Yutaka Take

Legendary jockey Yutaka Take bettered his own record when winning his sixth G1 Takarazuka Kinen and second aboard Meisho Tabaru (Gold Ship) at Hanshin on Sunday. The 57-year-old previously claimed the race with Inari One (1989), Meijiro McQueen (1993), Marvelous Sunday (1997), and Deep Impact (2006). The "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland in October featured a full field of 18, and, shortly before the bell, a deluge turned the course from good to firm to yielding. Second in the betting at 29-10 behind...

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 Hanshin and Tokyo Racecourses. Sunday's horses of note will appear in the Saturday edition of the TDN: Saturday, June 13, 2026 6th-TOK, ¥14,880,000 ($92k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400mT DEMIAN (c, 2, Flightline--Mira Alta, by Curlin) continues the coming-out party for his...

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...

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...

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 Hanshin Racecourse: Saturday, April 4, 2026 1st-HSN, ¥11,280,000 ($71k), Maiden, 3yo, f, 1800m PETRICHOR (JPN) (f, 3, Justify--Nicest {Ire}, by American Pharoah) just failed to overcome gate 14 of 16 on Kyoto debut going this trip on Jan. 11, finishing...

Plans are taking shape for a new global jockeys' league, which would see 12 world-renowned riders compete against each other multiple times a year, across prestigious racecourses located in each of the major racing jurisdictions. It is hoped that the project will get off the ground in 2026, provided commercial partners to help fund the competition can be found in the interim. Co-founded by former Godolphin chief executive John Ferguson and Lachlan Fitt, who served as chief financial officer of Entain Australia from 2018 until earlier this year, the idea...

Three top-class European invaders made the trip across to contest Sunday's G1 Japan Cup, trying to put a dent in the locals, who have more or less owned the 2400-metre feature since the turn of the century. But each was done in--to varying degrees--by a race that was run at a walking pace for the opening mile, and favoured Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) ensured that the trophy would remain in Japan for another year. The 5-year-old took off from the back of the field approaching the home straight...

Three of Europe's top 2400-metre gallopers face an 11-strong local challenge in Sunday's G1 Japan Cup, looking to snap an 18-year run of success for Japanese-based horses. While it has become next to impossible for the raiders to walk away with the Tokyo spoils, that was not always the case. In the first 17 renewals, horses from overseas prevailed on no fewer than a dozen occasions, including theretofore unprecedented consecutive winners for Sir Michael Stoute with Singspiel (Ire) and Pilsudski (Ire) in 1996 and 1997, respectively. But since that time,...

Already an elite-level winner at 1600, 2400 and 2500 metres, Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) jumped out of the ground in the Tokyo straight and rattled home down the outside to add Sunday's G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) over the metric mile and a quarter. Fellow G1 Tokyo Yushun hero Tastiera (Jpn) (Satono Crown {Jpn}) could not resist the winner's flying finish and settled for second, while pacesetting Ho O Biscuits (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) was a valiant third. Ho O Biscuits won the break from gate nine and set...

Insel Racing's Awesome Result (Justify) made Tuesday's $365,264 Listed Breeders' Gold Cup her seventh victory from as many trips to the post and likely earned a trip to Del Mar for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff Nov. 2. The same race was used as a springboard to victory in the same event by Marche Lorraine (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) at the seaside oval in 2021. Favored at 1-10 off a maiden stakes success in the Listed Empress Hai at Kawasaki May 8, Awesome Result broke a bit sideways, causing Yutaka Take...

With one Japanese raid on America just completed, another looks set for the fall, as Awesome Result (Justify) will be pointed towards the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Del Mar in November after making virtually all the running in Wednesday's Listed Empress Hai at Kawasaki Racecourse. The victory, the first black-type success for the 4-year-old filly, takes her record to a perfect six-from-six. Contested over 2100 metres (about a mile and five-sixteenths), Awesome Result bounced well from gate 10 beneath Yutaka Take and was initially taken in hand to sit...

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 Chukyo and Hanshin Racecourses: Sunday, March 10, 2024 3rd-CKO, ¥10,400,000 ($71k), Maiden, 3yo, 1400mT KAFUJI NIHONIUM (c, 3, Kitten's Joy--Broken Dreams, by Broken Vow) represents six generations of Glen Hill Farm breeding and is out of a Grade III-winning dam...