Do Deuce Aces Test in Tenno Sho

Already an elite-level winner at 1600, 2400 and 2500 metres, Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) jumped out of the ground in the Tokyo straight and rattled home down the outside to add Sunday's G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) over the metric mile and a quarter. Fellow G1 Tokyo Yushun hero Tastiera (Jpn) (Satono Crown {Jpn}) could not resist the winner's flying finish and settled for second, while pacesetting Ho O Biscuits (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) was a valiant third.

Ho O Biscuits won the break from gate nine and set modest sectional times of :24.3 for the opening 400m and :47.9 for the first 800m as Do Deuce was settled one from the tail by the legendary Yutaka Take. Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), favored in her first start since a third in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in March, was handy enough to the pace, though deep on the course, beneath Yuga Kawada, while third choice Lebensstil (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) provided some cover for Do Deuce down the back of the track.

Ho O Biscuits was still enjoying a fairly leisurely time of things on the pointy end and was first to face the judge, with Liberty Island poised about four off the inside and Tastiera close enough if good enough. The pacesetter carried the Tenno Sho field into the final furlong, but by this time, Take had peeled Do Deuce off the heels of Lebensstil and covered his final 600 metres in an other-worldly :32.5, outfinishing Tastiera for the victory. Ho O Biscuits held for third ahead of a closing Justin Palace (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), racing at a distance short of optimal. Liberty Island remained in contention into the final 250 metres, but dropped away to beat just two home.

Do Deuce becomes the seventh horse to win Group 1 contests in four consecutive seasons, having taken out the Asahi Hai Futurity in 2021, the Tokyo Yushun the following season and last year's fan-voted Arima Kinen. It was a 20th JRA Group 1 for trainer Yasuo Tomomichi and an 82nd for Take, his first since the aforementioned Arima Kinen.

“I wanted to show the true ability and strength of Do Deuce today, so I was really happy when he was able to display his usual powerful kick in the last stretch and crossed the wire first,” said Take, winning the Autumn Tenno Sho for the seventh time overall and for the first time since piloting Kitasan Black (Jpn) in 2017. “The pace was not very fast and I was relying on his strong finishing speed, so I didn't want to make any unnecessary moves in the first half of the race and settled him second from last.”

Seventh to Kitasan Black's Equinox (Jpn) in last year's event and fourth to that Horse of the Year in the G1 Japan Cup, Do Deuce ran on strongly for fifth in this year's G1 Dubai Turf where he was hampered by fallen rival at a crucial stage. In his lone appearance since, Do Deuce may have struggled with easy underfoot conditions when sixth as the favourite in the G1 Takarazuka Kinen at Kyoto June 23.

Pedigree Notes:

Do Deuce is one of a dozen Group 1 winners for Heart's Cry, who was lost to the Japanese breeding industry in March 2023. Two of the stallion's sons–Suave Richard (Jpn) and Cheval Grand (Jpn)–count the Japan Cup among their top-level conquests, a race that figures the next landing spot for Do Deuce.

A Grade III winner for Satish Sanan's Padua Stable in September 2012, Dust and Diamonds was runner-up in that year's GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint and was acquired days after for $900,000 by Borges Torrealba Holdings at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale. For her new owner, she added the GIII Sugar Swirl Stakes prior to her retirement.

The mare was subsequently sold to Katsumi Yoshida for $1 million in foal to the late Pioneerof the Nile at the 2016 Keeneland November Sale and her stock increased when her foal of 2016, Much Better (Pioneerof the Nile), was placed twice at Grade III level as a 3-year-old in 2019.

Dust and Diamonds is also the dam of a 2-year-old colt by Real Steel (Jpn) that was purchased by Do Deuce's owner for a sales-topping ¥94.6 million as a foal at the 2022 Northern Farm Mixed Sale. She produced a filly by Silver State (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in 2023 and her colt by Triple Crown winner Contrail (Jpn) fetched ¥286 million from owner Ozora Kikaku at the Northern Farm Sale on Oct. 22.

Sunday, Tokyo, Japan
TENNO SHO (AUTUMN)-G1, ¥422,620,000 (£2,140,148/€2,569,952/US$2,774,923), Tokyo, 10-27, 3yo/up, 2000mT, 1:57.30, gd/fm.
1–DO DEUCE (JPN), 128, h, 5, by Heart's Cry (Jpn)
1st Dam: Dust and Diamonds (MGSW & GISP, $496,260), by Vindication
2nd Dam: Majestically, by Gone West
3rd Dam: Darling Dame, by Lyphard
O-Kieffers Inc; B-Northern Farm; T-Yasuo Tomomichi; J-Yutaka Take; ¥223,234,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. 2yo Colt-Jpn, 15-7-1-1, $9,288,963. *1/2 to Much Better (Pioneerof the Nile), MGSP, $350,454. Werk Nick Rating: C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Tastiera (Jpn), 128, c, 4, Satono Crown (Jpn)–Partitura (Jpn), by Manhattan Cafe (Jpn). O-Carrot Farm; B-Northern Farm; T-Noriyuki Hori; J-Kohei Matsuyama; ¥88,924,000.
3–Ho O Biscuits (Jpn), 128, c, 4, Mind Your Biscuits–Ho O Sabrina (Jpn), by Rulership (Jpn). O-Yoshihisa Ozasa; B-Okada Stud; T-Takeshi Okumura; J-Mirai Iwata; ¥55,462,000
Margins: 1 1/4, HF, NK. Odds: 2.80, 52.80, 47.10.
Also Ran: Justin Palace (Jpn), Matenro Sky (Jpn), Bellagio Opera (Jpn), Sol Oriens (Jpn), Lebensstil (Jpn), Stella Veloce (Jpn), Nishino Revenant (Jpn), North Bridge (Jpn), King's Palace (Jpn), Liberty Island (Jpn), Danon Beluga (Jpn), Schilthorn (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart.