Songoficeandfire

Sent off the 2-1 second betting favorite, Meiner Vision (Jpn) sat three wide the trip and battled on bravely through the final furlong to become the first Japanese winner and third overall for Mill Ridge Farm's freshman sire Oscar Performance (Kitten's Joy--Devine Actress, by Theatrical {Ire}) in an 1800-meter maiden at Fukushima Racecourse. Drawn gate 11 in a scratched-down field of 12, the bay was nudged along early to take up a prominent position and landed three wide punching the breeze while firmly held by jockey Yukito Ishikawa. Settled nicely...

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 weekend running Saturday at Tokyo and Sunday at Hanshin. The latter venue plays host to Sunday's G1 Takarazuka Kinen, the final top-level event in Japan for three months and offering the winner a spot in the field for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf...