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Up to Date Beats Favorites in Nakayama Grand Jump in Record Time

Fourth pick Up to Date captured this year’s Nakayama Grand Jump in 4:46.6, renewing the record time set by Blandices (JPN, by Sakura Bakushin O) in 2004 by 0.4 seconds. The son of Kurofune was switched to steeplechase last September, being winless since marking two wins in his two-year-old debut season in 2012. Registering a win in his second steeplechase outing, the gray went on to mark another win in the following open-class race and was fourth in his first grade-race challenge in the previous Hanshin Spring Jump (J-G2, 3,900m).

Trainer Shozo Sasaki added his first J-G1 steeplechase victory to his five JRA-G1 flat-race wins, which include the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) title with Kizuna (JPN, by Deep Impact) in 2013. This win marked the first J-G1 title for Mitsuaki Hayashi, a veteran steeplechase jockey with three J-G2 titles, who has been partnering with the gray in all his steeplechase races.

Up to Date, breaking out from stall 12, settled behind second favorite Apollo Maverick who set the pace for most of the trip. Sitting just off the pace in second to third position, the five-year-old gray drew even with the frontrunner around the tenth obstacle, and once taking the lead, steadily widened the gap to 5-6 lengths by the last obstacle and easily won his first J-G1 race in record time.

“I raced him while marking Apollo Maverick and urged him to go early with an image of the last corner being the wire. I think that this style of racing suits the bay. I wasn’t aware of the gap between the rest of the field as I was desperately trying to keep him going until the wire. He has a strong heart and has a prominent future ahead. Although it took me close to thirty years to capture my first G1 title, I am very happy because I’ve been wanting to win a G1 race before retiring,” commented Mitsuaki Hayashi.

Fifth pick Sombrero traveled 7-8th from the front, improved position through the last corner and after jumping the last obstacle in fourth, disputed with Sanrei Duke in the straight before pulling away in the last 100 meters for a runner-up position.

Third choice Sanrei Duke sat towards the back in mid-division and gradually gained ground after the ninth obstacle, advancing to second at the last obstacle, but succumbed to Sombrero after dueling with the five-year-old in the straight.

Race favorite Red Kingdom traveled fifth from the front and advanced to forth coming into the last corner, but the winner of the 2014 Nakayama Daishogai and 2015 Pegasus Jump Stakes did not have the needed accelerating force in the stretch and fell back to seventh.

Other Horses:
4th: (6) Shiny Black—traveled in 4th, advanced to 3rd after 8th obstacle (no.2), outrun by Sanrei Duke at final corner and Sombrero at top of stretch, passed Apollo Maverick 100m out
6th: (2) Tyrian Purple—sat in middle of field, gradually improved position, lacked needed kick
8th: (3) Biko Pililani—ran 4th from last until Country Snow unseated rider, failed to advance position
9th: (8) Miyako Deluxe—traveled 2nd from last, unable to reach contention
10th: (10) Sammaru Boss—trailed in rear, never threatened
FF: (1) Fire—raced toward rear, pulled up around final corner
FF: (9) Country Snow—ran in rear group, unseated rider at 8th obstacle (no.2)
FF: (11) Rikiai Kurofune—raced toward rear, unseated rider around 2nd corner (2nd lap)
FF: (14) Shonan Coming—traveled near pace in 1st half of race, unseated rider after 11th obstacle (no.9)
FF: (15) Tenjin Kiyomori—ran in 5th early, gradually dropped back, unseated rider at 7th obstacle (no.7)

THE 17TH NAKAYAMA GRAND JUMP (J-G1)
4-year-old & up, 4,250 meters (about 2 and 2/3 miles), turf
Saturday, April 18, 2015    Nakayama Racecourse       11th Race        Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 135,000,000 (about US$ 1,125,000 <US$1=¥120>)
4-y-o: 62kg (about 137 lbs), 5-y-o & up: 63kg (about 139 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares Safety
factor: 16 runners

1. Up to Date (JPN), gray, horse, 5-year-old
   Kurofune / Linear Muse (Tony Bin)

   Breeder: North Hills Co,. Ltd.	Owner: Kazuo Imanishi
   Trainer: Shozo Sasaki	Jockey: Mitsuaki Hayashi
   21 Starts, 5 Wins (6 Starts, 3 Wins *steeplechases only)
   Added money: ¥ 65,525,000	Career earnings: ¥ 130,471,000 (¥ 99,423,000 *steeplechases only)

   
   
2. Sombrero (JPN), bay, horse, 5-year-old
   Tanino Gimlet / Tanino Rose (Generous)

   Breeder: Yuzo Tanimizu	Owner: Y. Tanimizu
   Trainer: Kunihide Matsuda	Jockey: Jun Takada

   
   
3. Sanrei Duke (JPN), bay, horse, 7-year-old
   Durandal / San Lake Queen (Cozzene)

   Breeder: Keiji Nagai	Owner: Keiji Nagai
   Trainer: Yoshitada Takahashi	Jockey: Yoshiyasu Namba

* Nakayama Grand Jump (J-G1)
The Nakayama Grand Jump, the biggest steeplechase event in spring, span off from the biannual Nakayama Daishogai (J-G1, 4,100m) steeplechase races in 1999. The history of the Nakayama Daishogai dates back to 1934 when the two races, one each in spring and autumn, were created for the purpose of making them the most prestigious and attractive races in steeplechase racing, just like the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) in flat racing.
In 2000, one year after the Nakayama Grand Jump received its current name, the race also became an international event. In the same year, seven foreign runners from five countries took part. Boca Boca (IRE, by Mandalus) from France finished second to Gokai (JPN, by Judge Angelucci). Between 2000 and 2010 when the Nakayama Grand Jump was an invitational event, St. Steven (NZ, by Hula Town) became the first foreign contingent to claim the title in 2002. He finished third in the following year while Australian contender Karasi (IRE, by Kahyasi) became the only horse to win three consecutive titles in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In 2013, eighth favorite Irish raider Blackstairmountain (IRE, by Imperial Ballet) became the first European contender to claim the title. This year’s race was contested without any runners from abroad.
The Nakayama Grand Jump features 12 jumps over the figure-of-eight-shaped course, which includes five up-and-downs over the banks and three hurdles set on the outside turf towards the final stretch. The 310-meter uphill stretch before the wire also is quite a test for many of the runners especially after running at a solid pace throughout the race.
Last year’s champion Apollo Maverick, who won the race with an overwhelming five-length margin, was named the 2014 Best Steeplechase Horse for the second consecutive year. The son of Apollo Kingdom was runner-up in the Nakayama Daishogai last December, being overtaken in the stretch run by Red Kingdom, who went on to claim a 3-1/2-length victory in this year’s Pegasus Jump Stakes (3,350m) held on March 29, whereas Apollo Maverick was fifth in the race. Shiny Black, who was fourth in both J-G1 races last year, finished third in the Pegasus Jump Stakes.
Sanrei Duke, third-place finisher in last year’s Nakayama Daishogai, captured his second J-G2 title in the Hanshin Spring Jump (J-G2, 3,900m) held on March 14. Sombrero, for whom this race was his first J-G1 challenge, came off a third-place finish in the Hanshin Spring Jump while Rikiai Kurofune, winner of the 2013 Pegasus Jump Stakes and runner-up to Blackstairmountain in the Nakayama Grand Jump the same year, came off an 11th-place finish in a flat turf race (1,800m) held three weeks ago.