24 January, 2018
Last year two new G1 races were added to the JRA Calendar, increasing the yearly total to 24 flat group 1 races. These additions were huge news within Japan and a major boon to the 10-furlong horse. The first one added was the G1 Osaka Hai in early April which filled a vital gap for 2000m older horses who would have had to run in G2s or G3s during the spring. Up until that point, the only other 2000m G1 for older horses was the Tenno Sho Aki in October. The other new 2000m G1, the Hopeful Stakes was placed at the end of the year and is for two-year-olds seeking a little more distance. For years the only two G1 races for two-year-olds in Japan were the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies and the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, both run at a mile. The addition of a third G1 for two-year-olds might complicate the selection of the Champion Two-Year-Old a little but it offers owners and trainers another chance at a G1 at two is run over the same track and conditions as the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) in mid-April. The JRA schedule is planned out to near perfection to ensure clear paths for horses as they rise through the ranks so they can have multiple opportunities to participate at the highest levels. Below is a recap of the 2017 G1s in the JRA.
Each year, the first G1 on the calendar is the February Stakes and is one of only two dirt G1s in the JRA overall. It has become a launching point for potential Dubai World Cup contenders as well. Winner Gold Dream(JPN) had been a major contender on the dirt scene over the past year having easily beaten Lani(USA) in the first three-year-old open class race of the 2016 and winning the G3 Unicorn Stakes before turning up poorly against older horses in the G1 Champions Cup. That didn't affect his popularity two months later in the February Stakes has he outdueled Best Warrior(USA) as the second favorite. Earning automatic berth into the Breeders' Cup Classic, the son of the late Gold Allure(JPN) who passed away a week before the race, chose to make his next start in Dubai.
Held on the same weekend as the G1 Dubai World Cup, the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen often gets overlooked in the public eye. It is, however, one of only two turf sprint G1s in Japan and part of the Global Sprint Challenge. Originally a 2000m race, it was transformed into a sprint in 1996. Only a few horses have pulled off winning both sprints: Flower Park(JPN) in 1996, Trot Star(JPN) in 2001, Laurel Guerreiro(JPN) in 2009, and of course Lord Kanaloa(JPN) in 2013. Last year's renewal was captured by Seiun Kosei(JPN), a first G1 win for long time owner Shigeyuki Nishiyama. The son of Admire Moon(JPN) was purchased at the 2014 Select Sale for ¥13,000,000(US$127,451) as a yearling. (2014: 103.56yen=1USD)
The Osaka Hai was upgraded from a G2 last year, making it the first new G1 on the JRA Calendar since the G1 Victoria Mile was made in 2006. The race earned the new status after years of being a springtime debut for some of Japan's best horses. Last year proved no exception with 2016 Horse of the Year Kitasan Black(JPN) taking the inaugural running despite it not being his preferred distance. The quality of last year's field, three G1 winners, two G1 placed horses, and seven graded stakes winners proves that the G1 Osaka Hai was a fabulous addition to the calendar.
The classic season blew in with the cherry blossoms in mid-April with the G1 Oka Sho which was upset last year by Daiwa Major(JPN)'s Reine Minoru(JPN). She was the 8th favorite but handled the softer ground under Mirco Demuro's masterful hand better than her other more popular rivals. This was Minoru Yoshioka's first G1 win as an owner. The filly was later taken over longer distances which have not seemed to suit her, but she did finish fourth later in the year against older males in the G1 Mile Championship. Returning to a mile, she will likely be more popular in this year's G1 Victoria Mile.
The G1 Satsuki Sho, Japanese 2000 Guineas, has produced many champions over the years so it will be interesting to see how Al Ain(JPN)'s career plays out. He was the 9th favorite as he crossed the wire a neck in front of eventual G1 winner Persian Knight(JPN). He went on to finish 5th in the G1 Japanese Derby and 7th in a very rainy G1 Kikuka Sho later on in the year. As the third foal of G1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner, Dubai Majesty, 2018 should see the son of Deep Impact returning to the 2000m circuit in the G1 Osaka Hai.
