Cattleya S.

Carrying the recognizable colors of Silk Racing and leading jockey Christophe Lemaire--the same pairing that will be represented by Equinox (Jpn) in Sunday's G1 Japan Cup--the white 2-year-old colt Amante Bianco (Jpn) (Henny Hughes) found clear sailing two furlongs from home and ran out a 3/4-length winner of Saturday's $206,819 Cattleya S. at Tokyo Racecourse. The 1600-meter allowance is the first leg on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, and the winner earned 10 points towards a start in the Run for the Roses. Amante Bianco, a debut winner...

The first of four legs of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, the $220,717 Cattleya S. (allowance), was staged Saturday afternoon over Tokyo's one-turn mile and for the second year in a row, a son of successful young stallion and former U.S. Eclipse Award winner Drefong drew first blood in the series. Drawn one from the outside in afield of 10, Continuar (Jpn) broke alertly, but was ultimately beaten for speed and settled in the second flight of horses while racing three off the inside and with cover down...

The first crop of foals sired by Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Drefong (Gio Ponti) have performed so well since 2-year-old racing in Japan began in early June that he has seen his covering fee bumped from ¥3 million (about $26,400) to ¥7 million (about $61,700) for the 2022 breeding season. Consigliere (Jpn) has done his part to help cement his sire's footing on the competitive Japanese breeding landscape and ran his record to two wins from as many starts with a neck defeat of Cafe Karma (Jpn) (Henny Hughes) in Saturday's...

The 2022 Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby kicks off Saturday with the running of the Cattleya S. (allowance) at Tokyo Racecourse. Thirteen colts and two fillies line up for the 1600-meter test which begins with a run-up on the grass before linking up with the dirt track. World Connector (Connect) has made both of his career starts to date at Tokyo, settling for a debut second as the 8-5 favorite going this course and trip Oct. 9 before dead-heating for the maiden win in a one-mile event on the...