Shohei

Sunday's G1 Osaka Hai attracted a class field of 15, with at least one major entrant swerving a Dubai target thanks to the ongoing conflict in Iran and surrounding countries. Favoured is G1 Hopeful Stakes hero and 2025 G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) victor Croix Du Nord. The son of Kitasan Black claimed France's G3 Prix du Prince d'Orange in September, and, although unplaced in soft going in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, bounced back with a fourth to Calandagan (Gleneagles) in the G1 Japan Cup in November....

Japan's Triple Crown wraps up this Sunday with the 86th running of the G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger). Run over 3,000 metres at Kyoto Racecourse, the Kikuka Sho is the longest of the three races in the country's Triple Crown, which also includes the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2,000 Guineas) and the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) in the spring. Although the race is open to three-year-old colts and fillies, this year's field will be made up of only colts, with 20 nominees, but only 18 runners permitted to...