By Alan Carasso
In this ongoing series, Alan Carasso takes a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Kyoto and Niigata Racecourses:
Sunday, May 21, 2017
11th-NII, ¥43,800,000 (US$393k), Hcp., 4yo/up, 1000mT
Koji Maeda homebred FIDUCIA (m, 5, Medaglia d'Oro–Believe {Jpn}, by Sunday Silence) enters this rich handicap event with victories in two of her three most recent trips to the post, including a maiden black-type success in a listed event over 1200 grassy meters at Nakayama Apr. 16 (video, gate 10). Fiducia's champion dam carried the Maeda blue-and-red silks to wins in Japan's two premier sprints–the Takamatsunomiya Kinen and the Sprinters' S.–in the early 2000s. Fiducia's half-brother Faridat (Kingmambo) was a stakes winner and third to Vodka (Jpn) (Tanino Gimlet {Jpn) in the 2009 G1 Yasuda Kinen. B-North Hills Co Ltd (KY)
6th-KYO, ¥13,720,000 (US$123k), Alw, 3yo, 1800m
RABBIT RUN (f, 3, Tapit–Amelia, by Dixieland Band), a $750K KEESEP graduate, returns on two weeks' rest, having been desperately unlucky to remain perfect in her two career runs when a fast-finishing second up the fence in a 1600m test at Tokyo (video, gate 2). Bred in Kentucky by Alexander Groves Matz, Rabbit Run is kin to GSW & GISP Rainha da Bateria (Broken Vow), GSW & GISP Kindergarden Kid (Dynaformer), GSW Assateague (Stormy Atlantic) and full-brother GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up He's Had Enough. Diamond A Racing Corp.-bred Meliora (c, 3 Giant's Causeway–Stop Traffic, by Cure the Blues), a half-brother to 'TDN Rising Star' and Spendthrift stallion Cross Traffic (Unbridled's Song), tries the dirt for the first time, posted a maiden victory from five tries on turf (video, post 5), but switches to the dirt for the first time here.
Saturday, May 20, 2017
10th-KYO, ¥34,620,000 (US$310k), Alw, 3yo, 1200m
ZENNO SURVEYOR (c, 4, Mineshaft–Eden's Causeway, by Giant's Causeway), a half-brother to GISW and former 'TDN Rising Star' Eden's Moon (Malibu Moon), has finished out of the top three just twice in his 11 starts and exits a strong runner-up effort in the Kashihara S., a conditions race over this course and distance Feb. 18 (video, gate 10). The homebred is beautifully bred from a rich Arthur Appleton family, as his dam is a half-sister to champion and MGISW Paradise Creek (Irish River {Fr}) and GISWs Forbidden Apple (Pleasant Colony) and Wild Event (Wild Again). This is the further female family of US Eclipse Award winner Theatrical (Ire) (Nureyev) and former Japanese standout Taiki Blizzard (Seattle Slew). B-Kumiko Osako (KY)
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
