Nakayama Grand Jump - Preview

This weekend brings a double punch with Grade 1 races scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday at Nakayama Racecourse. Sunday's first leg of the Triple Crown – Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) – will be followed by the 12th running of the Nakayama Grand Jump on the previous day.

Nakayama Racecourse

The international invitational Nakayama Grand Jump, the world's richest steeplechase and Japan's longest race at 4,250 meters, packs a powerful winner's prize of 75 million yen, with a purse that is destined to stay home in its entirety this year following the unfortunate pullout of Australia's Pentiffic. Tests disclosed that the 7-year-old jumper has tendinitis of the superficial flexor tendon in his left foreleg. His connections' decision not to run was announced April 7.

The absence of foreign-based runners breaks a tradition established over the past several years, as the Nakayama Grand Jump has enjoyed much success in attracting outstanding steeplechasers from around the globe. Along with the Pegasus Jump Stakes, the Nakayama Grand Jump is an international jump race open to foreign-trained jumpers and the Pegasus Jump Stakes – held on March 27 this year – often serves as a step race.

The Nakayama Grand Jump, the origin of which dates back to 1934, opened doors to overseas runners in 2000, when it became the Japan Racing Association's only international steeplechase race. Initially begun by the Nakayama Racing Club as the Daishogai Tokubetsu to rival the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), the Daishogai Tokubetsu was first held over 4,100 meters in December 1934, then run twice a year from 1935.

The race was renamed the Nakayama Daishogai from 1948 until it was christened with its current name and G1 status in 1999. The autumn version (now held in December) is still called the Nakayama Daishogai.

Foreign-based runners have enjoyed success in the Grand Jump as well. The Irish-bred Boca Boca from France just failed to capture Japan's Gokai by 3/4 lengths in the race's inaugural year as an international event. The New Zealand-bred Rand, who was undefeated in all five of his starts over fences in New Zealand, won the Pegasus Stakes at Nakayama and was sent off the favorite for the 2001 Nakayama Grand Jump. Rand fell over the frontrunner during the race but regained his jockey and finished gamely in third place, as Gokai captured his second consecutive title.

In 2002, St. Steven, also a New Zealand-bred, became the first foreign-based jumper to claim the Grand Jump title, after coming off a sixth-place finish in the Pegasus Jump. From 2005, the Eric Musgrove-trained, Irish-bred Karasi from Australia dominated the Grand Jump, capturing titles for three straight years after coming off third, second and third places, respectively, in each of the previous starts of the Pegasus Stakes.

For those at the windows wishing to take a hint from past races, winners from the past decade have all came from the top five choices for that year, with 13 of the runnerups and third-place horses also having emerged from the top 5.

Whether a horse had run in the Pegasus Jump Stakes is also a good indicator of how well one will fare in the Grand Jump. Thirteen of the top three finishers over the past decade, including the five winning horses, have participated in the prep race. Though no horse in the past decade has won both the Pegasus and the Grand Jump in the same year, five of the Pegasus winners in the past 10 years have finished in the top three slots of the Grand Jump.

The Nakayama Grand Jump record is held by Japan's Blandice, who set a time of 4 minutes, 47.0 seconds in 2004 following his win of the Nakayama Daishogai.

Initially run over a distance of 4,100 meters, it included obstacles that dwarfed those of other races of its time. The race originally featured brick walls 1.4 meters high and 2.2 meters wide, brush fences 1.6 meters high, and hedges 1.5 meters high and 2.7 meters wide, all of which were considerably bigger than those seen today. There were 10 jumps, with six up-and-downs over banks. The distance was subsequently altered a number of times over the years, until it was returned to 4,100 meters in 1972 and then altered again to 4,250 meters in 2001.

Today, the race features 12 jumps over nine obstacles with a total 5 up-and-downs over banks. The biggest challenge includes a brush fence (obstacle 5), which measures 1.6 meters in height and 2.4 meters in width, and a hedge (obstacle 7) 1.6 meters high and 2.4 meters wide. The last three jumps are hurdle jumps set up on the outside turf coming into the final furlongs.

The volume and height of obstacles was also reduced to prevent serious accidents due to increasing speed, but the race is still the most challenging steeplechase race in Japan requiring a great deal of speed as well as jumping abilities and stamina.

The Nakayama Grand Jump, the 11th race on the Saturday, April 17, card at Nakayama, gets under way at 3:40 p.m.

In Saturday's field, runners looking to become top picks are first and foremost:

Merci A Time MERCI A TIME: The runnerup in the Nakayama Daishogai in December and with the winner of that race, King Joy, not amongst the Grand Jump members, Merci A Time may be the horse to beat. The Chief Bearhart-sired jump race veteran is the winner of the Nakayama Daishogai in 2007, and the 8-year-old has finished fourth, third and second in the past three Grand Jumps, improving each year out. He is right in form, with the usual one flat race after a spell under his belt. Trainer Kohei Take has three G1 firsts to his name, including last year's Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) and two previous Nakayama Daishogai titles, Merci A Time and Merci Taka O in 2004.

Towa Vega TOWA VEGA: The 6-year-old son of Admire Vega has started out the year in perfect form, knocking out two wins in a row, a 3,190-meter open-class jump race in Kyoto followed by the 3,900-meter Hanshin Spring Jump at Hanshin Racecourse. It will be his first time at Nakayama and over the distance but he has stamina for a good showing. He is said to have a tendency to lose concentration, which means there is likely room for improvement. Trained by the Ritto-based Mitsuru Hashida, Towa Vega showed consistency last year, with a first, second and third in his final three races of 2009.

SHORYU KEN: Another popular pick will surely be the Black Hawk-sired, 5-year-old Shoryu Ken, who has been somewhat overshadowed recently by Towa Vega but is still in good form and finishing strongly. Second to Towa Vega in the Hanshin Spring Jump, Shoryu Ken also turned in a second and third in two other open-class jump races this year. Though he has little experience with races with a long turf homestretch, his first and second-place performances in races of 3,900 meters show he has the stamina to take on the Grand Jump successfully.

Open Garden OPEN GARDEN: Open Garden had a rough time out in the Pegasus Stakes on March 27 and finished seventh, but has enough experience to cover up his recent showing. He is not one to write off because of his third-place finish in the Nakayama Daishogai and – more interestingly – of his bloodline. Open Garden is the son of Gokai, winner of the Grand Jump in 2000 and 2001 and runnerup in 2002.

Bashi Ken BASHI KEN: The 5-year-old Silk Justice-sired Bashi Ken, winner of the Pegasus Jump this year, will be taking on a graded-stakes jump race for the first time. Said to be improving physically, if ever there is a time for him to perform well in the Grand Jump it is now.

T.M. Toppazure T.M. TOPPAZURE: A 7-year-old by flat-race champion T.M.Opera O, he has three graded-race wins to his name, two of them coming last year. He was third in the Nakayama Daishogai in 2008, but only managed a seventh in last year's Grand Jump. A fall in the Nakayama Daishogai in December 2009 put him out of the running but he has one race (an 11th-place in the Hanshin Spring Jump) behind him since then and is in good form.