Wilson Tesoro

For the first time in the relatively brief history of the races, the G3 OBS Korea Cup and G3 OBS Korea Sprint were welcomed into the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, offering the winners a free ride into the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, respectively. And for the first time, the races' defending champions each returned to Seoul to win for the second year in succession, stamping themselves as legitimate contenders at Del Mar, if connections indeed make the trip over. Teruya Yoshida's Crown Pride (Jpn)...

When Japanese horses take their show on the road to places like Australia, the Middle East, Hong Kong, the U.S. and even Europe to an extent, they are to be taken very seriously. It is also no wonder that when horses from the Land of the Rising Sun make the comparatively short trip over to Korea, they have more or less dominated the nation's two biggest and most important races--the G3 OBS Korea Cup (1800m) and OBS Korea Sprint (1200m). That trend looks set to continue this weekend at Seoul...

1st-Belmont The Big A, $87,300, Msw, 5-16, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f (off turf), 1:06.12, my, 9 lengths. DELIGHTFUL FLAME (f, 2, Flameaway--Delightful Mary {Ch. 2yo Filly & GSW-Can, MSW & GISP-US, $588,055}, by Limehouse) was smashed into 7-10 favoritism for her Gulfstream debut Apr. 12, but was off to an awkward beginning and never reached contention en route to a distant sixth-place finish. The 3-2 second choice--with $685 on her nose less than the well-meant Moonlight Promises (Promises Fulfilled)--the homebred hit the ground running in this rained-off contest and was...

Friday's G1 Tokyo Daishoten marked a first and much-anticipated battle between reigning G1 Dubai World Cup hero Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) and the upstart 3-year-old Mick Fire (Jpn) (Sinister Minister), perfect in his seven starts and winner of the unofficial Japan Dirt Triple Crown this past season. The showdown never really materialized, however, as the latter never reached contention after playing up in the stalls, and the odds-on Ushba Tesoro ran down his commonly owner front-runner Wilson Tesoro (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) to successfully defend his title in the...

While the final of the roughly two dozen Group 1 races on the Japan Racing Association was scheduled for Thursday, the Tokyo Daishoten--the only recognized international Group 1 event and pattern race of any variety on the National Association of Racing circuit--takes place Friday afternoon at Ohi Racecourse in the Japanese capital. Under normal circumstances, the discussion of the 2000-metre dirt affair would begin and end with Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}), whose victory here 12 months ago catapulted him to future success on the world stage in the G1...

In the G1 Champions Cup, one of two elite-level races on dirt on the JRA circuit, wide barriers are almost always the kiss of death. Drawn 15 of 15 for Sunday's 1800-metre event, Godolphin's Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid) not only had that to overcome, but also lingering questions as to his ability to stay a trip this far. After all, his trainer Hiroyasu Tanaka needed some convincing by the Godolphin braintrust to try him in the G1 February S., a 1600-metre affair, which he duly won with something in...