By Alan Carasso
Susumu Fujita's Shin Emperor (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), the full-brother to G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr) and €2.1-million topper at the 2022 Arqana August sale, made a successful racecourse debut Saturday, bursting through with 400 metres to travel en route to a three-length success at Tokyo Racecourse.
Trying an 1800-metre trip for this first go, the son of Starlet's Sister (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was first to break the line and could have led had they chosen, but Takeshi Yokoyama elected to allow the colt to find his feed and settled in a handy fourth behind a steady tempo for the long run down the back straight. Patiently handled on the circle just behind the speed, Shin Emperor traveled strongly and had to be pulled off heels with the real running about to begin, but he split rivals decisively and sprinted his final 600 metres in a strong :33.8 for an easy victory as the $4 (3-1) second favourite.
“He was stronger than I imagined, and I thought he was a good horse from the start,” said Yokoyama. “He's still a kid and he's still a challenge, but he's a horse I'm looking forward to.”
Added winning trainer Yoshito Yahagi: “I'm relieved to see such a performance from a new horse with such a deep pedigree.”
While not specifying any future targets, Shin Emperor would certainly be on a trajectory towards the 2024 Japanese Classics, which begin with the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) in April. There are two top-level opportunities for 2-year-old males in December in Japan, the Asahi Hai Futurity over a mile and the Hopeful S. going 2000 metres.
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