New York-bred Moanin (Henny Hughes) won for the sixth time in seven career outings, establishing a new Tokyo track record in taking out Sunday's G1 February S. by 1 1/4 lengths from favored Nonkono Yume (Jpn) (Twining). Asukano Roman (Jpn) (Agnes Digital) was another head back in third and narrowly ahead of Best Warrior (Majestic Warrior) in fourth.
Favored in each of his six previous trips postward, Moanin, a $90,000 graduate of the 2013 Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Sale at Saratoga, breezed an eighth of a mile in :10 flat and was hammered down to Emmanuel de Seroux's Narvick International for $335,000 at the 2014 OBS March sale. De Seroux was doing his bidding on behalf of his client Yukio Baba, who 12 months earlier had bid $230,000 through de Seroux for another colt by Henny Hughes. That purchase, subsequently named Asia Express, would cap a perfect three-race campaign with a victory in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity en route to divisional honors in Japan and graced the cover of the 2014 March catalogue.
Settled in mid-division for the opening stages after jumping from gate 14, Moanin pulled Mirco Demuro into a forward position about three wide with some cover entering the turn. Traveling well in upper stretch, the 4-1 chance came off heels, hit the front 200 meters from home and was never in serious danger as Nonkono Yume made some late headway. The final time of 1:34 set a new course record.
“I was aware of his strength and had every confidence in him so I`m truly happy we were able to win,” said Mirco Demuro. “The trainer warned me of his bad breaks, but he actually jumped fine and after we were positioned well, I knew the title was ours. I'm glad that he stretched well in spite of losing concentration a bit after taking the lead rather early in the straight,” added the Italian rider.
Moanin is one of three of his dam's produce to be domiciled in Japan, joining the 5-year-old Cosmo Zig (Stephen Got Even) and 3-year-old Niagara Roll (Bluegrass Cat). Giggly is the dam of the 2-year-old filly Silly Sister (Broken Vow), but passed away in 2015 at the age of 10.
Sunday, Tokyo, Japan
FEBRUARY S.-G1, ¥189,620,000 (US$ 1,683,438), Tokyo, 2-21, 4yo/up, 1600m, 1:34 (NTR), hy.
1–MOANIN, 126, c, 4, by Henny Hughes
1st Dam: Giggly, by Distorted Humor
2nd Dam: Chaste, by Cozzene
3rd Dam: Purity, by Fappiano
($90,000 Ylg '13 FTNAUG; $335,000 2yo, '14 OBSMAR).
O-Yukio Baba; B-Empire Equines LLC (NY); T-Sei Ishizaka; J-Mirco
Demuro; ¥100,444,000. Lifetime Record: 7-6-0-1, ¥194,532,000.
Werk Nick Rating: A+ . Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
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2–Nonkono Yume (Jpn), 126, c, 4, Twining–Nonko (Jpn), by Agnes
Tachyon (Jpn). O-Kazumasa Yamada; B-Shadai Farm;
¥39,984,000.
3–Asukano Roman (Jpn), 126, h, 5, Agnes Digital–Asukano
Himiko (Jpn), by Tabasco Cat. O-Chiro Toyoda; B-Niikappu
Tangano Farm; ¥24,492,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, HD, HD. Odds: 4.10, 1.40, 17.10.
Also ran: Best Warrior, Roi Jardin (Jpn), Tagano Tonnerre (Jpn), Copano
Rickey (Jpn), Monde Classe(Jpn), Roman Legend (Jpn), White Fugue (Jpn),
Grape Brandy (Jpn), Susan Joy (Jpn), Sano Ichi (Jpn), Maruka Fleet (Jpn),
Corin Berry (Jpn), Passion Dance (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart and video.
Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
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