There is no G1 test of stamina on the JRA calendar as long as the Tenno Sho Haru, which is run over 3200m at Kyoto Racecourse. Few horses have been able to win back to back renewals of this marathon. Mejiro McQueen(JPN) was the first in 1991 and 1992 and is the broodmare sire of three different champions including Orfevre(JPN); TM Opera O(JPN) captured it in 2000 and 2001 on his way to becoming Japan's richest racehorse; Fenomeno(JPN) won in 2013 and 2014 before entering stud in 2016. Kitasan Black(JPN) became only the fourth horse to win back to back Tenno Sho Haru and did so in record-breaking time. The ease of his win continued his legacy as the best horse in training.
The G1 NHK Mile has been used for two different paths depending on the horse. It is either a stepping stone to the G1 Japanese Derby for late bloomers like King Kamehameha(JPN) and Deep Sky(JPN), who both went on to win the Derby after winning the NHK Mile, or a G1 for horses without the stamina for the Classic trail. For the second year in a row, a filly dominated a field of three-year-olds males. Aerolithe(JPN) by fellow NHK Mile winner Kurofune(USA) was the second favorite at post time before easily defeating her male rivals.
The Victoria Mile was added in 2006 to give older fillies and mares a springtime G1 to aim for and during its short life it has seen most of Japan's best female performers walk into the winner's circle. Admire Lead(JPN) gave her owner Riichi Kondo his first domestic G1 title in almost ten years. He campaigned the late Admire Rakti(JPN) to victory in the 2014 G1 Caulfield Cup in Australia before his untimely death, but his last domestic G1 win was Admire Jupiter(JPN) in the 2008 Tenno Sho Haru. The daughter of the late Stay Gold(JPN) sold for ¥46,000,000(US$450,981) at the 2013 Select Sale as a foal. (2013: 101.99yen = 1USD)
Soul Stirring(JPN) made headlines in 2016 when she became Frankel(GB)'s first G1 winner and champion when she captured the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies and the award for Champion Two-Year-Old Filly. She didn't appreciate the softer ground on G1 Oka Sho day, leading to a major upset but everything came full circle when she and her regular rider Christophe Lemaire won the G1 Japanese Oaks, becoming Frankel(GB)'s first classic winner as well. Lemaire also piloted her dam Stacelita(FR) to a G1 French Oaks victory in 2009. They took the filly on a very ambitious path in the fall to run against older males in the G2 Mainichi Okan, G1 Tenno Sho Aki, and G1 Japan Cup instead of running against her own sex. Fresh off a layoff and poor ground, however, did not allow the filly to continue her upward trajectory but she could still be bound for Europe this year.
In a rare double, trainer Kazuo Fujisawa won both the G1 Japanese Oaks with Soul Stirring(JPN) and the G1 Japanese Derby with Rey de Oro(JPN) a week later. Christophe Lemaire also got the double for having piloted both winners. 5th in the G1 Satsuki Sho in April, he went into the Derby as second favorite beating third favorite Suave Richard(JPN) by ¾ of a length. The colt was so well regarded he skipped the usual third leg of the triple crown in favor of aiming for the G1 Japan Cup, in which he ran second against older horses. The colt should be a rising star on the JRA racing scene in the years to come.
He was a ¥130,000,000(US$1,585,366) foal at the 2011 Select Sale, so a lot of expectations were riding on Satono Aladdin(JPN) and after years of minor, graded stake successes and near misses he finally achieved his long-awaited G1 title in the 2017 Yasuda Kinen. Over the course of his career, he came up short a lot, hitting the board in seven different graded races but only winning two G2s before finally becoming a G1 winner as a six-year-old. He'll retire to stud now for the 2018 breeding season. (2011: 81.99yen=1USD)
Proving his 2016 G1 Hong Kong Vase victory was no fluke, Satono Crown(JPN) upset a strong field of G1 winners to claim the Takarazuka Kinen, the last G1 of the spring season in Japan. Compared to Satono Aladdin(JPN), Satono Crown was a bargain selling for ¥58,000,000(US$568,628) as a yearling at the 2013 Select Sale. A promising start as a two-year-old, winning the G3 Tospo Hai Nisai Stakes and a solid win in the G2 Yayoi Sho, a classic prep, 2015 was a rather disappointing year for the Marju(IRE) colt. He finished third in the G1 Japanese Derby, but it wouldn't be until the 2016 G2 Kyoto Kinen that he was back to his winning ways. It was fleeting, and the temperamental colt ran poorly in three different G1s before reaching his full potential in the G1 Hong Kong Vase. He made his first 2017 start a winning one in the G2 Kyoto Kinen. While he faltered again in the G1 Osaka Hai, he rebounded perfectly in the Takarazuka Kinen. Instead of traveling abroad, the five-year-old decided to stay in Japan in the fall. (2013: 101.99yen = 1USD)
Red Falx(JPN) was Japan's top sprinter last year, and though he ran third in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen in March and third over a mile in the G1 Yasuda Kinen, he came back to reclaim his sprinting title in the G1 Sprinters Stakes, becoming only the fifth horse to win the race two years in a row. His sire, Swept Overboard(USA) passed away earlier in the year, and two other back to back winners of this race have gone on to spectacular stallion careers; Sakura Bakushin O(JPN, 1993 & 1994) had graded stakes winners for 14 straight years, and Lord Kanaloa(JPN, 2012 & 2013) is the 2017 Leading Freshman Sire.
