 |
|
2006 winner Alondite
Tokyo Racecourse
Tokyo Racecourse
The Grade 1 Japan Cup Dirt will be run on Saturday 24th November over 2100m at the internationally renowned Tokyo racecourse. The Japan Cup Dirt was established in 2000 in the wake of opening up barriers between the JRA and NAR racing circuits within Japan in 1995. Horses that were doing well in the JRA/NAR races, such as Lively Mount and Hokuto Vega, began to travel overseas, and it was felt that a "Japan Cup" for dirt horses was necessary. Of the 7 runnings to date, only one has been won by a foreign trained horse with Fleetstreet Dancer winning in 2003, although the number of foreign participants in this race is always less than the turf Japan Cup. This year, there are 3 foreign runners headed by the US trained Student Council, who is eligible for a 100 million yen (over US$800,000) bonus on top of the 1st prize money of 130 million yen (over US$1 million), as winner of this year's Grade 1 Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar. The other foreign runners are the UK trained pair of Kandidate and Jack Sullivan.
The 2100m Tokyo dirt course begins in the home straight. There is a 250m run to the first turn which curves for over 400m before the run down the back straight, which is also approximately 400m. The last curving turn is more than 450m long and leads into the final straight of 501m, the first 300m of which is uphill.
Most of Japan's top middle distance dirt performers are set to line up in this year's renewal. The likely favorite for the race is Vermilion, the Japanese son of El Condor Pasa, who finished 4th in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup this year. Aside from the 4th place finish at Dubai, he is undefeated in Japan, winning 2 top-tier races on the NAR circuit but contested by the best dirt horses in Japan. He does look the logical pick of the locals, but there will be dangers.
Field Rouge beat Vermilion home in last year's Japan Cup Dirt when finishing 3rd, and the 2 horses that finished above him that day will not be lining up this year (winner Alondite is once again injured and 2nd placed Seeking the Dia is expected to miss the race to run in the Urawa Kinen on the NAR circuit). Field Rouge's difficulty is that he tends to get a long way back in the early stages, but he has a very strong finish. If he is within striking range as the field enters the straight, he could well win his first prestigious title here, as he is yet to win a top-notch race anywhere, even though he has finished close up in both his Grade 1 attempts - 3rd in this race last year and 5th in the 1600m Grade 1 February Stakes earlier this year.
Sunrise Bacchus finished 5th in this race last year and came back to Tokyo to win the Grade 1 February Stakes earlier this year. He consistently finishes up close, and with jockey Katsumi Ando, who has just broken the record for the most number of Grade 1 wins in one calender year for a JRA jockey with 5 (this is prior to the running of the Grade 1 Mile Championship in which he will ride one of the fancied runners Daiwa Major), Sunrise Bacchus must be respected.
Dragon Fire is the Japanese horse most expect to trouble the established dirt group performers. He is a 3yo who has come through the ranks winning his last 4 starts in a row (with an exclusion from one race in between). He takes a while to wind up, but once he does he just keeps coming and the 2100m course at Tokyo looks perfect for him. He beat a very good field of older horses at the Grade 3 Sirius Stakes in his last start (where last year's Japan Cup winner Alondite finished 4th) from an impossible position with 300m to go. He does look very, very good, but this is his acid test.
Blue Concorde has been one of the most consistent dirt performers in Japan in recent years. He has an amazing record, earning more than 800 million yen in winning 6 top-tier races - all on the NAR circuit. In JRA Grade 1 races, he has finished 5th, 4th then 2nd in the past 3 runnings of the February Stakes but failed as 2nd favorite in this race last year (finished 9th). He has only finished out of the placings in one run since then - finishing 4th behind Vermilion his last start. The 2100m at Tokyo does look a bit too far for Blue Concorde, but it would be great to see him pick up a JRA title.
Darley Japan Farm Co. Ltd. will be looking to Furioso to win their first JRA Grade 1 race after winning the Japan Dirt Derby on the NAR circuit earlier this year. That was a good field, and this horse is yet to miss a place on dirt. He has never run on a JRA dirt track, and the dirt is usually a lot harder and not as deep as the NAR dirt. So the key to his chances may be how he handles the dirt at the Tokyo racecourse.
An interesting runner taking on the dirt horses here is Fusaichi Ho O. Unbeaten in his first 4 starts, he was terribly unlucky not to win the first of the Japanese triple crown race, Satsuki Sho (the 2000 Guineas equivalent), in April. He was favorite for the Japanese Derby (won by 3yo filly Vodka) but after failing in that race and then his two autumn turf runs, his trainer has decided to try him on dirt. He certainly picked a tough race to try him on dirt though and will probably be a big price in Japan - although the reported booking of champion jockey Olivier Peslier will ensure he is not completely ignored.
© The Japan Association for International Horse Racing. All Rights Reserved.
