horse racing in Japan

Kana Tape (Jpn), a 6-year-old mare by perennial leading sire Lord Kanaloa (Jpn), gave North American owner/breeder Charles Fipke--one of just a handful of foreign owners to be granted a full-time license in Japan--his first feature-race winner in the country when coming from far back in the final quarter mile to take out the 1600-meter G3 Sekiya Kinen at Niigata Racecourse on Sunday, July 27. Ridden by the visiting Rachel King to a Tokyo allowance success Feb. 9, the mare--trained by Noriyuki Hori--returned from a 133-day absence to finish runner-up...

The main event on Saudi Cup Day two weeks ago was all about the host nation, with the locally owned and trained Emblem Road (Quality Road) posting a remarkable upset in the world's richest horse race. Saudi Arabia has announced its presence on the global horse racing scene loud and clear, and the country-with its ever-increasing investment in racehorses and breeding stock globally--will continue to be heard from for years to come. When the layers are peeled back on the third running of the Saudi Cup card, however, it was...

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 Kyoto and Nakayama Racecourses: Saturday, January 18, 2020 4th-KYO, ¥11,400,000 ($104k), Newcomers, 3yo, 1400m A SHIN ENBARR (c, 3, Carpe Diem--Ambling, by Chester House), a half-brother to three-time graded-placed Triple Arch (Arch), was his sire (by Giant's Causeway)'s 10th most...

Sanctuaire (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), a three-quarter sister to two-time American Grade I winner and new WinStar Farm sire Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), stamped herself a 3-year-old filly to watch with a first black-type win in Sunday's G3 Shinzan Kinen against the colts at Kyoto. Sanctuaire, who is out of the GI Ballerina S. winner Hilda's Passion (Canadian Frontier), was a debut winner going a mile at Niigata on Aug. 11 and followed up with a second to Ria Amelia (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who is herself out of...