After two crops of fairly average runners, Harbinger(GB) was beginning to look like he wasn't going to make it in Japan, that was until his third crop proved they were something special. Taking full advantage of the soft ground, Deirdre(JPN) used her European blood to destroy her competition, finishing the final three furlongs in a blazing 35.7 in the G1 Shuka Sho. She didn't run back well in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Hai a few weeks later, but the ¥21,000,000(US$169,355) 2015 Select Sale yearling didn't have much else to prove. She will stay in training next year as a four-year-old. (2015: 123.99yen=1USD)
Rulership(JPN) had been a rising star in the stallion ranks after he became the 2016 Leading Freshman Sire. Last year Danburite(JPN) was a length behind Al Ain(JPN) to finish third in the G1 Satsuki Sho in April. It wasn't until Kiseki(JPN) splashed home in the Kikuka Sho(Japanese St. Leger) that Rulership(JPN) got his first G1 winner. Kiseki(JPN) was being primed for a classic run earlier in the year, but instead, he took the spring off racked up two allowance wins before running second to G1 Japanese Derby winner Rey de Oro(JPN) in the G2 Kobe Shimbun Hai in September. While Rey de Oro(JPN) went after the older generations in the G1 Japan Cup, Kiseki(JPN) was left to clean up in the final leg of the Triple Crown. A minor injury in Hong Kong might mean we won't see him on the track for a few months but once healed he should be a solid performer in the stayer division.
Weeks of bad weather had taken its toll on the turf course at Tokyo but for Kitasan Black(JPN) that was no obstacle as he crossed the wire in the G1 Tenno Sho Aki. He became only the 5th horse to win both the 3200m G1 Tenno Sho Haru and 2000m Tenno Sho Aki, a spectacular display of both stamina and speed. Before this race it was announced that Kitasan Black(JPN) would retire to stud at the end of 2017, making this win all the more important to his future in the breeding shed. Satono Crown(JPN) made a gallant run for the reigning Horse of the Year but fell a neck short.
While Mozu Katchan(JPN) wasn't the betting favorite in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Hai last year, the three-year-old had the form to make her performance a no-brainer. The post time the fifth favorite won the G2 Flora Stakes in April before running second to Soul Stirring(JPN) in the G1 Japanese Oaks. After a summer spell, she fell flat in the G2 Rose Stakes before running a solid third place performance in the G1 Shuka Sho despite the soft ground. Clearly, in prime condition for the Queen Elizabeth II Hai, she chased down pacesetter Queen's Milagro(JPN) and Crocosmia(JPN) to win by a neck. This Harbinger(GB) filly continued where her fellow three-year-old Deirdre(JPN) left off giving their sire a second career G1 win in just four weeks.
Persian Knight(JPN) was a heartbreakingly close second in the G1 Satsuki Sho earlier in the spring. He'd been victorious in the G3 Arlington Cup over a mile earlier in the year so when they shortened him up again in the G1 Mile Championship after taking the summer off it proved fruitful. Persian Knight(JPN) completed sire Harbinger's fall hat trick, giving him a third career G1 in just five weeks.
