, and had a good draw, so I just tried hard not to miss our break. He tends to get distracted when he’s up front so I kept him off the pace. We were up against fierce competition, but I believed that he had a good chance as long as I didn’t make any mistakes and he certainly responded beautifully to our expectations,” commented Yuichi Fukunaga.

Sent off third favorite, Aerolithe went right to the front after a good break and set a solid pace with Guanciale within a couple of lengths behind in second. Demonstrating good stamina, the five-year-old daughter of Kurofune stubbornly held on to the lead only to be caught a few strides before the finish line by Indy Champ for a neck second.

Heavily favored filly Almond Eye, aiming for her sixth consecutive G1 victory, immediately met traffic after breaking from stall 14 and was forced to settle between horses in the latter half of the field, a half-length behind second favorite Danon Premium. Failing to shift out at the last corner, the Lord Kanaloa filly finally found room 300 meters out and unleashed her trademark burst of speed, which was timed the fastest of the field, but had too much ground to make up and was a nose short for third.

Other Horses:
4th: (6) Guanciale—tracked leader in 2nd, showed tenacity, weakened in final strides
5th: (4) Sungrazer—saved ground in mid-division, showed effort but lacked another gear in last 200m
6th: (7) Mozu Ascot—settled in mid-pack, responded outside eventual winner, but no match in last 200m
7th: (1) Keiai Nautique—sat behind favorite, switched to inside at early stretch, showed belated effort
8th: (8) Stelvio—was off a bit slow, raced 2nd from rear, failed to find clear path at early stretch, accelerated in last 300m, timed 2nd fastest over last 3 furlongs
9th: (16) Logi Cry—advanced to 3rd from widest draw, ran gamely until 200m pole, weakened
10th: (13) Persian Knight—checked after break, trailed in rear, passed tired rivals at straight
11th: (3) Sakura Empereur—hugged rails in mid-group, checked 400m out, even paced
12th: (12) Lord Quest—traveled outside eventual winner, outrun in last furlong
13th: (9) Smart Odin—settled towards rear, circled wide, unable to reach contention
14th: (10) Fiano Romano—raced inside favorite, showed little at stretch
15th: (11) Entscheiden—ran 3-wide in mid-division, gradually fell back
16th: (15) Danon Premium—traveled 4-wide near favorite, never fired, faded after 300m marker

On Sunday, June 2 and coming on the heels off a longshot victory in the Japanese Derby is the final big event at Tokyo until the autumn – the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen, a mile turf event for horses 3 years old and up. The Yasuda Kinen is one of two races key to determine the year’s top miler. Often joined by raiders from abroad, this year’s running has no foreign-based runners, but it makes up for international flare and then some with the presence of the globe-trotting super filly Almond Eye.

Almond Eye was unanimously named 2018 Horse of the Year (and Best 3-Year-Old Filly) and is racing in Japan for the first time this year, back from victory in Dubai. Joining her will be regular rider Christophe Lemaire, who returns from a suspension that has knocked him out of the action for the last three weeks at the height of the spring campaign.

Five-time Grade 1 champion Almond Eye will be the overwhelming favorite on Sunday, but she’ll be joined by 16 others looking to end her seven-race winning streak and bring home the 110 million yen winner’s prize. Six Grade 1 winners are among them, with the 4-year-old colt Danon Premium and the 5-year-old mare Aerolithe considered among those having a shot at beating Almond Eye to the finish line.

The Yasuda Kinen began in 1951 as the Yasuda Sho and was named for the Japan Racing Association’s founding chairman Izaemon Yasuda. Important races leading up to the Yasuda Kinen include the Grade 2 Keio Hai Spring Cup, Grade 3 Lord Derby Challenge Trophy, Grade 2 Yomiuri Milers Cup, and Grade 3 Tokyo Shimbun Hai. The Yasuda lineup will include the winners of all those – respectively, Tower of London, Fiano Romano, Danon Premium, and Indy Champ.

The Tokyo 1,600 turf race starts at the top of the backstretch and continues some 500 meters to the first turn, which allows for ample maneuvering time even for those drawn wide. The track slopes down from the gate, then rises sharply about halfway down the backstretch before dropping around the bend. It rises sharply again from about 450 meters out until leveling with 300 meters to go. The weights for the Yasuda Kinen are set, with colts and horses carrying 58kg, with fillies and mares receiving a 2kg allowance.

The gate on the Yasuda Kinen will open at 15:40 local time and is the 11th race on the Tokyo card of 12. Here’s a look at some of the likely popular picks:

Almond Eye: The 4-year-old filly Almond Eye has captured five Grade 1 races in a row and returns straight from her victory at Meydan in the 1,800-meter Dubai Turf on March 30. It will be her first mile in over a year, since her win of the Oka Sho, but with two other wins at the distance, including her first, which was at Tokyo, there’s little reason to believe Almond Eye can’t win this one too. Last year’s Japan Cup victory in record time shows this girl has the speed to conquer the Tokyo track, which is currently lightning fast. Trainer Sakae Kunieda says she came out of the Dubai race better than she has from her other starts and, after quarantine and time at the farm, returned to Miho refreshed. Lemaire, who rode the Yasuda winner last year, rode track work at Miho on May 22 and all looked well. “She has always surpassed expectations and I’m looking forward to this race as well,” Kunieda said. If Almond Eye (or Aerolithe) aces the Yasuda, she will be the first female to win since Vodka’s victory a decade ago. Almond Eye would also become only the third horse in Japanese racing history to win six G1s back to back. T.M. Opera O was one. The other was Almond Eye’s sire Lord Kanaloa, who won the Yasuda in 2013. Two of the six horses who have returned from Dubai to go straight to the Yasuda have won.

