Setting The Gold Standard

Sunday's G1 Takarazuka Kinen, a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf and the final Group 1 of the Japanese spring season, has drawn a competitive lineup worthy of its $2.4-million purse. Gold Ship (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) goes for his third straight win in the race, and if he achieves the hat trick, he will become not only the first horse to win the Takarazuka three times, but the first to win any JRA Group 1 in three consecutive years. The fiery 6-year-old's age does not appear to be wearing on him, either; he won the G2 Hanshin Daishoten first-up this year over Denim and Ruby (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), and took last month's G1 Tenno Sho Spring in resounding last-to-first fashion. Trainer Naosuke Sugai expressed confidence about returning to Hanshin, where Gold Ship is six-for-seven. “[Gold Ship] had a setback after the Hanshin Daishoten and we struggled to get him fit, but he did us proud,” Sugai revealed. “We're out to win a third consecutive Takarazuka Kinen title, and he seems to get fired up when he runs at Hanshin.”

Curren Mirotic (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), runner-up in this race last year and third in the Tenno Sho, will ensure Gold Ship has no easy task in his own quest for a first Group 1. The 7-year-old gelding enjoyed a spell after the Tenno Sho, a race trainer Osamu Hirata admitted took a lot out of him. “He's a little edgy,” the conditioner said. “He ran his heart out in the Tenno Sho, and it took a lot out of him. But he's starting to simmer down now.”

Lachesis | JRA

Only two females have won the Takarazuka, but with a strong squad of five fillies and mares set to line up this year it would not be a surprise if a name was added to that list. The progressive Lachesis (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) proved herself among the best in the country when winning last year's G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup against her own sex, and she was a respectable sixth in the G1 Arima Kinen in December before besting G1 Toyko Yushun (Japanese Derby) winner Kizuna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and globetrotting Group 1 winner Spielberg (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G2 Sankei Osaka Hai Apr. 5. Last year's G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) winner Nuovo Record (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) finished off the board for just the second time in her 11-race career when sixth in the G1 Victoria Mile May 17, an effort trainer Makoto Saito put down to the inadequate distance. “She didn't have enough horse left in her for the finish,” he said. “It was clearly a lack of distance; it wasn't ideal, but she still posted her best time down the stretch so we're not too pessimistic. This race has been our goal for the spring from the start. We're not worried if it rains or not, and we're looking to bounce back in a big way.”