Pegasus Jump Stakes - Preview

Nakayama Racecourse

The 3,350-meter Pegasus Jump Stakes is set to get underway this Saturday afternoon at Nakayama Racecourse, with 25 nominated for the Nakayama Grand Jump prep race including Pentiffic, recognized as Australia's best jumper over the last three decades.

The 7-year-old Pentiffic is the only overseas entry for the Pegasus Jump Stakes, which remains as the Japan Racing Association's only non-graded international jump race. The Pegasus Jump Stakes, named after Greek myth hero Bellerophon's winged horse, was founded in 2001 to build up the 4,250-meter Nakayama Grand Jump in April, the world's richest jump race. Weights are set at 62 kilograms for 4-year-olds, 63 kg for 5-year-olds and above; there's a 2-kg allowance for fillies and mares, with Japanese-trained horses being allowed as many as 3 kg.

The Pegasus Jump Stakes features 11 hurdles and three downs-and-ups on the outside oval at Nakayama, and has served as an opportunity to test Japanese waters for horses from abroad eyeing the 158 million yen Nakayama Grand Jump. Yet no winner of the Pegasus Jump Stakes has ever gone on to win the Nakayama Grand Jump, and no foreign entry has won the Pegasus Jump Stakes since the first year when New Zealand's Rand prevailed.

Post time for the Pegasus Jump Stakes is 2 p.m. A full field of 14 is expected:

Pentiffic PENTIFFIC: The Pentire son out of Sailing High has come to Japan with a stellar 2009 campaign on his record. The Frances Houlahan-trained Pentiffic swept the Grand National, Hiskens and Crisp Steeplechases last year to complete the rare treble and was named Australia's top hurdler in 2009. He won the 4,530-meter Grand National at an amazing 69 kg, the Crisp 68 kg and the Hiskens 66 kg. Pentiffic has drawn comparisons to Strasbourg, who was trained by Houlahan's father Jim and won the three races in 1977, and Sharp As, who is widely regarded as the best hurdler trained by the senior Houlahan. Those are flattering remarks for a gelding who only joined the jump circuit in April last year, and has just 10 steeplechase-hurdle races under his belt. Pentiffic – owned by Racing Victoria Limited deputy chairman Peter Sinn – has warmed up for the Pegasus Jump Stakes with three flat ground races in Australia this year, winning once in February. Frances Houlahan, who will hand the reins once again to Trent Wells in his JRA debut, has been pleased with Pentiffic since his arrival in the country. "He did some work today with the jumps, with the jockey on board and he's in very good condition at the moment," said Houlahan, who was last in Japan in 2001 assisting her father with Marlborough for the Pegasus Jump Stakes (Marlborough finished 12th). "He'll train with the jumps again tomorrow and we'll just take it day-by-day up until the race."

Open Garden OPEN GARDEN: The 6-year-old defending champion of the Pegasus Jump Stakes comes off a third-place finish in the 4,100-meter Nakayama Daishogai on Dec. 26 as the seventh overall choice in the biggest jump race of the autumn season. After winning last year's Pegasus Jump Stakes, Open Garden, under Yusuke Eda, went on to show in the Nakayama Grand Jump as just the eighth choice. The Gokai son should be among the top picks this weekend, however, and back-to-back titles are well within the realm of possibility for trainer Hiroyuki Gohara's horse.

EMERALD ONE: Emerald One is one of two horses coming over from the March 13 Hanshin Spring Jump at 3,900 meters. The 5-year-old by Zenno El Cid finished a very distant 13th out of 14 as the last pick, and any improvement on that finish in the Pegasus Jump Stakes will have to be considered a success.

TAKARA BOSS: The 6-year-old son of American Boss is looking like the darkhorse of the field after being the betting favorite in his last four races dating back to December. Takara Boss' sire came in second in the 2001 Arima Kinen as the last choice in a field of 13, so the pedigree is there for this horse to stir things up in the Pegasus Jump Stakes – and perhaps the Nakayama Grand Jump.