Japanese Derby

Despite missing the break and getting bumped by a foe to begin the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), favoured Lovcen delivered regardless stepping up to 2400 metres for the first time. His head victory over fellow tenacious closer Peintre Naif (Kizuna) handed his trainer Haruki Sugiyama his ninth JRA Group 1 win. The World Premiere colt is the 25th to win the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) and then the Japanese Derby. The Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) over 3000 metres in October would give Lovcen the opportunity to become...

Classic winners tend to beget Classic winners, and with record-breaking G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) hero Lovcen, that adage certainly applies. If Lovcen delivers a Classic double in Sunday's G1 Tokyo Yushun, the colt would be the first to win the first two legs of the Japanese Triple Crown since Contrail six years ago. His sire, the Deep Impact stallion World Premiere, captured the 2019 G1 Japanese St Leger (Kikuka Sho). Said jockey Kohei Matsuyama of the ante-post market favourite, "He was calm on the day of the Satsuki...

Saturday, Carlisle, post time: 15:10, THE BETWAY LESTER PIGGOTT FILLIES' STAKES-G3, £125,000, 4yo/up, f/m, 11f 39yT Field: Azaniya (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Coedana (Ire) (King Of Change {GB}), Crepe Suzette (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}), Estrange (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Naga (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}), Patagonia Girl (GB) (Australia {GB}), Sharpen (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), Waardah (Ire) (Postponed {Ire}). TDN Analysis: Moved from Haydock due to the well-documented ground concerns there, this represents a different test on a stiff track than it would have been at its traditional Merseyside home...

After losing his unbeaten record when second in April's G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas), Croix Du Nord was on something of a recovery mission, and he delivered when it counted, running out a three-quarter length winner of the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) on Sunday. Masquerade Ball (Duramente), third in the Satsuki Sho, charged home second, 1 1/2 lengths to the good of Shohei (Saturnalia). The betting public felt the 2400 metres of the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) was well within the son of Kitasan Black's scope, and...

Despite losing his unbeaten tag to Museum Mile (Leontes) in the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas), Croix Du Nord still carries the burden of favouritism in Sunday's G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby). Never tested at the 2400-metre trip, the son of Kitasan Black and the Cape Cross mare Rising Cross went three-for three in his juvenile season and put an exclamation point on his career thus far in the G1 Hopeful Stakes, defeating Giovanni (Epiphaneia). The Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Colt will leave from stall 13 in the 18-horse field...

Equinox (Jpn) was fractionally unlucky to not reel in Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) in the 2022 G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), falling just a neck short after sustaining a long rally from near the end of the field. The flashy colt got the last laugh when named Japan's Horse of the Year, and his sire Kitasan Black (Jpn) has every chance to sire the quinella in this year's renewal at the Fuchu Racecourse Sunday afternoon. The two runners may be more closely matched than it appears on paper....

by Alan Carasso The legendary Yutaka Take, already five times a winner of the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), gave out an uncharacteristically bullish vibe about the chances of reigning champion 2-year-old male Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) ahead of Sunday's second jewel of the Japanese Triple Crown over 2400 metres of the Fuchu course, about 20 miles due west of the city centre. And after a little less than a record-breaking 142 seconds on a warm and sunny warm afternoon and with a crowd on that looked and...

The reigning champion 2-year-old male in Japan, Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) will be out to avenge a pair of defeats this season in Sunday's middle jewel of the Japanese Triple Crown, the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) over 2400 metres. Perfect in three starts last season, including a half-length success in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. going the metric mile last December, Do Deuce just failed to reel in pace-pressing Ask Victor More (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the 10-furlong Group 2 event named in honour of...

Makoto Kaneko's Wagnerian (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}-Miss Encore {Jpn}, by King Kamehameha {Jpn}), the winner of the 2018 G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), has died age seven of organ failure, according to published reports. The winner of the G3 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai S. at two at the end of a three-race, unbeaten 2-year-old campaign, Wagnerian won the Tokyo Yushun at third asking at three. He added the G2 Kobe Shimbun Hai before the season was out, and though that would prove to be his last win, Wagnerian was third...

Japanese Horse of the Year Jungle Pocket (Jpn) (Tony Bin {Ire}-Dance Charmer, by Nureyev) passed away at Breeders' Stallion Station in Japan, Tokyo-Sports reported on Tuesday. The grandson of GII Del Mar Debutante S. heroine Skillful Joy (Nodouble) was 23. Bred by Northern Farm and campaigned by Katsumi Yoshida, the May foal won two of three starts at two including the Sapporo Sansai S. in September of 2000 before a second-place finish in the Radio Tampa Hai Sansai S. Back in the winner's circle in the Kyodo News Service Hai,...