Japan

Five years after his sire clinched a second consecutive Horse of the Year title in Japan with a victory in the G1 Arima Kinen, Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) stated his case for top year-end honours for 2022 with a dominating display in front of a pandemic-restricted, but boisterous crowd of roughly 47,000 fans Christmas Day at Nakayama Racecourse. The firming 13-10 favourite in the fan-voted affair, Equinox left without incident from gate nine and landed in midfield on the back of defending champion and reigning Horse of the Year...

Sunday's G1 Arima Kinen offers fans of international racing the ultimate Christmas gift, as a field of 16--largely selected by the public--will face the starter in one of the world's most valuable Group 1 races not held in a desert environment. Titleholder (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) was the leading votegetter and looks to atone for his speed-and-fade 11th-place effort in that boggy-ground renewal of the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp Oct. 2. He'd earned the right to contest Europe's weight-for-age championship, having defeated fellow Arc runner Deep Bond...

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 Saturday running at Nakayama Racecourse. The highlight of the weekend and one of the year's main events, the G1 Arima Kinen (Grand Prix) has attracted most every top galloper in Japan. Tune in Sunday morning at 1:40 a.m. ET if still setting out...

In this continuing series, Alan Carasso takes 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 Chukyo, Nakayama and Hanshin Racecourses. Juvenile Fillies got their chance at Group 1 glory last weekend and it's the boys' turn this weekend at Hanshin, with the running of the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity: Saturday, December 17, 2022 5th-CKO,...

Sunday Racing's Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) all but locked up champion 2-year-old filly honours in Japan with a thoroughly convincing defeat of 17 rivals in Sunday's G1 Hanshin  Juvenile Fillies. Yuga Kawada, who was forced to miss this past Wednesday's Longines International Jockeys' Championship in Hong Kong after testing positive for COVID prior to his departure, was cleared to ride the Sunday feature and settled the 8-5 favourite right in midfield and a few paths off the inside for the opening half-mile. Traveling with cover as they raced around...

Horse for the course T O Keynes (Jpn) (Sinister Minister) appears a very tough nut to crack in Sunday's G1 Champions Cup (ex Japan Cup Dirt) at Chukyo Racecourse, a race in which he bolted up by a half-dozen lengths over the classy Chuwa Wizard (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) twelve months ago. The 5-year-old earned a berth in the 2022 G1 Saudi Cup with his victory here last year, but he was disappointing in eighth behind Emblem Road (Quality Road) in Riyadh back in February. He regrouped and validated odds-on...

The first of four legs of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, the $220,717 Cattleya S. (allowance), was staged Saturday afternoon over Tokyo's one-turn mile and for the second year in a row, a son of successful young stallion and former U.S. Eclipse Award winner Drefong drew first blood in the series. Drawn one from the outside in afield of 10, Continuar (Jpn) broke alertly, but was ultimately beaten for speed and settled in the second flight of horses while racing three off the inside and with cover down...

In the first 11 runnings of the G1 Longines Japan Cup, foreign raiders were successful no fewer than nine times, with winners from America, Australia, France, Ireland and New Zealand. But not since Alkaased (Kingmambo) defeated Heart's Cry (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) in 2005 for Frankie Dettori and Luca Cumani has any overseas-based galloper managed to land a winning blow. The locals will be favoured to take that current streak to 17 when a full field loads the gate at Tokyo Sunday afternoon, but Europe has strength in numbers--and class--to make...

Invitations for this year's Longines Hong Kong International Races were made public prior to the start of the Happy Valley meeting Wednesday, with a total of 24 overseas horses--five more than last year--from Australia, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan and Singapore among the invitees. In the history of the HKIR, only one horse--Good Ba Ba (Lear Fan)--has managed to score three victories at the meeting. More history could be made this year when two-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) and Japan's Glory Vase (Jpn)...

All eyes will be on Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune)--aren't they always?--as she takes on an eclectic group in Sunday's G1 Mile Championship at Hanshin Racecourse, a race that looks something other than a one-horse affair. Named the best of her generation at two and three, the immensely popular white filly owns three top-level victories over arguably her favorite trip, having annexed the 2020 G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies and last year's G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) over course and distance and this year's sex-restricted G1 Victoria Mile at Tokyo. Fifth to...

With the Breeders' Cup returning to Lexington for the third time, headlined by the mighty Flightline (Tapit), the buzz in Lexington was electric from late October all the way through the nearly two weeks of breeding stock sales that followed the World Championships. Combine that with a deep and diverse buying bench and high demand and the result was gains in both gross and average for the 10-day Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, which ran from Nov. 7-16. "With the close of the November Breeding Stock Sale, Keeneland is nearing...

Between them, Maurice (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}) and Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) accounted for three Horse of the Year titles in Japan, 13 Group 1 races--including four overseas--and the better part of $28 million in prizemoney. There is no such thing as a sure thing in the business of breeding horses, but Geraldina (Jpn) went some ways in cementing the accomplishments of mom and dad in their second careers with a tough-trip victory in Sunday's G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Hanshin Racecourse. Drawn widest in the field of...