A ‘Sho’ In Tokyo

Group 1 action in Japan moves to Tokyo this weekend for one of the country’s fall showpieces, the $2.4 million G1 Tenno Sho Autumn, and Sunday’s edition offers an intriguing rematch of the top three finishers in the G2 Mainichi Okan over this course Oct. 11. A Shin Hikari (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) was victorious that day, and makes his Group 1 debut here having lost just once in his nine-race career. The 4-year-old grey has won over this trip before, and likes to race on the lead. Trainer Masanori Sakaguchi was realistic about the task ahead of his charge, saying, “the field gets a lot stronger at the Group 1 level and the distance will stretch to 2,000 meters. Plus he’s never run under [128 pounds]. The conditions won’t be easy for him but we’re just going to stick to our style. He’s hard to control if there are horses in front of him but if he can grab the lead he will settle. He can be a bit rowdy when he makes his way to the actual course from the paddock but he is 3-for-3 at Tokyo. The track itself won’t take anything away from him.”

Second in the Mainichi Okan, despite being hit in the face with a rival’s whip, was the late-blooming 6-year-old Decipher (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who had previously taken the G2 Sapporo Kinen over this trip Aug. 23. Last year’s G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) winner Isla Bonita (Jpn) (Fuji Kiseki {Jpn}) rounded out the trifecta in the Mainichi Okan, and that 4-year-old is making up for lost time, having run just twice this year. He has not won since taking last year’s G2 St. Lite Kinen in September, but finished third in this 12 months ago behind the formidable pair of Spielberg (Jpn) and Gentildonna (Jpn) and could be coming back to his top form.

Another who could start favorite is Lovely Day (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}), who enter this off three straight wins including the G1 Takarazuka Kinen in June. The 5-year-old returned from a summer holiday to score in the G2 Kyoto Daishoten two weeks ago. “Physically, he’s filled out and has added a lot more power,” said trainer Yasutoshi Ikee. “He’s just evolved as a racehorse. The 2,000 meters is his best distance. Given the form he’s in now, he can race from any position but with some good horses who like being toward the front I think he’ll have an even easier time traveling. I’m looking forward to it.”