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The 58th running of the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen will be run on June 8 at Tokyo racecourse over 1600m, and the nominations for the race have just been announced. The race is the final leg of the Asian Mile Challenge, with the other three legs (the Group 1 Champions Mile at Sha Tin racecourse, the Group 1 Power Pays Futurity Stakes at Caulfield racecourse and the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free at Nad Al Sheba racecourse) already having been run and won.
There are 3 foreign trained horses who have already arrived for the race - all from Hong Kong. Good Ba Ba is back again this year, and will be hoping to improve on his 7th placing last year. His form in Hong Kong this year has been outstanding, and he looks to be a much improved horse compared to the horse Japanese fans saw last year. The two horses he beat into 2nd and 3rd placing in the Group 1 Champions Mile last start - Armada and Bullish Luck have joined him on the trip to Japan. Good Ba Ba will be chasing a US$1,000,000 bonus in the Yasuda Kinen - for winning 2 legs of the Challenge - a feat achieved by the 9yo gelding Bullish Luck two years ago.
The full field for the race is 18, with 15 places for Japanese runners after the 3 foreign runners above have been afforded their place. For those 15 positions, there were 18 nominations for the race, with the final field promising to be a crack field of Asian milers. Below is a brief description of the main chances from Japan:
Suzuka Phoenix: A son of Sunday Silence who may well start favorite here. He hasn’t missed a place for a long time - racing only against the best sprinters/milers in Japan, and with Yutaka Take on board, there will be many fans expecting him to win next week. He missed the start badly two starts back in the Grade 1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen over 1200m, but ran an amazing 32.7 second closing sectional to just be beaten into 3rd place. Then last start, he was a little disappointing when failing to grab 2nd place behind the dominant winner Super Hornet, when Kiss To Heaven forced him into 3rd place again in the traditional domestic lead-up race for the Yasuda Kinen, the Grade 2 1400m Keio Hai.
Super Hornet: Struggled for a while after proving himself as one Japan’s best 2yos early on in his career, but since last autumn he has returned to his best form and looks a huge chance in this race. He found the 1200m too short in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen two starts back, but accelerated away from the field quickly last start for a very easy win ahead of Suzuka Phoenix among others. He finished 2nd by a nose to last year’s winner (now retired 2007 JRA Sprinter or Miler of the Year Daiwa Major) in the Grade 1 Mile Championship over this distance last year, and he will be trying once again to win the first Grade 1 victory for his trainer Yoshito Yahagi.
Kongo Rikishio: Went extremely close to winning this race last year after leading most of the way, only to be run down in the shadows of the post by Daiwa Major. He failed badly when traveling to Hong Kong for the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile last Autumn, and has done very little since returning Japan. He did win last start, but that was in a minor event on the NAR dirt circuit, and this is much much harder here. He still has the speed to lead though, so if he gets things his own way he may take some running down again this year.
Company: Showed tremendous potential as a juvenile, but struggled to be competitive at the top level in Japan for what seemed like an eternity. However, since the second half of last year he has been performing very well against the best horses in Japan, and will deservedly be on the favorites for this race. He has won his last consecutive starts over 1800m and 1600m, and finished 3rd behind top Japanese middle distance horse Meisho Samson in the 2000m Tenno Sho (Autumn) here at Tokyo last year.
Vodka: The filly who won the Japanese Derby last year and created history as the first filly in 64 years to do so has been winless ever since. After an even run in the 2nd leg of the Asian Mile Challenge, the Grade 1 Dubai Duty Free to finish 4th, she returned to Japan and showed she was still up to the top level when finishing 2nd in the Victoria Mile for top-level fillies and mares over this course on the 18th May. She may not have won, but even though she had lost a lot of weight during the flight back from Dubai, she still ran her last 600m in 33.2 seconds to only narrowly be beaten. She will be ridden by top Japanese jockey Yasunari Iwata here after Take chose to stick with Suzuka Phoenix.
Air Shady: Looms as the best other Japanese chance in the race after finally breaking through for his first principal race win two starts back. He has been consistently one of the best milers in Japan for the past few seasons, but had always found one or two horses better than him on the day. He finished 3rd to Company last start over 1800m, but back to the Tokyo course (where he has had 10 runs for 4 wins and 4 seconds), he will take some holding out in his bid to win at Grade 1 level for the first time.
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