Takarazuka Kinen

Elite-level racing in Japan for the first half of the season comes to a close this weekend with the running of the G1 Takarazuka Kinen, being contested this year at Kyoto Racecourse due to ongoing renovations at its normal home at Hanshin. The 2200-metre contest will earn the winner a fees-paid berth into the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar in early November. The Takarazuka Kinen is one of two fan-voted events on the JRA calendar annually, and its leading votegetter Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) will...

The fan-voted G1 Takarazuka Kinen drew no fewer than eight Group 1 winners, but the spotlight was squarely on Silk Racing's world number one Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), who was making his first start since decimating a world-class field in the G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan in late March. At the end of 2200 metres in front of a reported crowd of 45,000 at Hanshin Racecourse Sunday afternoon, the baldy faced 4-year-old did not disappoint, overcoming a wide trip that was very much by design before holding...

The final Group 1 of the first half of the year in Japan is set for Hanshin Racecourse Sunday afternoon, where Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), the world's top-rated racehorse on the heels of an imperious front-running victory in the G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic back in March, squares off against seven fellow elite-level scorers in the Takarazuka Kinen, an event which earns the winner a spot in the field for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Nov. 4. The flashy 4-year-old is the 1.30 (3-10) mortal early doors, but the...

Hanshin Racecourse is the site of Sunday's fan-voted G1 Takarazuka Kinen over the metric 11-furlong trip, with the winner earning a fees-paid berth in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland Race Course the first weekend of November. And with scarcely an exception, 18 of Japan's best middle-distance horses--with formlines from all over the world--are set to face the starter. A logical case can be made for perhaps as many as nine runners Sunday afternoon, including reigning Horse of the Year Efforia (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}), who looks to bounce...

Japan stages a pair of 'all-star' races each season, the G1 Takarazuka Kinen in early summer and the G1 Arima Kinen at year's end, giving fans a chance to vote for their favourite runners. The last four runnings of these events have been won by females--Lys Gracieux (Jpn) completed the double in 2019, while Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}) repeated the feat last year. The latter, who scored by six lengths last June, is back to defend her title in the final top-level test of the first half of the...

The 4-year-old filly Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}) was the second choice in the betting for Sunday's G1 Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin, but at the finish line there was no doubting who was number one, with the Sunday Racing colourbearer establishing her dominance with a race record six-length victory and earning a spot in the Nov. 7 GI Breeders' Cup Turf. After finishing third in the opening two races of last year's fillies' Triple Crown, the G1 Oka Sho and the G1 Yushun Himba, Chrono Genesis collected her first Group...

Lucky Lilac (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) attempts to add a fourth career win at the highest level in Sunday's 2,200-meter G1 Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse. Having proven herself consistent at a high level, Lucky Lilac, who recorded her initial Group 1 victory in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in 2017, won last fall's G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Kyoto in November before finishing runner-up in Sha Tin's G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase the following month. Second behind Danon Kingly (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G2 Nakayama Kinen in her...