By Alan Carasso
Zenith Telescope (Jpn) (Galileo {Ire}), the first Japanese foal from 2009 European champion sprinter Fleeting Spirit (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), will make his career debut in Saturday's fifth race at Niigata, a newcomers' race over 1600 metres on turf.
Already the dam of this year's Listed Prix Madame Jean Couterie, the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan-owned 3-year-old filly Khaleesy (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Fleeting Spirit was a four-time winner at group level for The Searchers and trainer Jeremy Noseda, including a 12-1 upset of the G1 Darley July Cup in 2009. Overall she won five of her 16 trips to the post and banked $1,216,865.
Following the conclusion of her racing career, Fleeting Spirit was acquired privately by Australian businessman Paul Makin and visited Galileo in her of her three trips through the breeding shed while domiciled in Europe. She was offered as part of the Paulyn Dispersal at Goffs in November 2013 (click here for sales coverage from Emma Berry) and was hammered down to Emmanuel de Seroux's Narvick International for €1.1 million on behalf of Shunsuke Yoshida's Northern Racing carrying the colt that would become Zenith Telescope. That price was second only to the €6 million paid by Peter and Ross Doyle Bloodstock for that year's G1 Darley Irish Oaks winner Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}). Since her export to Japan, the now 11-year-old Fleeting Spirit has foaled colts by Deep Impact (Jpn) in 2015 and 2016.
Zenith Telescope, owned by Sunday Racing Co. Ltd., has drawn gate eight in a bulky field of 18 and will be ridden by Yuichi Fukunaga. The bay colt is conditioned by Manabu Ikezoe.
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