Result of the 70Th Yasuda Kinen
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FROM: Junichi Takada General Manager, Media & Publicity Department, THE JAPAN RACING ASSOCIATION (JRA) DATE: June 7, 2020 SUBJECT: RESULT OF THE 70TH YASUDA KINEN (G1) The Yasuda Kinen, a race to determine the best miler of the spring season, has welcomed just over 50 foreign- trained horses since its designation as an international race in 1993, including 1995 champion Heart Lake (GB, by Nureyev) from the UAE, 2000 winner Fairy King Prawn (AUS, by Danehill) from Hong Kong and the winner of the 2006 Champions Mile-Yasuda Kinen double, Bullish Luck (USA, by Royal Academy). Past Yasuda Kinen winners that have subsequently become the season’s Horse of the Year include Oguri Cap (JPN, by Dancing Cap; ’90), Taiki Shuttle (USA, by Devil’s Bag; ’98), Vodka (JPN, by Tanino Gimlet; ’08 &’09), Lord Kanaloa (JPN, by King Kamehameha; ’13) and Maurice (JPN, by Screen Hero; ’15). The race joined the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series in 2016, enabling its winners to earn automatic starting position in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1, 1,600m), while the first three finishers of this race are eligible to start in the French G1 Prix Jacques le Marois (1,600m) since 2017. This year’s Yasuda Kinen was the first start for Admire Mars, Mr Melody and Persian Knight—respective winners of the Hong Kong Mile (G1, 1,600m), the 2019 Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1, 1,200m) and the 2017 Mile Championship (G1, 1,600m)—since returning from the UAE where the Dubai World Cup meeting was cancelled due to COVID-19. Defending champion and 2019 Best Sprinter or Miler Indy Champ came off a comfortable victory in the Milers Cup (G2, 1,600m; Apr.26) with Vin de Garde following in third. Danon Smash won the Keio Hai Spring Cup (G2, 1,400m; May.16), another prep for this race, in which G1 winners Seiun Kosei and Keiai Nautique were fifth and sixth, respectively. The field also included; 2019 Best Three Year-Old Filly Gran Alegria, who was runner-up in this year’s Takamatsunomiya Kinen (Mar.29); Kluger, winner of the Lord Derby Challenge Trophy (G3, 1,600m; Apr.4); Danon Kingly and Danon Premium, who both came off a third in the Osaka Hai (G1, 2,000m; Apr.5) and the Australia’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1, 2,000m; Apr.11), respectively; and Almond Eye and Normcore who finished first and third, respectively, in the Victoria Mile (G1, 1,600m; May.17). THE 70TH YASUDA KINEN (G1) 3-year-olds & up, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, left-handed Sunday, June 7, 2020 Tokyo Racecourse 11th Race Post Time: 15:40 Total prize money: ¥ 281,800,000 (about US$ 2,610,000 <US$1=¥108>) 3-y-o: 54kg (about 119 lbs), 4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares, 1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2016, 2kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2017 Course Record: 1:30.5 Race Record: 1:30.9 [Indy Champ (JPN, by Stay Gold), 2019] Safety factor: 18 runners Going: Good Weather: Fine S&A Sire Owner Horse Odds Margin FP BK PP Color Dam Breeder Jockey Wgt (Fav) (L3F) (Dam’s Sire) Trainer F4 Deep Impact Sunday Racing Co., Ltd. Gran Alegria (JPN) 12.0 1:31.6 1 7 11 b. Tapitsfly Northern Farm Kenichi Ikezoe 56.0 (3) (33.7) (Tapit) Kazuo Fujisawa M5 Lord Kanaloa Silk Racing Co., Ltd. Almond Eye (JPN) 1.3 2-1/2 2 4 5 b. Fusaichi Pandora Northern Racing Christophe Lemaire 56.0 (1) (33.9) (Sunday Silence) Sakae Kunieda H5 Stay Gold Silk Racing Co., Ltd. Indy Champ (JPN) 7.0 1/2 3 4 6 b. Will Power Northern Racing Yuichi Fukunaga 58.0 (2) (34.1) (King Kamehameha) Hidetaka Otonashi M5 Harbinger Seiichi Iketani Normcore (JPN) 49.9 Neck 4 3 3 g. Chronologist Northern Racing Norihiro Yokoyama 56.0 (7) (33.8) (Kurofune) Kiyoshi Hagiwara H5 Deep Impact Kazuhiro Kameda Keiai Nautique (JPN) 177.6 1-1/4 5 5 8 b. Keiai Gerbera Queens Ranch Ltd Akihide Tsumura 58.0 (11) (34.3) (Smarty Jones) Osamu Hirata C4 Daiwa Major Junko Kondo Admire Mars (JPN) 20.2 Neck 6 6 9 ch. Via Medici Northern Farm Yuga Kawada 58.0 (6) (34.7) (Medicean) Yasuo Tomomichi C4 Deep Impact Danox Co., Ltd. Danon Kingly (JPN) 12.9 3/4 7 2 2 d.b. My Goodness Mishima Bokujo Keita Tosaki 58.0 (5) (34.6) (Storm Cat) Kiyoshi Hagiwara H5 Lord Kanaloa Danox Co., Ltd. Danon Smash (JPN) 73.6 Nose 8 8 14 b. Spinning Wildcat K. I. Farm Kosei Miura 58.0 (8) (35.1) (Hard Spun) Takayuki