PDF(45.4kb)

Sixth-Pick Lovely Day Captures First G1 Title in the Grand Prix Takarazuka Kinen

Five-year-old Lovely Day captured his first G1 title in this year’s Takarazuka Kinen. The King Kamehameha horse marked two consecutive wins when debuting as a two-year-old but was winless except for one open-class victory in his four-year-old seasons until claiming his first grade-race victory in the Nakayama Kimpai (G3, 2,000m), his first start this year. Marking a consecutive win in the following Kyoto Kinen (G2, 2,200m), he finished sixth and eighth, respectively, in longer distances in the Hanshin Daishoten (G2, 3,000m) and the Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1, 3,200m), and came off a win in the Naruo Kinen (G3, 2,000m) at the beginning of this month.

This victory marked Yasutoshi Ikee’s 12th JRA-G1 victory following his win in the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) with Mikki Queen in May and third Takarazuka Kinen title, which includes his victories in 2009 with Dream Journey and in 2012 with Orfevre. He has also won the year-end Grand Prix Arima Kinen three times with Dream Journey (2009) and Orfevre (2011 and 2013). Jockey Yuga Kawada scored his seventh JRA-G1 win following his Yasuda Kinen title with Maurice just three weeks ago.

Sixth favorite Lovely Day rushed out from the widest stall and chased the pace in second behind Red Davis who set a slow pace. Pressing the pace until the top of the homestretch, the son of King Kamehameha inherited the lead from the tiring frontrunner with 200 meters to go and accelerated strongly while holding off the powerful late charge by Denim and Ruby for his first G1 title.

“I was able to position him behind the frontrunner with ease as the pace was slow and tried to race him with good rhythm. I was a bit worried about the track (with the effect of the rain), but he responded really well. I was aware of the mare closing in and prayed that he can fend her off. I rode him for the first time (in about a year) after he claimed three grade-race titles and felt that he is growing with every race,” commented Yuga Kawada.

Tenth pick Denim and Ruby traveled second from last and, angling to the outside once entering the homestretch, unleashed a ferocious late charge, running the fastest of the field in the last three furlongs, for a neck second.

Eleventh choice Shonan Pandora, after breaking smoothly from stall one, eased back to mid-division while hugging the rails. The four-year-old Deep Impact filly slipped out from the pack to chase the winner through the inner route and although overtaken by Denim and Ruby 100 meters out, held on well to finish third.

Overwhelming race favorite and defending champion Gold Ship missed his break, being fractious in the gate, and was used up trying to make up for the delay to finish second from last.

Other Horses:
4th: (14) Toho Jackal—traveled wide in mid-pack, showed charge, quickened after uphill climb
5th: (11) Nuovo Record—raced around 6th, accelerated briefly, failed to close gap between winner
6th: (8) Dia de la Madre—sat in mid-division, showed effort and quickened in last 100m
7th: (12) Red Davis—set slow pace, surrendered lead at 200m marker, held well until 100m out
8th: (13) Lachesis—ran wide in mid-group, lacked needed kick at stretch
9th: (3) Neo Black Dia—traveled in 5th, sustained bid until 100m out then outrun by rivals
10th: (9) Toshin Monstera—rated back in mid-division, passed tired rivals
11th: (7) One and Only—raced in mid-pack, unable to find clear path, even paced
12th: (2) Tosen Stardom—stalked leaders in 3rd or 4th, ran gamely until last 100m then weakened
13th: (5) Curren Mirotic—hugged rail toward rear, no impression at stretch
14th: (10) Ocean Blue—prominent early in 3rd to 4th, checked at top of stretch, dropped back
16th: (4) Admire Spica—ran 3rd from last, no factor

THE 56TH TAKARAZUKA KINEN (G1)
3-year-old & up, 2,200 meters (about 11 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, June 28, 2015   Hanshin Racecourse   11th Race   Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 313,000,000 (about US$ 2,608,300 <US$1=¥120>)
3-y-o: 53kg (about 117 lbs), 4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs),
2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares, 1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2011,
3kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2012   Safety factor: 18 runners

