Japan Horse Racing Tips-Umanity.jp|TENNO SHO(SPRING)(G1) is held this weekend

Overwhelming race favorite Saturnalia won this year’s Satsuki Sho to register two consecutive G1 victories following the year-end Hopeful Stakes. Unbeaten in all his for starts since his debut last year, the son of Lord Kanaloa and out of Cesario became the 17th unbeaten colt to claim the Satsuki Sho since Deep Impact in 2005. Trainer Katsuhiko Sumii claimed his 25th JRA-G1 title following his win in the 2017 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) with Kiseki and his second Satsuki Sho victory following his win with Victoire Pisa in 2010. This win marked jockey Christophe Lemaire’s 24th JRA-G1 win following the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) title with Gran Alegria just last week. He became the ninth jockey in JRA history to have won all five classic titles for three-year-old colts and fillies.

Breaking smoothly from stall 12, Saturnalia settled in mid-division, around ninth from Lance of Puraana who set a moderate pace. Traveling wide behind Velox, the son of Lord Kanaloa closed the gap between the frontrunners turning the last two corners and surged out behind Velox after entering the lane. With four horses rallying to take the front at the 200-meter pole, Saturnalia, Velox and Danon Kingly continued to maintain strong speed in the last 100 meters to launch a fierce rally up to the wire with Saturnalia managing to come home a head in front.

“I rode him for the first time in the race but I had confidence in him. He seemed a bit nervous and drifted towards the inside when we took command before the crowd. His condition was not 100% as it was his first start this year but he should be in top condition going into the Japanese Derby,” commented Christophe Lemaire.

Fourth choice Velox traveled two wide in striking position, around 5-6th from the front. The son of Just a Way was the first to enter the lane and while falling back to third in the three-horse rally, found another gear in his last strides to beat Danon Kingly by a nose for second place.
Third favorite Danon Kingly broke sharply and settled fourth from the front while taking an economic trip by the rails. The Deep Impact colt met traffic entering the lane but found a narrow space between horses, unleashed a powerful charge from the inside to launch a fierce rally with the eventual winner and runner-up and, though taking the front at one point, was a head and a nose short at the wire to finish third.

Other Horses:
4th: (1) Admire Mars—raced towards front, switched to outside for clear path, no match for top 3 finishers
5th: (6) Courageux Guerrier—traveled inside winner, quickened in last 200m, belatedly
6th: (16) Tagano Diamante—settled 2nd from rear, advanced after 3rd corner, showed belated charge
7th: (11) Last Draft—ran behind winner, angled out, even paced at stretch
8th: (17) Admire Justa—sat 3rd from rear along rails, accelerated between horses, belatedly
9th: (14) Daddy’s Mind—stalked leader in 2nd, led briefly at early stretch, weakened in last 200m
10th: (18) Naimama—positioned towards rear, circled wide, passed tired rivals
11th: (13) Breaking Dawn—saved ground in mid-group, met traffic 200m out, lost momentum
12th: (10) Schwarz Riese—took economic trip in mid-division, lacked needed kick
13th: (3) Fantasist—hugged rails in mid-pack, never fired at stretch
14th: (2) Satono Lux—raced 3-wide in mid-group, found little room at early stretch, never threatened
15th: (9) Meisho Tengen—trailed in rear, unable to reach contention
16th: (15) Kurino Gaudi—chased leaders in 3rd, ran out of steam at stretch
17th: (8) Nishino Daisy—traveled 3-wide in mid-division, outrun after 3rd corner
18th: (5) Lance of Puraana—set pace, faded after final corner

Overwhelming favorite Oju Chosan renewed Karasi’s 2005-2007 record and claimed his fourth back-to-back Nakayama Grand Jump victory. This marks his 11th consecutive graded steeplechase win, and sixth J-G1 triumph which include two Nakayama Daishogai titles. Following his 2018 Nakayama Grand Jump victory, the son of Stay Gold was briefly switched to flat racing where he marked two wins out of three starts and finished ninth in the year-end Arima Kinen. Sent back to challenge the jumps, he kicked off this season in good form immediately claiming the Hanshin Spring Jump win. Oju Chosan has given trainer Shoichiro Wada all of his six J-G1 titles and jockey Shinichi Ishigami, who grabbed an additional one in the Nakayama Daishogai with Nihonpiro Baron last year, now celebrates his seventh.

The eleven-horse field broke evenly before Miyaji Taiga took the lead after the first jump (obstacle no. 5), followed by Meiner Prompt in second and Oju Chosan in third. Challenged by Nihonpiro Baron from the outside coming out of the first dip, Oju Chosan swiftly advanced to threaten the leader before the brush fence (no. 6) but settled in second and eventually behind Nihonpiro Baron in third at the sixth jump (no.5). As the three climbed out of the dip together and cleared the seventh jump (grand hedge no.7) side by side, Miyaji Taiga once again paved the way but was caught in the backstretch and was through while Oju Chosan approached the 11th jump (no.9) next to Thinking Dancer in front of the others. The heavy favorite saved ground rounding the final turn and held off the challenge from the eventual runner-up to secure his fourth title by a good 2-1/2-length margin.

“The pressure from the other runners during the run was enormous—this was definitely the toughest race I’ve ever experienced. Besides one, we cleared all of the jumps well and he stretched to the line beautifully. I had no doubts about his strength and it’s a real joy to win four in a row,” commented Shinichi Ishigami after the ceremony.

Thinking Dancer was settled in around sixth and mid-pack most of the journey, made headway after the 10th jump (no.8) and caught up with the eventual winner at the 11th obstacle (no.9). Although the sixth-pick chestnut was no match against the defending champion despite a good challenge up to the final jump (no.10), Thinking Dancer showed good stayer talent clearing the wire seven lengths ahead of the next finisher.

Fourth favorite Meiner Prompt tracked the leaders in second, then fourth near the pace and dropped back a bit after the seventh jump (no.7). However, after clearing the final jump in fifth, the seven-year-old gelding emerged with another gear and overtook two tiring runners down the stretch for third.

Other Horses:
4th: (6) Rapid Ship—traveled around 8th, gradually advanced after 7th jump (no.7), responded well after final jump (no.10)
5th: (10) Taisei Dream—settled in 5th, made headway to close in on leaders after 10th jump (no.8), weakened after final jump (no.10)
6th: (1) Nihonpiro Baron—raced behind Oju Chosan, advanced to 2nd after 5th jump (no.6), gradually fell back after 7th jump (no.7)
7th: (8) Le Pere Noel—raced around 8th, unable to reach contention
8th: (2) Miyaji Taiga—set pace, faded after 10th jump (no.8)
9th: (11) Yamanin Sylphe—sat 3rd form rear, no factor
FF: (7) Toa Tsukihikari—trailed in rear throughout, unseated rider after final jump (no.10)
FF: (9) Shigeru Boss Zaru—ran 2nd from rear throughout, unseated rider after final jump (no.10)

After a thrilling Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) last weekend saw another exciting filly in Gran Alegria carry off the honors, attention this coming week focuses on the 3-year-old colts, when they will battle it out at Nakayama Racecourse near Tokyo, in the 79th running of the Grade 1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas). It represents the start of a long and arduous road of the Triple Crown races, a tough enough assignment that has only seen seven Triple Crown winners in Japanese racing history. The last horse to accomplish the feat was Orfevre in 2011.

This year 19 colts have been nominated for the race, which is run over 2,000 meters of the inner turf course at Nakayama. With the start in the homestraight, runners must negotiate four corners throughout their run, making it a hard task and leaving very little room for error. Some of the step races leading into this year’s Satsuki Sho have included the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes, run over course and distance last December, the Grade 3 Kyodo News Service Hai, run over 1,800 meters at Tokyo in February, and the Grade 2 Hochi Hai Yayoi Sho, run over 2,000 meters at Nakayama in March. The latter is an official Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) trial.

First favorites have been faring quite poorly, in similar fashion to favorites in the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas), and just two have won the first colts’ Classic in the last 10 years. The last one to do so was Logotype in 2013. Record time for the race is 1 minute, 57.8 seconds, set by Al Ain in 2017. Horses trained at the Ritto Training Center in the west of Japan have won the race six times in the past decade, winning twice more than horses trained at the Miho Training Center, closer to Tokyo.

It’ll be a big weekend at Nakayama Racecourse, with the Nakayama Grand Jump (J-G1) being run on the Saturday, followed by the Satsuki Sho on the Sunday. The latter will be Race 11 on the card, with a post time of 15:40 local time. Final declarations and barrier draw will come out later this week.