Yasuda H6 Harbinger G1 Racing Co., Ltd. Persian Knight (JPN) 142.4 1-3/4 9 5 7 d.b. Orient Charm Oiwake Farm Hironobu Tanabe 58.0 (10) (34.6) (Sunday Silence) Yasutoshi Ikee C4 Deep Impact Shadai Race Horse Co., Ltd. Vin de Garde (JPN) 110.0 Neck 10 8 13 b. Skia Shadai Farm Mirai Iwata 58.0 (9) (34.8) (Motivator) Hideaki Fujiwara H5 Scat Daddy Green Fields Co., Ltd. Mr Melody (USA) 181.9 3 11 6 10 b. Trusty Lady Bell Tower Thoroughbreds Yuichi Kitamura 58.0 (12) (35.7) (Deputy Minister) Hideaki Fujiwara H7 Admire Moon Shigeyuki Nishiyama Seiun Kosei (JPN) 343.3 1 12 7 12 ch. Observant Sakurai Bokujo Hiroyuki Uchida 58.0 (14) (35.6) (Capote) Hiroyuki Uehara H5 Deep Impact Danox Co., Ltd. Danon Premium (JPN) 12.7 1-1/4 13 1 1 br. Indiana Gal K. I. Farm Damian Lane 58.0 (4) (36.0) (Intikhab) Mitsumasa Nakauchida H8 King Kamehameha U. Carrot Farm Kluger (JPN) 209.3 1-1/4 14 3 4 d.b. Addicted Northern Farm Shu Ishibashi 58.0 (13) (35.4) (Diktat) Tomokazu Takano FP: Final Position / BK: Bracket Number / PP: Post Position / S&A: Sex & Age / Wgt: Weight (kg) / L3F: Time of Last 3 Furlongs (600m) Color: b.=bay / bl.=black / br.=brown / ch.=chestnut / d.b.=dark bay / d.ch.=dark chestnut / g.=gray / w.=white NOTE 1: No Foreign Contenders NOTE 2: Figures quoted under Odds are shown in form of decimal odds (single unit is ¥100), and Fav indicates the order of favorites. Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 19,029,418,000 Turnover for the Day: ¥ 29,764,395,600 Pay-off (for ¥100) Win No.11 ¥ 1,200 Bracket Quinella 4-7 ¥ 590 Quinella 5-11 ¥ 650 No.11 ¥ 180 5-11 ¥ 260 Exacta 11-5 ¥ 2,840 Place No.5 ¥ 110 Quinella Place 6-11 ¥ 590 Trio 5-6-11 ¥ 840 No.6 ¥ 130 5-6 ¥ 170 Trifecta 11-5-6 ¥ 11,240 Winner= 8 starts, 5 wins, 1 second, 1 third / Added money: ¥ 133,066,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 453,243,000 Gran Alegria Puts Away Heavy Competition in Yasuda Kinen Four-year-old Gran Alegria ran a strong and convincing race to win this year’s Yasuda Kinen while holding off a group of dominating rivals which included not only 10 G1 winners, but the heavily favored Almond Eye, who was hoped to rewrite history in becoming the first Japanese horse to land eight G1 turf wins. The 2019 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m) winner and Best Three-Year-Old Filly showed a good runner-up effort in her first sprint challenge, this year’s Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1, 1,200m), but sat out her scheduled Victoria Mile start three weeks earlier when she ran a fever. For trainer Kazuo Fujisawa this marks his third Yasuda Kinen title (1997 Taiki Blizzard, 1998 Taiki Shuttle) and his 30th JRA-G1 victory following his latest in last year’s Sprinters Stakes with Tower of London. Jockey Kenichi Ikezoe, who has taken the reigns of Gran Alegria from her last start, celebrates his 26th JRA-G1 victory, his latest being the Mile Championship with Indy Champ last November. In an empty Tokyo Racecourse, however, the determined and heated contenders broke on the backstretch with Gran Alegria settling well in hand in the middle of the field and smoothly shifting to an outer route to make her bid before the last turn. A clear path from the top of the lane made it easy for the filly to find her best stride and by the furlong pole, Gran Alegria was the sole leader, maintaining a powerful and unthreatened drive to the wire landing a convincing 2-1/2-length win. “First of all, I must thank everyone at the stables who tuned her up so well. I was focused on keeping her in good rhythm and in a good position which all worked out beautifully. She just gave her best with such a tenacious run down the stretch—I was afraid up to the line that we were going to be caught, especially by Almond Eye. I hurt myself when a chunk of grass hit my eye at the third corner, but it doesn’t hurt at all now!” Kenichi Ikezoe commented happily. Solid favorite Almond Eye missed her break, similar to the incident in last year’s version where she was heavily bumped after the start and ended up finishing third. The five-year-old mare then traveled in fourth to fifth from the rear on the heels of Indy Champ, displayed her trademark turn of foot in gaining on the eventual winner but had too much ground to make up while tagging Indy Champ in the final strides and secured second. “We had a poor break but I think we recovered well and made a smooth and strong bid turning for home with Gran Alegria in aim.