This year’s lineup for the key season finale race will most likely boast seven Gr.1 winners, including 2017 NHK Mile Cup victor Aerolithe and 2017 Mile Championship winner Persian Knight. The Yasuda Kinen has long been a favorite target for overseas-based horses, particularly from Hong Kong, and the race has been won by a foreign raider four times before, the last being in 2006 by Bullish Luck. This year sees only one participant from abroad – Hong Kong’s Western Express. 

 

The race result determines the top miler of the year along with the Mile Championship in the fall at Kyoto.Here is a look at some of this year’s Yasuda Kinen popular runners:

 

Suave Richard: Suave Richard aced the Osaka Hai in April and brought home his first Grade 1 victory on his fourth try. His performances at Tokyo have brought him two wins and two seconds, including a close second in the Japanese Derby last year. The biggest unknown facing the 4-year-old son of Heart’s Cry this time out is the “distance.” 

 

Persian Knight: After losing the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) by a neck last year, this Harbinger-sired colt managed to nab his first Grade 1 with the Mile Championship. On April 1, excellent timing under Yuichi Fukunaga helped him run a close second in the 2,000-meter Grade 1 Osaka Hai.

 

Sungrazer: A highly consistent runner, this 4-year-old son of Deep Impact has finished out of the money only once in his 13-race career, which has consisted mostly of races in the 1,400-1,600 meter range since his 3-year-old year. 

 

Red Falx: By Swept Overboard, the gray Red Falx finished third in the Yasuda last year, only 0.1 seconds off the winner. He then went on to win the Grade 1 Sprinters Stakes next out 4 months later.

 

Real Steel: One of three runners nominated by trainer Yoshito Yahagi, Real Steel returns from his second run in the 1,800-meter Dubai Turf. He failed to notch a back-to-back win but did tie for third.

 

Lys Gracieux: Lys Gracieux is one of three females in the lineup this year, all of them 4-year-olds. This daughter of Heart’s Cry missed the Victoria Mile on May 13 by a nose under Yutaka Take and is back for another try just three weeks later.

 

Satono Ares: Trainer Kazuo Fujisawa is fielding four horses (his most yet) in the Yasuda Kinen – Tower of London, Star of Persia,Moonquake and the Deep Impact colt Satono Ares, considered to have the best shot at the money.

 

 

1. Aerolithe (T. Kikuzawa), 2. Black Moon (K. Nishiura), 3. Campbell Junior (N. Hori), 4. Dashing Blaze (K. Yoshimura), 5. He's in Love (K. Fujioka), 6. Lys Gracieux (Y. Yahagi), 7. Moonquake (K. Fujisawa), 8. Mozu Ascot (Y. Yahagi), 9. Persian Knight (Y. Ikee), 10. Real Steel (Y. Yahagi), 11. Red Falx (T. Ozeki), 12. Reine Minoru (M. Honda), 13. Satono Ares (K. Fujisawa), 14. Star of Persia (K. Fujisawa), 15. Suave Richard (Y. Shono), 16. Sungrazer (H. Asami), 17. Tower of London (K. Fujisawa), 18. Win Gagnant (M. Nishizono)

 

Distance: 1600 meters, (About 8 furlongs / 1 mile), Surface: Turf, Track: Left-handed, Qualification: 3-y-o & Up,  Thoroughbreds, Weight: 3-y-o 54 kg \ 4-y-o & up 58kg[1], Purse: ¥ 190,000,000 bonus is given to any horse who wins two legs of the four-race Asian Mile Challenge, including the Yasuda Kinen.

 

Credit: Pallavi Shevade pallavi.shevade@secretaristworld.com