Ment’ to be ‘King’?

The 82nd running of the 2400-meter G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) sees a full field of 18 colts go to the post Sunday afternoon at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan. The stakes record of 2:23.3 is held jointly by King Kamehameha (Jpn) (Kingmambo)–who landed the 2004 edition–and Japanese Triple Crown hero Deep Impact (Jpn) (Sunday Silence), who equaled that time a year later. Both Derby victors have multiple colts looking to pad their future stallion credentials in this second jewel of the 2015 Japanese Triple Crown. The King Kamehameha-sired G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) winner Duramente (Jpn) appears to have all the momentum as he aims to add another Classic as the morning line even-money crowd’s pick Sunday. First or second in all five racetrack appearances to date–including the Saintpaulia Sho at Tokyo Feb. 1 and a runner-up effort to the reopposing Satsuki Sho second-place finisher Real Steel (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G3 Tokinominoru Kinen Feb. 15–the bay has talent to spare. However, his biggest hurdle may be himself, with his quirky behavior in his latest run in the Japanese 2000 Guineas forcing the stewards to hand pilot Mirco Demuro a short suspension, after he swerved markedly away from the rail in the short Nakayama straight Apr. 19. “Going around the last two turns in the Satsuki Sho, he was so far inside that I thought there was no way we could win, especially with the time over the first 1,000 meters,” said Atsunori Hashimoto, assistant to trainer Norimuki Hori. “But he showed great acceleration down the stretch and because he was so fast, I was worried about him. We took our time making sure he was OK and there wasn’t a thing wrong with him.” If Duramente should falter, there are several other colts looking to make a name for themselves in the Tokyo feature. The aforementioned Real Steel is back for more, as is the Satsuki Sho third Kitasan Black (Jpn) (Black Tide {Jpn}), who leaves from stall 17. The recent G2 Kyoto Shimbun Hai one-two of Satono Rasen (Jpn) (Deep Impact), and Cyclomen Sho winner Porte d’Auteuil (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) will both be making their initial forays at the highest level when stretched out an additional 200 meters Sunday. The course and distance May 2 G2 TV Tokyo Hai Aoba Sho hero Reve Mistral (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) could also have a say in the outcome and exits stall seven.