February Stakes (G1) - Brocken finds February success

The torch was passed on from dirt champions Kane Hekili and Vermilion to a group of outstanding 4-year-olds on Sunday afternoon as Success Brocken won the February Stakes in record time, the Japan Racing Association's first Grade 1 race of 2009.

Success Brocken, the 4-year-old colt who went off as the sixth favorite in a full field of 16 at Tokyo Racecourse, came out on top of a sizzling duel on the straight, clocking 1 minute, 34.6 seconds over the 1,600 meters in perfect racing conditions to rewrite the previous record by one-tenths of a second.

Trainer Hideaki Fujiwara's horse just held off fellow 4-year-old Casino Drive by a neck for the victory, while red-hot favorite Kane Hekili came in third only a head behind the runner-up. Another 4-year-old colt, Espoir City, set the pace and took a close fourth.

Vermilion, the second choice ridden by Yutaka Take, never had a moment and slipped to sixth.

Fujiwara, whose colt made waves last year in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) by entering the race with zero experience on turf, said he was well aware of Success Brocken's potential but thought it would take him more time to come into his own.

"I didn't think he would win today," Fujiwara said. "He has potential, but I just thought a victory like this would come a lot farther down the line.

"This was the race we had been targeting all long, and we built him up for it. I'm not trying to take anything away from him, but I really thought he would need more time to get the most out of his ability.

"The conditions were all there for the horse today. It was 1,600 meters and we had an outside draw. I think it was much easier for [jockey Hiroyuki] Uchida to ride today than some of the races at 2,000 meters he's had recently.

"When Kane Hekili came up on us form the inside, I thought we were through. There were two class horses in the field, and I was just hoping our horse would make them work for it.

"He left everything he had out there today, and now it's time for a break. When he first came to the stable, I remember him being so weak and he just continues to amaze us with his spirit."

Uchida, the second leading jockey in Kanto after Norihiro Yokoyama, said Success Brocken's recent battles against 7 year-olds Kane Hekili and Vermilion had made him a tougher horse than anyone could have imagined.

"The horse has grown up fast," said Uchida, who won his first dirt G1 race since his switch from the local circuit to the JRA. "The race went much smoother for him today. We weren't really marking anyone, but with Kane Hekili, Casino Drive and Vermilion being the three strongest, we were wondering who would have the best day.

"He's been up against some very tough competition recently, and I think that's what has helped him come into form."

Kane Hekili had won three straight after coming back from a career-threatening injury that shelved him for more than two years, and on a different day, the Katsuhiko Sumii-trained horse just may have added another G1 honor. But the distance and the pace may have cost him in the end, jockey Christophe Lemaire said.

"I think his condition was perfect. But today the reason was that the race was a little bit different than the last three races-that had been more than a mile, slow pace and a fast finish," Lemaire said.

"This time the pace was different and the finish was not as brilliant as last time. But he ran very, very good and I'm very happy with him. Now he's seven years old, and he's still a great horse and we had a perfect race with good leaders. We had a big gap in the straight to come he tried very hard, I tried very hard. But today the winner was the best. No regrets at all.

"Just a little change of rhythm and for a horse 7 years old, maybe he prefers when he controls a little bit more of the race and makes a fast finish. But I'm very happy with his run today."

Lemaire tipped his hat to the Symboli Kris S-sired winner, now 6-for-11 in his career.

"Maybe [Success Brocken] is younger so maybe he has more speed than Kane Hekili now," the French rider said. "Of course we beat him twice before so it's not a big surprise but we could have beaten him one more time, but the winner is a very strong horse. He finished close to Vermilion in the JBC so he's a high quality horse."