Exclusive Topics for Horse Racing in Japan - Spring Edition - March 2017 The Japan Racing Association The JRA horse racing season starts in earnest with the three-year-old classic trials in March, while established horses begin to prepare towards the spring 2017 G1 events. We take this opportunity to bring you up to date on the progress of last year’s stars and this season’s key runners, hoping that this special spring edition of our seasonal Japan Autumn International Newsletter will support your reporting of upcoming events. High Expectations for Further Success Overseas The Dubai World Cup day meeting has become a major destination for Japanese runners aspiring to take on the challenge of racing overseas, with 10 horses taking part in the event last year. 11 Japanese runners, including the Real Steel (JPN, H5, by Deep Impact) and Lani (USA, C4, by Tapit), winners of last year’s Dubai Turf (G1, 1,800m) and the UAE Derby (G2, dirt, 1,900m), respectively, will attempt to score new successes in Real Steel in the 2016 Dubai Turf Dubai as they begin their 2017 campaigns. Four dirt runners are bidding for the Dubai World Cup (G1, dirt, 2,000m), the second richest horse race in the world. Awardee (USA, H7, by Jungle Pocket) made a successful switch to dirt from turf racing in the fall of his five-year-old season, winning six in a row, including his first G1 victory in the 2016 JBC Classic (dirt, 2,100m) in November. He just missed by a neck in Awardee in the 2016 Antares Stakes the following Champions Cup (G1, dirt, 1,800m) before another second in his last start, the Tokyo Daishoten (G1, dirt, 2,000m). Apollo Kentucky (USA, H5, by Langfuhr) out-dueled Awardee and eventually pulled away to a 1-1/2- length victory for his first G1 title in the Tokyo Daishoten. He was coming off a close 0.4-second fifth in the Champions Cup after marking his first grade-race victory in the Miyako Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,800m) in November. Both Awardee and Apollo Kentucky will kick off their 2017 seasons in Dubai. Apollo Kentucky (left) in the 2016 Miyako Stakes 1 Gold Dream (JPN, C4, by Gold Allure) will make his first overseas challenge in Dubai as this year’s February Stakes (G1, dirt, 1,600m) champion. He demonstrated his aptitude and liking for the Tokyo dirt mile course in marking his third victory out of four starts, including his first grade-race triumph in the G3 Unicorn Stakes (dirt, 1,600m) last June. The Gold Allure (JPN, by Gold Dream Sunday Silence) colt was entered in the February Stakes after a in the 2017 February Stakes disappointing 12th in the December Champions Cup, where he had been sent off second favorite. He scored his first G1 win in the February Stakes with a sound and convincing performance. Lani, after his victory in the 2016 UAE Derby, went to the U.S. and not only became the first Japanese runner to challenge in all three of America’s Triple Crown races, he turned in a fine third-place finish in the Belmont Stakes (G1, dirt, 2,400m). Thereafter, he made three low-key starts back home—the best being a third in a non-graded race. He was sixth in his four-year-old kick-off start in Dubai, the Al Maktoum Challenge Lani in the 2016 UAE Derby Round 3 (G1, dirt, 2,000m) on March 4 and is now pointing toward further improvement in his main target, the Dubai World Cup. Sounds of Earth (JPN, H6, by Neo Universe), registered to run in the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1, 2,410m), has yet to claim a G1 title but proved well up to the highest level and was runner-up in the Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m) in November. He has finished second in seven graded races including three G1 starts, but he disappointed to eighth in the Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500m) after Sounds of Earth (right) being well backed as fourth favorite in the race. in the 2015 Arima Kinen Real Steel hopes for continued success in the Dubai Turf as defending champion. He was a one-length second to 2015 Horse of the Year Maurice (JPN, by Screen Hero) in his fall debut in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1, 2,000m) and was unsuccessful when stepping up in distance in the Japan Cup, finishing fifth. Vivlos (JPN, F4, by Deep Impact), who will make her first overseas challenge in the Dubai Turf, landed her inaugural G1 title last Vivlos in the 2016 Shuka Sho year in her first start at this level in the last leg of the three-year-old fillies’ triple, the Shuka Sho (G1, 2,000m), before taking the rest of the season off. Both horses began their 2017 seasons in the Nakayama Kinen (G2, 1,800m) on February 26, with Vivlos finishing a close fifth and Real Steel more than 2-1/2-lengths behind her in eighth. 