Here’s a look at some of the colts expected to be in the lineup:

Saturnalia: The well-bred colt is a half-brother to 2014 Japan Cup winner Epiphaneia and is out of dual Oaks winner Cesario. He remains unbeaten in three career starts and will be having his first run this year after having won the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at the end of last year over the course and distance of the Satsuki Sho. Assistant trainer Yasuyuki Tsujino said: “He showed both mental and physical strength last time when winning the Hopeful Stakes. After that he had a break at Northern Farm Shigaraki and came back to the stable on March 13. His work since has been good and we have enough time to get him just right for the race.”

Admire Mars: The Best 2-Year-Old Colt of 2018 lost his unbeaten record in his one race this year, when he finished second to Danon Kingly in the Grade 3 Kyodo News Service Hai over 1,800 meters at Tokyo in February. His big race rider will be Mirco Demuro, who’s partnered him in all his races so far. Trainer Yasuo Tomomichi said, “In the Kyodo News Service Hai, he was out in front, and I thought he might be able to sustain things to the end, but the pace was a bit slow and the winner was just able to find a bit more at the finish. He’s had a break at the farm, but we now have this race in mind for him.”

Danon Kingly: The Deep Impact colt is unbeaten in three starts, and jockey Keita Tosaki will be hoping he can give him another win in the race, having won last year on Epoca d’Oro. Danon Kingly has one win at Nakayama, and that was over 1,600 meters last December. Trainer Kiyoshi Hagiwara said: “After his last race he went to Northern Farm Tenei for a break and came back to the stable on March 22. On March 27, he worked on the woodchip course with his race jockey, and everything was confirmed as being fine with him.”

Velox: The colt has had a couple of easy wins so far this year, the latest in the Wakaba Stakes over 2,000 meters at Hanshin in March. Jockey Yuga Kawada has struck up a good partnership with the horse, who is by Just a Way, a winner of the Dubai Turf in 2014. Assistant trainer Teruhiko Saruhashi commented: “It was a good win last time in the Wakaba Stakes and he’s come out of that race well. There’s no tiredness about him and things are as usual.”

Satono Lux: Trainer Yasutoshi Ikee has already won one Grade 1 race this year with Al Ain in the Osaka Hai. The colt is by Deep Impact and was bred at Northern Farm, and he has the distinction of being the highest priced horse sold at the 2017 Select Sale. He’s coming off a win in the Listed Sumire Stakes over 2,200meters at Hanshin in February. The trainer stated, “After his second win he was quite tired, so we had to miss the Kisaragi Sho. After completely recovering, we took in the Sumire Stakes, and he’s recovered quickly after winning that race.”

Meisho Tengen: Another Deep Impact colt, Meisho Tengen managed to improve on his fifth place in the Grade 3 Kisaragi Sho over 1,800 meters at Kyoto in February to go on and win the Grade 2 Hochi Hai Yayoi Sho over 2,000 meters at Nakayama on heavy ground. He’s trained by Kaneo Ikezoe. “He won well last time, despite the heavy ground, and I was worried about that, given his run in the Kisaragi Sho. So I can take a lot from his last run and he’s been his usual self since,” the trainer said.
Emeral Fight: Winner of his last two races, including the official Guineas trial, the Grade 2 Fuji TV Sho Spring Stakes most recently, the colt by Kurofune would seem suited to the Nakayama track. His closing speed last time just saw him grab a narrow win. Trainer Ikuo Aizawa said, “He got into a good position last time in the Spring Stakes and then went on to run a strong race. Since then we’ve been able to work him in the usual way, and we just keep things light with him for the time being.”

Japan-trained Kluger, a 7-year-old by King Kamehameha, finished fourth in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile held at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

In a 20-horse field, the Tomokazu Takano-trained horse made a late charge in the final furlong but was not enough to catch the top three finishers. Carrying a moderate 53kg with Tommy Berry, Kluger finished 2.7 lengths off of the winner, Brutal, a 3-year-old colt running under 49.5kg. Dreamforce finished a length behind Brutal, with Hugh Bowman's Hartnell rounding out the Top 3.

"He missed the start but used advantage of the inside draw," Takano said of his horse. "He couldn't really get into the flow of the race, but I'm satisfied with his actions in the final stretch - he ran his heart out."

"I was able to get good position after the start," Berry said. "The pace picked up before the final straight and it took him about 100 meters to get going. But he showed great speed in the last 200, 250 meters and I'm thankful for his efforts."