Tokyo Racecourse

Making his first start since breaking his maiden impressively over 1700 meters (about a mile and a sixteenth) at Sapporo Racecourse in July, Natural Rise (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) swept widest of all into the long Tokyo straight and held off a late bid from Clay King (Jpn) (Nadal) to take out Saturday's Cattleya Stakes (allowance), the first of four races that comprise the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. Natural Rise picks up 10 Kentucky Derby points for the victory. Sent off the 13-5 second betting favorite behind fellow impressive...

Favoured at 6-5 in this step up to stakes company, Croix Du Nord (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) duly delivered in the G2 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes on Saturday. After an even break, he soon ranged up in between horses to sit third behind a freewheeling Satono Shining (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) and second choice Red Kingly (Jpn) (Saturnalia {Jpn}), a few lengths behind. Poised to pounce after 1000 metres in 1:00.90, he inched into second and took dead aim on the pacesetter. Charging up to even terms at the 400-metre...

A late absentee from last month's G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2,000 Guineas) due to lameness, Danon Decile (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) gained compensation with an emphatic victory in Sunday's G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) at Tokyo Racecourse, the second leg of the Japanese Triple Crown. The 17-strong field featured six of the first seven from the Satuski Sho, including the unbeaten winner Justin Milano (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), runner-up Cosmo Kuranda (Jpn) (Al Ain {Jpn}) and sixth Regaleira (Jpn) (Suave Richard {Jpn}), who was attempting to become the first filly to win...

Jantar Mantar (Jpn) (Palace Malice), who was crowned Japan's champion two-year-old colt in 2023, resumed winning ways with a decisive defeat of the unlucky-in-running Ascoli Piceno (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) in Saturday's G1 NHK Mile Cup at Tokyo Racecourse, his fourth win from six career starts. Unbeaten in three starts at two, culminating with a first top-level win in the Asahi Hai Futurity S. at Hanshin, Jantar Mantar had been forced to settle for minor honours on his first two starts as a three-year-old, including when finishing a close-up third...

Sugar Kun (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn})--a half-brother to Kitasan Black (Jpn) (Black Tide {Jpn}), Japan's Horse of the Year in both 2016 and 2017--put himself in contention for top honours with a narrow victory in Saturday's G2 TV Tokyo Hai Aoba Sho at Tokyo Racecourse, cementing his place in next month's G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) over the same course and distance. Trained by Hisashi Shimizu, Sugar Kun was partnered by legendary jockey Yutaka Take, the regular rider of Kitasan Black and a six-time winner of the Tokyo Yushun. Take had...

A 16-strong field sporting several Group 1 horses will fill the stalls at Tokyo on Sunday for the ¥233,160,000 G1 February S. over the metric mile on dirt. The race is a Breeders' Cup "Win And You're In" qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar in November. One of the leading fancies is Wilson Tesoro (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), winless on turf, but a seven-time scorer on the main track from 1500m to 2100m. The three-time listed winner lines up for his 5-year-old bow off of back-to-back...

The blaze-faced Strauss (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) attained his first stakes victory under Joao Moreira in the G2 Tokyo Hai Nisai S. at Tokyo on Saturday. A winner on debut over 1600 metres locally in June and a solid third in the G3 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup on Oct. 7, he was sent off at 4-1 in this return to group company. Content to track Teleos Lulu (Jpn) (Al Ain {Jpn}) from a wide third down the backstretch, he was eager to improve his position through the first half-mile in :47.30....

Last year after earning a spot in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile via her win in June's G1 Yasuda Kinen over this course--a Breeders' Cup Challenge qualifying event--Songline (Jpn) (Kizuna) was headed to America before a throat issue found after a fifth-place finish in September's G2 Centaur S. sent her to the sidelines for five months. Back in action on the G1 Saudi Cup undercard in February, she was a distant 10th in the G3 1351 Turf Sprint at King Abdulaziz Racetrack, a race she won in 2022, and sent...

The G1 NHK Mile Cup has attracted a field of 18 3-year-old milers, none better credentialed than morning line favourite Dolce More (Jpn). Racing for Three H Racing Company, the Rulership (Jpn) colt was undefeated at two, where he parlayed his G3 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup victory into a sparkling win in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. at Hanshin in December. Named the Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Colt, he is on a retrieval mission, as he lost his unbeaten tag to Eeyan (Jpn) (Silver State {Jpn}) in the G2 New...

Tokyo Racecourse plays host to the first of 24 Group 1s on the JRA circuit, Sunday's February S. going a one-turn mile on the dirt track, and with the race's two-time defending champion Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah) preparing for next Saturday's G1 Saudi Cup and with would-be favourite Gilded Mirror (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) having recently been retired due to injury, the race is there for the taking for the wonderfully consistent US-bred Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid). The 5-year-old, purchased for $70,000 as a weanling at the 2018 Keeneland November...

Sunday Racing Co. Ltd.'s 4-year-old filly Songline (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) bested Schnell Meister (Ger) (Kingman {GB}), also owned by Sunday Racing, by a neck to win the G1 Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo Racecourse Sunday. With this victory, Songline earned an automatic berth, including fees paid, to the $2-million GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile. In an 18-horse field, Songline settled behind Salios (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) and in front of Schnell Meister in midpack as the field cruised down the backstretch at a leisurely pace. Making headway while shifting to the...

Chances for a 2022 Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown are alive and well after G1 Japanese 1000 Guineas heroine Stars On Earth (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) delivered the Classic double in the G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) for Shadai Race Horse and trainer Mizuki Takayanagi at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday. Sent off as the 5-1 third choice, the bay broke well from the widest gate in 18, but was stuck wide as the field strung out in the wake of Nishino Love Wink (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}). Sitting in eighth, Christophe Lemaire had...