Hiroyasu Tanaka

Making yet more history for the legendary Yutaka Take, Sixpence (Kizuna) gained his first success at the top level when coming out on top in a thrilling finish to Sunday's Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo. The race is a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile in October. Trained by Hiroyasu Tanaka, Sixpence was one of three runners in a breakaway group who appeared to have the race between them with 400 metres to run, with long-time leader World's End (Lord Kanaloa) to his left and Seiun Hades...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- The international contenders may have been out in force on Wednesday morning but there is one horse who dominates the spotlight and he has every right to it. Forever Young first set foot on King Abdulaziz racecourse two years ago when he arrived as a three-year-old to take the Saudi Derby before going on to triumph in Dubai. He was then involved in an almighty tussle at Churchill Downs, where he went down by the merest of fractions to Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone in the...

Trainer Takashi Saito is eager to use the experience of an unsuccessful Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe bid as he puts the finishing touches to Croix Du Nord's preparation for Sunday's ParisLongchamp showpiece. Back in 2021, Saito saddled his first runner in the Arc in the shape of Chrono Genesis, a four-time Group 1 winner in her native Japan. At ParisLongchamp, however, she could manage only seventh in a race run on very soft ground, with the daughter of Bago tiring late on after more than three months on...

Well-beaten in the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) when last seen in April, Tsuyoshi Suzuki's Alohi Alii (Duramente) proved a class apart on his European bow in Saturday's G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville. Allowed to bowl along in front by Christophe Lemaire, the Hiroyasu Tanaka-trained 5-1 shot took off in early straight to dominate the 10-furlong test and was eased late to beat the solid yardsticks Rashabar (Holy Roman Emperor) and Cualificar (Lope De Vega) by 3 1/2 lengths and a head. This race was run almost three...

Godolphin's Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid) has been the best dirt horse in Japan this year at distances up to a mile, but the 5-year-old faces a stamina-stretching test from a horrible draw when he faces 14 others in Sunday's G1 Champions Cup (1800m) at Chukyo Racecourse. A $70,000 Keeneland November weanling purchase, the chestnut won the G3 Negishi S. over 1400 metres at Toyko in January and silenced those who questioned his ability to stay an extra furlong when running out a comfortable winner of the G1 February S....