Hong Kong raiders have twice taken the spoils of the G1 Yasuda Kinen, one of Japan's top contests for milers, and on Sunday Contentment (Aus) (Hussonet) and Beauty Only (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) look to add to that haul when they take on 16 locally based runners in the $1.8-million contest, a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile.
While Hong Kong has indeed taken the Yasuda Kinen trophy twice, the race has been historically dominated by the local contingent, and Japanese runners have taken the last 10 runnings, with Hong Kong's Bullish Luck (Royal Academy) the last successful foreign raider in 2006. While Contentment and Beauty Only are both double-digits in the odds, their form is of the highest class: Contentment led home Beauty Only in the May 7 G1 Champions Mile at Sha Tin, having finished fourth behind him in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile in December. Trainer Tony Cruz saddled Bullish Luck to win the Yasuda Kinen and he sends out Beauty Only, and will attempt to buck a trend that has seen just three of 53 foreign-trained competitors win this race.
Former Classic winner Isla Bonita (Jpn) (Fuji Kiskei {Jpn}) leads the betting at 2-1 and seeks his first Group 1 win in more than three years. Fifth in last year's Yasuda Kinen, the 6-year-old finished second three times on the bounce last fall, including the G1 Mile Championship. He bested Air Spinel (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) and Young Man Power (Jpn) (Snitzel {Aus}) in the G2 Yomiuri Milers Cup on Apr. 23.
Staphanos (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) drops back to a mile for the first time since 2014, but that last try was a win in the G3 Fuji S. Since then the 6-year-old has been placed five times at the highest level, including a pair of thirds behind superstar Maurice (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}) last fall and a 3/4-length second behind reigning Horse of the Year Kitasan Black (Jpn) (Black Tide {Jpn}) in the G1 Osaka Hai on Apr. 2.
The 7-year-old Logotype (Jpn) (Lohengrin {Jpn}) seeks back-to-back Yasuda Kinen scores, but has not won since taking this prize 12 months ago. He did indicate he retains his class, however, with a third in the G2 Nakayama Kinen on Feb. 26, and will have to overcome a three-month layoff.
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