By Alan Carasso
Cleverly named Godolphin homebred Combustion (Jpn) (Discreet Cat) shot to the head of the leaderboard on the 'Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby' with a determined 3/4-length defeat of Geraldo Barows (Jpn) (Sinister Minister) in Sunday's Listed Hyacinth S. going a one-turn mile at Tokyo Racecourse. American-bred Sea Vixen (Into Mischief), the only filly in the field of 14, was a brave third.
Ridden forward by Breeders' Cup-winning jockey Yuga Kawada, Combustion raced handy to a good pace set by Sea Vixen and was glued to the fence as the field reached the midway stage. Asked for his best with 400 meters to travel, Combustion charged through inside of the front-runner a bit more than a furlong from home and held firm as Geraldo Barows, third in the course-and-distance first leg of the series, the Cattleya S. back in November, took a run at him late.
Combustion is the 36th stakes winner for GI Cigar Mile H. hero Discreet Cat and the sire's second Japanese stakes winner. Smoldering, a half-sister to three-time SW Fashionista (Jpn) (Street Sense), is the dam of a yearling full-brother to Combustion and was most recently covered by Godolphin's dual G1 Dubai World Cup hero Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}).
Combined with the eight points he earned for his runner-up effort to Dry Stout (Jpn) (Sinister Minister) in the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun in December, Combustion–who was not among the original nominees to the Triple Crown–now sits on 38 points, while Geraldo Barows took his point total to 14. Cattleya S. winner Consigliere (Jpn) (Drefong) runs in Saturday's $1.5-million Saudi Derby. The final leg of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby is the Mar. 26 Fukuryu S. at Nakayama.
Sunday, Tokyo, Japan
HYACINTH S. (3rd Leg Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby)-Listed, ¥36,650,000 ($318,763), Tokyo, 2-20, 3yo, 1600m, 1:35.3, my.
1–COMBUSTION (JPN), 126, c, 3, by Discreet Cat
1st Dam: Smoldering (Jpn), by Pyro
2nd Dam: Aquarist (GB), by Coronado's Quest
3rd Dam: Oyster Catcher (Ire), by Bluebird
1ST STAKES WIN. O/B-Godolphin; T-Keizo Ito; J-Yuga Kawada; ¥19,315,000. Lifetime Record: 5-3-2-0, ¥63,283,000.
2–Geraldo Barows (Jpn), 123, c, 3, Sinister Minister–What a Spot, by Arch. O-Hirotsugu Inokuma; B-Hattori Bokujo; T-Ryo Terashima; J-Shu Ishibashi; ¥7,690,000.
3–Sea Vixen, 119, f, 3, Into Mischief–Sly Warrior, by First Samurai. ($130,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP; $500,000 2yo '21 OBSMAR). O-Yuji Hasegawa; B-Breeze Easy LLC (KY); T-Kazuo Fujisawa; J-Hiroshi Kitamura; ¥4,845,000.
Margins: NK, 1 1/4, HF. Odds: 2.60, 10.50, 38.10.
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