2 Kafuji Take (JPN, H5, by Precise End) will be starting in the Godolphin Mile (G2, dirt, 1,600m). Lightly regarded as the 11th favorite in last year’s Champions Cup, the son of Precise End (USA, by End Sweep) turned in an impressive fourth-place finish in the dirt G1, and then validated the performance by claiming his first grade-race title in the Negishi Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,400m) on January 29. He also made use of his strong late charge to finish third in the February Stakes. Another runner traveling to Dubai is Dios Corrida (JPN, C3, by Kane Hekili), a two-time winner at 1,200 meters on dirt. The three-year-old Kane Hekili (JPN, by Fuji Kiseki) colt flew into Dubai with Lani to run in the Mahab Al Shimaal (G3, dirt, 1,200m) on March 4 and finished seventh in his first test against seniors prior to the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1, dirt, 1,200m). Hoping to follow in the footsteps of Lani, nine three-year-olds have been entered for the Triple Crown in the U.S., a positive outcome of the “Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby” agreement under which Japanese runners are given a chance to qualify for the Kentucky Derby (G1, dirt, 2,000m) and a bonus of 1 million dollars for any Japanese-trained winner of the Belmont Stakes. Among those entered, Epicharis (JPN, C3, by Gold Allure) will be granted priority for the Kentucky Derby after dominating the Hyacinth Stakes (dirt, 1,600m), one of the U.S. Triple Crown qualifiers held in Japan on February 19. It is hoped he will follow Lani and secure a consecutive victory for Japan in the UAE Derby before his expected U.S. trip. Also headed for the UAE Derby is Adirato (JPN, C3, by Rulership), who came off two consecutive wins after switching to dirt and finished second in the Hyacinth Stakes. Those headed for the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1, 2,000m) on April 30 in Hong Kong might include Nuovo Record (JPN, M6, by Heart’s Cry). Seventh in the Nakayama Kinen, her first start since finishing fourth in the Hong Kong Vase (G1, 2,400m) last December, the 2014 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1, 2,400m) winner was 10th in the following Kinko Sho (G2, 2,000m) on March 11. Nakayama Kinen victor Neorealism (JPN, H6, by Neo Universe), who landed his second graded title in the race following the Sapporo Kinen (G2, 2,000m) last August, might make his second challenge in Hong Kong after his ninth-place finish in the 2016 Hong Kong Mile (G1, 1,600m). Kafuji Take Nuovo Record Neorealism in the 2017 Negishi Stakes in the 2014 Yushun Himba in the 2017 Nakayama Kinen 3 Key Middle & Long Distance Runners of 2017 Although Maurice, A Shin Hikari (JPN, by Deep Impact) and Lovely Day (JPN, by King Kamehameha) left the racing scene as of the end of last season, the middle-distance category still maintains its high standard. Several G1 winners remain in training, led by Kitasan Black (JPN, H5, by Black Tide), winner of the 2016 Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1, 3,200m) and Japan Kitasan Black Cup, as well as the season’s Horse of the Year. Kitasan Black in the 2016 Japan Cup will focus on racing in Japan this spring, beginning with the Osaka Hai (2,000m)—upgraded to G1 status this year—on April 2, then the Tenno Sho (Spring) on April 30 and the Takarazuka Kinen (G1, 2,200m) on June 25. Satono Diamond (JPN, C4, by Deep Impact), who overtook Kitasan Black for a neck victory in the Arima Kinen and registered his second G1 title following the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m), will also aim for the Tenno Sho (Spring) after kicking off his 2017 campaign in the Hanshin Daishoten (G2, 3,000m) on March 19. After that, the 2016 Best Three-Year-Old Colt could pass up the Takarazuka Kinen in Satono Diamond in the 2016 Arima Kinen preparation for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1, 2,400m) this fall. Makahiki (JPN, C4, by Deep Impact), who claimed the Tokyo Yushun by crossing the wire a nose in front of Satono Diamond, disappointed to 14th in his Arc challenge last year and was given the rest of the season off. He finished third in his comeback start in February this year in the Kyoto Kinen, which was won by Satono Crown (JPN, H5, by Marju) who scored his second Makahiki (right) consecutive win following his first G1 success overseas in the in the 2016 Tokyo Yushun Hong Kong Vase last year.