1. Lovely Day (JPN), dark bay or brown, horse, 5-year-old
   King Kamehameha / Popcorn Jazz (Dance in the Dark)
   

   Breeder: Kaneko Makoto Holdings Inc.	Owner: Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co., Ltd.
   Trainer: Yasutoshi Ikee	Jockey: Yuga Kawada
   23 Starts, 7 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 153,402,000	Career earnings: ¥ 428,061,000
   Principal Race Performances:	'15 Kyoto Kinen (G2, 2,200m)	1st
   	'15 Naruo Kinen (G3, 2,000m)	1st
   	'15 Nakayama Kimpai (G3, 2,000m)	1st

   
   
2. Denim and Ruby (JPN), bay, mare, 5-year-old
   Deep Impact / Venenciador (King Kamehameha)

   Breeder: Northern Farm	Owner: Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co., Ltd
   Trainer: Katsuhiko Sumii	Jockey: Suguru Hamanaka

   
   
3. Shonan Pandora (JPN), bay, filly, 4-year-old
   Deep Impact / Cutie Gold (French Deputy)

   Breeder: Shadai Corporation Inc.	Owner: Tetsuhide Kunimoto
   Trainer: Tomokazu Takano	Jockey: Kenichi Ikezoe

* Takarazuka Kinen(G1)
The Takarazuka Kinen, established in 1960, opened its doors to foreign-trained horses in 1997 and became the first international grade-one race designated by the International Cataloguing Standards Committee (ICSC) held in western Japan in 2001. It is a Grand Prix (all-star) race, along with the year-end Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500m), in which racing fans select the runners from all distances by votes, and the last G1 race of the spring season to determine the seasonal champion.
The Takarazuka Kinen joined the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series in 2011, enabling its winners to earn automatic starting position in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1, 2,400m) hosted by the U.S. where many G1 runners from around the world come together to compete. The race has not had any runners from overseas ever since the Australian-trained Seto Stayer (AUS, by Bellotto; 9th) took part in the race in 1997 as the first foreign participant.
This year’s contenders among the top ten horses that gathered the most votes were as follows: Gold Ship, who aimed for his third consecutive Takarazuka Kinen title after coming off a win in the Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1, 3,200m) on May 3, was on top of the ballot for two years in a row; Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1, 2,200m) winner Lachesis, who came off an admirable victory against male horses in the Sankei Osaka Hai (G2, 2,000m) on April 5, was ranked third; Toho Jackal, who came off an eight-month break due to a series of injuries after winning the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m) in October last year, was seventh; Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m) winner One and Only, coming off a third-place finish in the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1, 2,410m), was eighth in the balloting.
Following horses, although ranked among the top ten, had avoided the race: second-ranking Epiphaneia (JPN, H5, by Symboli Kris S), ninth-place Isla Bonita (JPN, C4, by Fuji Kiseki), and tenth To the World (JPN, C4, by King Kamehameha) were unable to race due to injuries; fourth-ranking Spielberg (JPN, H6, by Deep Impact) traveled to England to race in the G1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes (2,000m) on June 17 and finished sixth, fifth-ranked Kizuna (JPN, H5, by Deep Impact) avoided the race to prepare for the autumn campaign; and sixth-rated Duramente (JPN, C3, by King Kamehameha), who was also scheduled to be recharged for autumn to complete the Japanese triple crown and possibly participate in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France, was found to have chip fractures in both his front legs and will be sidelined for the rest of the year.
Other contenders that were not ranked among the top ten were: 11th-ranked Denim and Ruby who was runner-up in the 2013 Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m); last year’s Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1, 2,400m) champion Nuovo Record who was 12th in the ballot; 15th-rated Curren Mirotic who was second in last year’s Takarazuka Kinen; and last year’s Shuka Sho (G1, 2,000m) winner Shonan Pandora who was ranked 18th.
The race record of 2:10.1 was set by Earnestly (JPN, by Grass Wonder) in 2011.