hanshin

Coolmore America's successful first-crop sire Practical Joke (Into Mischief) was represented by his first Japanese winner and 15th overall when Dugat validated even-money favoritism in a 1200-meter turf maiden Saturday afternoon at Hanshin Racecourse. Bred in Kentucky by Erv Woolsey and Ralph Kinder, the son of the mutiple stakes-placed Untraveled (Canadian Frontier) was knocked down to trainer Hideyuki Mori for $190,000 from the McKathan Bros. draft at this year's OBS March Sale after the Mar. 31 foal breezed an eighth of a mile in the bullet time of :9 4/5....

Sunday's final leg of the Japanese Filly Triple Crown, the G1 Shuka Sho, looms a championship event and serves as a rubber match between the winners of the first two races in the series--Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune), the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) victress and Uberleben (Jpn) (Gold Ship {Jpn}), who took out the G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks)--over a 2000-metre distance that is a quarter-mile longer than the Guineas and two furlongs shorter than the Oaks. Sodashi, a white filly just like her extremely popular dam Buchiko (Jpn) (King...

In this continuing series, we take 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 Niigata, Tokyo and Hanshin Racecourses. The last mentioned is the site of Sunday's G1 Shuka Sho, featuring G1 Oka Sho (1600mT) heroine Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune) against Uberleben (Jpn) (Gold Ship {Jpn}), the G1 Yushun Himba (2400mT) winner, squaring off over...

Japan stages a pair of 'all-star' races each season, the G1 Takarazuka Kinen in early summer and the G1 Arima Kinen at year's end, giving fans a chance to vote for their favourite runners. The last four runnings of these events have been won by females--Lys Gracieux (Jpn) completed the double in 2019, while Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}) repeated the feat last year. The latter, who scored by six lengths last June, is back to defend her title in the final top-level test of the first half of the...

In this continuing series, we take 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 Hanshin and Tokyo Racecourses. The final Group 1 event of the spring/early summer, the Takarazuka Kinen, is slated for Sunday at Hanshin and is led by its defending champion Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}): Saturday, June 26, 2021 1st-HSN, ¥9,680,000...

In this continuing series, we take 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 Hanshin and Sapporo Racecourses, including the first Japanese runner for Horse of the Year Gun Runner: Saturday, June 19, 2021 11th-HSN, Yonago S.-Listed, ¥47.6m ($432k), 3yo/up, 1600mT The progressive LOTUS LAND (f, 4, Point of Entry--Little Miss Muffet, by Scat...

The G1 Tenno Sho (Spring), first run at Hanshin in 1938, was subsequently moved to Kyoto, but returns to Hanshin for the 2021 renewal as Kyoto undergoes extensive renovation this spring. Among this season's likely favorites, Aristoteles (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) finished runner up behind 2020 Japanese Triple Crown hero Contrail (Jpn) in last fall's G1 Kikura Sho (Japanese St. Leger) before taking the 2,200-meter G2 American Jockey Club Cup at Nakayama Jan. 24. Heavily favored in his latest start in the G2 Hanshin Daishoten over 3,000 meters Mar. 21, the...

In this continuing series, we take 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 Hanshin and Tokyo Racecourses, including a filly from the first Southern Hemisphere crop of American Pharoah. Group 1 action resumes this weekend at Hanshin with Sunday's running of the G1 Tenno Sho (Spring) over two miles, a full field that...

Japanese Classics season gets underway Sunday at Hanshin Racecourse with the running of the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) for which the popular Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune) figures to go favoured in her first start of the year. A registered white out of the cult hero Buchiko (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}), the homebred filly enters the Oka Sho with an unblemished record from four racetrack appearances, including a 1 3/4-length defeat of Kukuna (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) in the G3 Artemis S. last October before just getting the better of...

Lei Papale (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), undefeated in five previous appearances, relished the soft going in the 2000-metre G1 Osaka Hai at Hanshin on Sunday, defeating several well-hyped Group 1 winners including 2020 Japanese Triple Crown winner Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). The Carrot Farm colourbearer is just the third horse in JRA history to claim a Group 1 title for older horses unbeaten after Fine Motion (Ire) (Danehill) in 2002 and Chrysoberyl (Jpn) (Gold Allure {Jpn}) in 2019. Sent off as the fourth choice at 11-1, the bay was...

A field of 13--including a half-dozen by the legendary Deep Impact (Jpn)--will face the starter for a cracking renewal of the G1 Osaka Hai (2000m) Sunday at Hanshin Racecourse, led by the late stallion's 2020 Triple Crown hero Contrail (Jpn). Raced by Shinji Maeda and bred by the family's North Hills Co. Ltd., the son of Rhodochrosite (Unbridled's Song) built on an undefeated 2-year-old season with four on the bounce last term, defeating Salios (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) in the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) (2000m) in April and...

In this continuing series, we take 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 Sunday running at Hanshin, Nakayama and Chukyo Racecourses, the last of which hosts the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen and its defending champion US-bred 6-year-old mare Mozu Superflare (Speightstown): Sunday, March 28, 2021 3rd-CKO, ¥9,680,000 ($89k), Maiden, 3yo, 1900m MOZU TREASURE (f, 3, California Chrome--Somethinaboutbetty,...