Danon Premium: On the books, the Deep Impact colt Danon Premium matches Almond Eye not only for age but, more importantly, for their 6-for-7 records. Until now, however, the two have never met. The Ritto-based Danon Premium had to sit out the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) last year due to a bruised hoof and it most likely was a factor in his only loss, a sixth-place finish in the Japanese Derby (only 0.2 seconds behind the winner). Though his record is not as stellar as Almond Eye’s, it’s nonetheless solid. Winner of the top 2-year-old race, the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, Danon Premium also bagged a Grade 3 and three Grade 2 races and is coming off a win of the Yomiuri Milers Cup on April 21. Other than the Derby, his Grade 3 win, the Saudi Arabia Royal Cup, was also run at Tokyo and over a mile. In it, Danon Premium rewrote the 2-year-old course record. He has won all three of his mile bids and in the Yayoi Sho (2,000 meters, G2) last year he beat Wagnerian, who went on to win the Derby. Danon Premium is one of four Deep Impact colts in the Yasuda lineup. Two previous Yasuda winners were by the Triple Crown champ, and this spring’s fast track seems especially suited to Deep Impact progeny. Deep Impact fillies were 1-2 in the Oaks, his colts were 1-2 in the Derby last week.

Aerolithe: Aerolithe, a gray 5-year-old mare by Kurofune, gave jockey-turned-trainer Takanori Kikuzawa his first Grade 1 victory when she captured the NHK Mile Cup in 2017. Since then, her best in her six top-level starts both at home and abroad was her second in this race last year. Last out in the Victoria Mile, she soon reached the front and led the field at a blistering pace that saw her pass the 1,000m mark in 56 seconds. She held her ground until less than 100 meters out, but finished fifth. It was an impressive run, especially considering that it was her first race since returning from the U.S. and her ninth-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (1,900 meters, G1). Kikuzawa, who rides her track work himself, said she felt good on May 24, when he clocked her on the flat. “She extended nicely and her movement was good. I’d say she can do well even with the short time between races.” Last year, Aerolithe ran fourth in the Victoria Mile before running second in the Yasuda.

Stelvio: Another Lord Kanaloa runner is the 4-year-old colt Stelvio. His best results have come at the mile, including a second in the Grade 1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes as a 2-year-old and a win of the Grade 1 Mile Championship last year. This will be Stelvio’s first Yasuda Kinen and only his second time over the Tokyo mile. His first was in the Saudi Arabia Royal Cup in 2017, when he ran second to Danon Premium. This year, he has had two starts, ending in a third in the 1,800-meter Grade 2 Nakayama Kinen and, after a 12-kg drop in weight, a 14th-place finish in the Grade 1 Osaka Hai (2,000 meters). In the Nakayama Kinen he finished a close third behind the winner Win Bright and runner-up Lucky Lilac, who was racing under 4kg less. A return to the mile and the proximity of the track are pluses.

Indy Champ: This Stay Gold 4-year-old has five wins in nine starts and has made fourth or better in all. All but two have been over the mile. He scooped the Grade 3 Tokyo Shimbun Hai, a mile race at Tokyo, in his first race of the year and then took on the Milers Cup. Impatient with the slow pace in the early stages of that race, he failed to gain ground in the stretch and finished fourth. The higher pace of a Grade 1 should help Indy Champ in his first top-level event.

Mozu Ascot: Mozu Ascot, an American-bred 5-year-old by Frankel, notched his first big victory on his first Grade 1 bid when he won the Yasuda Kinen last year. He had yet to win a graded-stakes race but had finished second in both the Hankyu Hai (1,400, G3) and the Yomiuri Milers Cup (G2). Since then, though, things haven’t gone so swimmingly. Though he did run second in the Swan Stakes (1,400, G2) last fall, his Mile Championship bid ended in a double-digit finish after being interfered turning into the stretch. In Hong Kong, he finished seventh in the Mile and his only start this year, the Yomiuri Milers Cup, saw him finish in seventh again, a full second off the winner.

Also worth a mention are Persian Knight, who was runner-up in the Mile Championship last year and winner of the same in 2017. Sixth here last year, he has had only two 2,000-meter starts this year since returning from Hong Kong. A return to the mile should be a welcome. The 5-year-old Sungrazer finished fifth here last year after winning the Milers Cup in record time. He has had four starts since last year’s Yasuda, all over 2,000 meters and could be an interesting pick. The Kazuo Fujisawa-trained Tower of London, who was third in the Grade 1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes last year, is coming off a win of the Keio Hai Spring Cup and could surprise.
Comment source: Net keiba