Japan

Grade I winner Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow--Indian Miss, by Indian Charlie) will stand at Shadai Stallion Station in Japan beginning in 2023. The GI Pennsylvania Derby hero and half-brother to Eclipse Champion Sprinter Mitole (Eskendereya) will stand for ¥2,000,000. Eisuke Tokutake of Shadai Stallion Station said, "Hot Rod Charlie has only one [Grade I] win, but he is running steadily, and his pedigree background is a stallion that is definitely a Japan stallion [in the making] with a champion sprinter as his half-brother, [Mitole]." Purchased for $17,000 as a short...

To a degree, when it comes to the Japanese sires' championship of 2022, one could resort to that old saying 'the more things change, the more they stay the same'. It holds good for now, as in the last three years the names filling the top three spots in the list have remained the same, in an unchanged order: Deep Impact (Jpn), Lord Kanaloa (Jpn), and Heart's Cry (Jpn). But all things change eventually and, as we know, two of those stallions are no longer active, with Deep Impact gaining...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this Saturday running at Chukyo and Nakayama Racecourses: Saturday, January 7, 2023 3rd-NKY, ¥11,850,000, Newcomers, 3yo, 1200m HARDWIRED (c, 3, Hard Spun--Season Maker, by Pioneerof the Nile) is the first foal out of an unplaced daughter of the late French SW & MGSP Season's...

6th-Hanshin, ¥14,250,000 ($106,284), Allowance, 2yo, 1800m, 1:53.9, ft. YUTTITHAM (JPN) (c, 2, Justify--Zipessa {GISW, $783,550}, by City Zip) improved for a debut second at Sapporo Aug. 27 to graduate by eight lengths when last seen over this course and distance Dec. 3 and was a warm item to put them back-to-back in this seasonal finale. Beaten for speed, the flashy chestnut was content to punch the breeze three wide and was poised to strike from the position as they neared the straight. Asked for his best by premiership-winning jockey Yuga...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for Wednesday running at Hanshin Racecourse, featuring a pair of first-crop runners by Justify. The final day of the JRA calendar for 2022 also includes the G1 Hopeful S. for 2-year-olds at Nakayama. Read our preview here: Wednesday, December 28, 2022 1st-HSN, ¥9,900,000, Maiden, 2yo,...

Five years after his sire clinched a second consecutive Horse of the Year title in Japan with a victory in the G1 Arima Kinen, Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) stated his case for top year-end honours for 2022 with a dominating display in front of a pandemic-restricted, but boisterous crowd of roughly 47,000 fans Christmas Day at Nakayama Racecourse. The firming 13-10 favourite in the fan-voted affair, Equinox left without incident from gate nine and landed in midfield on the back of defending champion and reigning Horse of the Year...

Sunday's G1 Arima Kinen offers fans of international racing the ultimate Christmas gift, as a field of 16--largely selected by the public--will face the starter in one of the world's most valuable Group 1 races not held in a desert environment. Titleholder (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) was the leading votegetter and looks to atone for his speed-and-fade 11th-place effort in that boggy-ground renewal of the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp Oct. 2. He'd earned the right to contest Europe's weight-for-age championship, having defeated fellow Arc runner Deep Bond...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this Saturday running at Nakayama Racecourse. The highlight of the weekend and one of the year's main events, the G1 Arima Kinen (Grand Prix) has attracted most every top galloper in Japan. Tune in Sunday morning at 1:40 a.m. ET if still setting out...

In this continuing series, Alan Carasso takes a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Chukyo, Nakayama and Hanshin Racecourses. Juvenile Fillies got their chance at Group 1 glory last weekend and it's the boys' turn this weekend at Hanshin, with the running of the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity: Saturday, December 17, 2022 5th-CKO,...

Sunday Racing's Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) all but locked up champion 2-year-old filly honours in Japan with a thoroughly convincing defeat of 17 rivals in Sunday's G1 Hanshin  Juvenile Fillies. Yuga Kawada, who was forced to miss this past Wednesday's Longines International Jockeys' Championship in Hong Kong after testing positive for COVID prior to his departure, was cleared to ride the Sunday feature and settled the 8-5 favourite right in midfield and a few paths off the inside for the opening half-mile. Traveling with cover as they raced around...

Horse for the course T O Keynes (Jpn) (Sinister Minister) appears a very tough nut to crack in Sunday's G1 Champions Cup (ex Japan Cup Dirt) at Chukyo Racecourse, a race in which he bolted up by a half-dozen lengths over the classy Chuwa Wizard (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) twelve months ago. The 5-year-old earned a berth in the 2022 G1 Saudi Cup with his victory here last year, but he was disappointing in eighth behind Emblem Road (Quality Road) in Riyadh back in February. He regrouped and validated odds-on...

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...