Cheval Grand(JPN) is bred to be a champion with two of his half-sisters Verxina(JPN) and Vivlos(JPN) being dual G1 winners in their own right. So while his win in the G1 Japan Cup was technically an upset, going to post as the fifth favorite, it wasn't a total surprise. Before this landmark victory, the son of Heart's Cry(JPN) was a two time G2 winner and in the money in three other G1 races. Pacesetter Kitasan Black(JPN) tired in the final furlong as Cheval Grand(JPN) surged past him holding off the three-year-old Derby winner Rey de Oro(JPN) to claim his own G1 title. The tried and true stayer would have a rematch with the same horses again in the G1 Arima Kinen a month later.
Another rare double was achieved last year when G1 February Stakes victory Gold Dream(JPN) also captured the G1 Champions Cup, previously the G1 Japan Cup Dirt. With only two dirt G1s on the JRA calendar, it is rare for a horse to keep their form all year and or manage the switch from 1600m to the 1800m of the Champions Cup(Previously 2100m when it was the Japan Cup Dirt). Gold Dream(JPN) was unable to keep that form in between victories with a poor run in Dubai and two sub-par performances in Japan, but with each run, he did better. He regained his form just in time to become only the third horse to complete the JRA Dirt G1 double. With he passing of his sire, this positions him to take his father's place in the breeding shed when the time comes.
The first few months of two-year-old racing had one significant new stallion missing, Orefvre(JPN)'s first crop was slow to make its debut on the track. The wait proved to be worth it as at post time for the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies he was the only freshman stallion with two graded stakes winners in the race. While he won't be the Leading Freshman Sire, Lucky Lilac(JPN)'s victory is still one for the record books. Given the limited number of G1s available to two-year-olds in Japan, it is rare for a freshman sire to win a G1 with their first crop as two-year-olds. Even the mighty Deep Impact(JPN) didn't have a G1 winner till his first crop turned three. Fuji Kiseki(JPN) pulled it off for his sire Sunday Silence(USA) in 1994 and Vodka(JPN) did it for her sire Tanino Gimlet(JPN) in 2006.
A spitting image of his grandsire Sunday Silence(USA), Danon Premium(JPN) sprinted away from the competition in the final 400m of the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity. Post time favorite after a stunning record-setting performance in the G3 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup in October, he earned the punters support with a brilliant turn of foot and turned back all of his potential rivals, and he was well in hand as he hit the finish line. The son of Deep Impact has won his three career starts by nearly ten lengths combined, making him an early favorite in this year's classics.
Retiring in the winner's circle is the goal of every champion racehorse, but it isn't always that easy. Deep Impact(JPN), Orfevre(JPN), and Gentildonna(JPN) all three were able to end their career with a G1 Arima Kinen lei around their necks. Last year that honor was earned by Kitasan Black(JPN) as he prepares for his next career in the breeding shed. After his disappointing 3rd place finish in the G1 Japan Cup a month earlier, there were some who worried that perhaps the five-year-old's best performances were behind him. Anyone who thought that was silenced on Christmas Eve when the large son of Black Tide(JPN) went wire to wire in the 2500m year-end marathon, making it look as easy as ever. This was his 7th G1 title, tying the Japan record held by TM Opera O. However, he surpassed TM Opera O's record earnings by about ¥40,000,000 making him Japan's new richest racehorse. Tens of thousands stayed behind to wish the reigning Horse of the Year the farewell he deserved, and he will get a second retirement ceremony at Kyoto Racecourse in the new year before shipping to Hokkaido to cover his first book of mares.
The G1 Hopeful Stakes has been a part of year-end racing for over thirty years as an open class 2000m turf race for two-year-olds. It was promoted to a G2 in 2014, and as of last year, it is now one of only three G1s for two-year-olds in Japan. While both the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies and G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes will likely continue to be the races that determine the division champions each year, this third race is run at the same distance and under the same conditions of the G1 Satsuki Sho(Japanese 2000 Gunieas) four months later. Last Year's winner Rey de Oro(JPN) went on to win the G1Japanese Derby last year, giving the young G1 more credibility for the future. Time Flyer(JPN) by Heart's Cry broke a little slow, and Cristian Demuro bided his time-saving ground on the inside at the back of the pack as they passed the grandstand for the first time and into the backstretch. At the 600m mark, Cristian gave Time Flyer(JPN) his signal to move on the outside and easily started picking off the competition. As they turned for home, they were gaining momentum as they ran down the center of Nakayama's stretch and outdueled Gendarme(USA) to win by 1¼ lengths.
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