By Alan Carasso
Favored at 2-5 in defense of his title in Wednesday's Listed Nippon TV Hai at Funabashi Race Track outside Tokyo, Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) was produced wide into the stretch and kicked home smartly, but was forced to settle for second behind all-the-way winner William Barows (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}), who scored the upset as the 7-1 third choice. Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) chased the early pace, but weakened in the straight to finish fifth, beaten 8 1/2 lengths.
William Barows, a Group 2 winner on dirt earlier this year, was kicked straight into the lead from barrier two by Forever Young (Jpn)'s jockey Ryusei Sakai and he was pressed along by Derma Sotogake, last year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up who was having his first run since a distant sixth in the G1 Dubai World Cup Mar. 30. Ushba Tesoro, a well-beaten second behind Laurel River (Into Mischief) in the World Cup, was outrun and settled in an unhurried seventh and midfield down the back of the left-turning track, a good 10 lengths off the lead.
William Barows was still going well as they hit the stretch and while 5-2 second favorite Derma Sotogake had run his race by then, Ushba Tesoro was finding his best stride beneath Yuga Kawada. Despite closing his final 600 meters in a race-best :37.3, Ushba Tesoro couldn't quite bridge the big deficit and settled for a strong second over a distance short of his best.
“The trainer and I talked about making the lead and it went just as imagined,” the winning jockey said on the Funabashi Race Track X account. “He responded well when he turned into the straight and I thought he'd be able to hold on.”
Derma Sotogake's rider Christophe Lemaire was seeing the glass as half-full following the performance.
“We were in the right spot, but when the pace picked up, I had to get busy,” he told Netkeiba. “We tried to the end and I think he'll be better next time. I'm not worried about the dirt in the U.S. because he can run better.”
Wednesday's Results:
NIPPON TV HAI (Jpn-G2)-Listed, ¥68,000,000 ($471,512), Funabashi, 9-25, 3yo/up, 1800m, 1:52.8, ft.
1–WILLIAM BAROWS (JPN), 126, h, 6, Mikki Isle (Jpn)–Diana Barows (Jpn) (SW-Jpn, $537,781), by Symboli Kris S. O/B-Hirotsugu Inokuma; T-Hiroyuki Uemura; J-Ryusei Sakai; ¥40,000,000. Lifetime Record: GSW-Jpn, 19-8-5-1, ¥236,736,000.
2–Ushba Tesoro (Jpn), 128, h, 7, Orfevre (Jpn)–Millefeui Attach (Jpn), by King Kamehameha (Jpn). (¥25,000,000 Wlg '17 JRHAJUL). O-Ryotokuji Kenji Holdings Co Ltd; B-Chiyoda Farm Shizunai; T-Noboru Takagi; J-Yuga Kawada; ¥14,000,000.
3–Meisho Hario (Jpn), 126, h, 7, Pyro–Meisho Ohi (Jpn), by Manhattan Cafe (Jpn). O-Yoshio Matsumoto; B-Mishima Bokujo; T-Inao Okada; J-Suguru Hamanaka; ¥8,000,000.
Margins: 1, 4, 1. Odds: 7.00, 0.40, 14.30. Click for the goracing.jp chart.
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