By Heather Anderson
Successful in both a 2-year-old newcomer heat locally Nov. 24 and in a Dec. 15 1400-metre Chukyo contest, Oval Ace stepped up to take the Listed Hyacinth S. back at Tokyo and earn 30 points toward the Japanese Road to the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May. Racing in midpack well off the fence, the chestnut was well covered up as R Rosso (Jpn) (South Vigorous) showed the way. Gradually making inroads toward the lead with less than a half-mile remaining, Oval Ace fanned out into the center of the track and took dead aim on the new leader, Weitblick. It took until the final furlong, but he ground past that stubborn rival who briefly match strides for a comfortable win.
Oval Ace now sits atop the Japanese Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 30 points. Favoured Derma Louvre, who previously had run second to leaderboard runner-up Nova Lenda (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) in the Listed Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun and earned eight points that day, increased his point total to 14 with a third-place finish on Sunday. Cattleya Sho heroine Make Happy (Square Eddie) is in fourth with 12 points after running unplaced in the Hyacinth. The final race on the “Japanese Road to the Kentucky Derby” is the Fukuryu S. at Nakayama on Mar. 31, worth 40 points to the winner.
One of 33 black-type winners for his sire, Oval Ace is one of four winners for his dam, the winning Abbracio (Jpn). She has a juvenile colt by Victoire Pisa (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart or the Video.
Sunday, Tokyo, Japan
HYACINTH S.-Listed, ¥36,520,000 (US$330,693/£255,998/€292,823), Tokyo, 2-17, 3yo, 1600m, 1:38.60, gd.
1–OVAL ACE (JPN), 123, c, 3, Henny Hughes
1st Dam: Abbracio (Jpn), by Grass Wonder
2nd Dam: Juji Hoseki (Jpn), by Maruzensky (Jpn)
3rd Dam: Juji Tarquin (Jpn), by Huntercombe (GB)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O-Tsuru Nishimori; B-Umeda Bokujo
(Jpn); T-Noboru Takagi; J-Masayoshi Ebina. ¥19,224,000.
Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, ¥36,518,000.
2–Weitblick (Jpn), 123, c, 3, Symboli Kris S–Weisheit (Jpn), by
Admire Vega (Jpn). O-U Carrot Farm; B-Northern Farm (Jpn);
T-Shoichiro Wada. ¥7,664,000.
3–Derma Louvre (Jpn), 125, c, 3, Pyro–Caribbean Romance
(Jpn), by Commands (Aus). (¥12,000,000 Ylg '17 JRHAJUL).
O-Hiroyuki Asanuma; B-Bando Bokujo (Jpn); T-Hirofumi Toda.
¥4,832,000.
Margins: 3/4, 2HF, 3/4. Odds: 2.70, 5.0, 1.40.
Also Ran: Master Fencer (Jpn), Imeru (Jpn), Nanyo Izayoi (Jpn), R Rosso (Jpn), Orthographe (Ire), Make Happy, Miyake (Jpn).
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