2015 Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1) - Preview

Though the spring classics bring out the best of the blossoming youth, not forgotten are the racing veterans with more seasons behind them. And, this Sunday at Kyoto Racecourse, those veterans will be afforded considerable time in the spotlight in what is considered by many to be Japan’s penultimate in prestige – the Tenno Sho. Nearly two laps around the picturesque Kyoto course, its infield waters graced with white swans, this spring tradition is truly the stuff of romance.

Open to horses 4 years old and up, it’s a race that now packs a first-place prize of 150 million yen. Following the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) by a fortnight, the spring version of the Tenno Sho is JRA’s longest G1 race at 3,200 meters. An absolutely grueling test of stamina and the ability to keep one’s cool, it’s one of the few races that gives stayers their chance to show their stuff, the stuff that keeps on going when others no longer can.

Sunday, May 3, will mark the 76th running of the spring edition of the Tenno Sho, a race that is held twice a year, at Kyoto in the spring and at Tokyo in the autumn. It is the 151th running of the race overall.

The betting this year is expected to focus on the trio of Kizuna, Admire Deus and Sounds of Earth, but the 18 members will offer something for everyone eager to place a bet. That wager may be based on a lengthy study of form or be but a whimsical inspiration. Pull for a perennial underdog. Show support for one of the girls or root for a historical three straight wins of the race. It’s all fun and anything’s possible. Double-digit picks have proved victorious three times in only the past 10 runnings and the winning exacta in 2012 dished out 208,630 yen on a 100-yen wager.

The spring Tenno Sho took on its existing format in 1938, when the distance was changed to 3,200 meters from 2,700 meters. In the years prior to that, races held in honor of the Emperor were organized separately by various local racing clubs around the country and unified in 1937 to make way for the Tenno Sho as it is known today. The race is open to a maximum of nine foreign-based runners. There are none in the lineup this year.

The Kyoto 3,200 starts in the backstretch and 200 meters in starts a climb of 4 meters over 400 meters until the ground dips into the stretch. The field passes the grandstand and horses tend to take a breather as they turn out of the stretch. Coming into the hill once again, the pace tends to pick up and positioning for the final drive becomes heated.

It’s a difficult race for frontrunners, though wire-to-wire victories have been had. Late closers, however, also have found it difficult to win. The most common formula for success comes from a long spurt starting at the hill about 900 meters out.

Deep Impact holds both the course and the race record with his winning time in the 2006 Tenno Sho of 3 minutes 13.4 seconds.

Runners will carry 58 kg. Females receive a 2-kg allowance. Post time for the Tenno Sho is 3:40 p.m. The race is the 11th race on the Kyoto 12-race Sunday card.

Here’s a look at the expected race favorites.

Kizuna Kizuna – Looking to revenge his loss as favorite last year is Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) champion Kizuna. The now 5-year-old finished in fourth place less than a length off the winner and was later found to have suffered a fracture. After being sidelined nine months, Kizuna returned to the track in the 2,200-meter G2 Kyoto Kinen on Feb. 15 weighing 22 kg more than he had last start and ran third. Next time out, and down 8 kg, he finished second, 2 lengths behind the winner over a soft track in the 2,000-meter Sankei Osaka Hai on April 5, a G2 he had won before last spring’s Tenno Sho run. Considering the track condition and the fact that he was carrying 2 kg more than the winner, the loss was no tragedy. Jockey Yutaka Take has landed the spring Tenno Sho six times, including a four-year streak from 1989. The last time Take won the spring Tenno Sho was aboard Kizuna’s sire Deep Impact in 2006. Take thought Kizuna couldn’t be beaten last out. After the Osaka Hai, he said, “I can only call it disappointing. It was a race he should have won. He mustn’t have been quite back to his best. He must have needed just a little more time to get his heart and lungs in top shape. I honestly thought he would win.” Trainer Shozo Sasaki says Kizuna pulled out of his last race at Hanshin, “looking good” and feels a return to Kyoto will give the 5-year-old a chance to display his best turn of foot. Three may be the charm. If Kizuna can win, it will be is first Tenno Sho win in two bids, his first G1 victory since the Japanese Derby nearly two years ago. And, if Kizuna can win, he’ll be notching the first win for Deep Impact progeny on turf at a distance over 3,000 meters.

Admire Deus Admire Deus – Considered to be Kizuna’s top rival is Admire Deus, a 4-year-old that ran ninth in last year’s Satsuki Sho and seventh in the Japanese Derby. He too returned this year after a layoff due to fracture and, unlike Kizuna, did so in winning form, scooping both his starts – the G2 Nikkei Shinshun Hai over 2,400 meters in January and the 2,500-meter G2 Nikkei Sho at the end of March. In the latter, Admire Deus easily put 1 3/4 lengths over last spring’s Tenno Sho second and third-place finishers – Win Variation and Hokko Brave – and did it with a final drive up the outside. With a winning time of 2:30.2, Admire Deus covered the last 1,000 meters in only 58.6 seconds, not a time often seen at Nakayama. The Admire Don-sired Admire Deus will be running over more than 2,500 meters for the first time and though he finished out of the money in both his previous G1 bids, he may prove something of a late bloomer. Trainer Mitsuru Hashida says, “He settles well and he’s good in races with late speed. I think he’ll be able to show some good racing in the 3,200-meter Tenno Sho.” Jockey Yasunari Iwata agrees. “I think more distance will be a plus. He had a lot left last start, a lot more than the margin would indicate.”

Sounds of Earth Sounds of Earth – Tested over distance is the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) runnerup Sounds of Earth who, only 0.1 seconds behind the winner in the Kikuka Sho, was also 1.6 seconds faster than the previous record time. Coming back to the track five months later, the Neo Universe-sired Sounds of Earth was slow out of the gate in the Nikkei Sho. He was slow to respond when asked to move out, but quickened sharply before the finish line to finish in fourth place some 2 lengths off the winner. Conditions should be fine at Kyoto this Sunday, with a fast track expected and the turf in good condition with it only the second week into the meet. Trainer Kenichi Fujioka says he’s looking at the Kikuka Sho as indicative his colt has what it takes to succeed if the race is clinched on speed. “He’s suited to the outer course and the extra distance should be a plus.” Sounds of Earth is only two for 11, but has four seconds as well.

Win Variation Win Variation – Nine times he’s taken on a G1 and nine times he’s missed the winner’s circle. Four times he finished in second place. Win Variation needs a variation on the same old same old. Namely, he needs to win. Second in the Tenno Sho last spring, third in 2012, he had a nice prep last time out following the Arima Kinen (the Grand Prix) with a second place in the Nikkei Sho. Win Variation suffered two bouts of tendinitis, one from the summer of 2012, another from last summer, and his performance last year in the Arima Kinen was, no pun intended, sorely lacking. But things look brighter with his good results in the Nikkei Sho only 0.3 seconds off Admire Deus. This big-striding 7-year-old by Heart’s Cry is well suited to the wide-open Kyoto track and shows no sign of giving up the fight just yet.

Gold Ship Gold Ship – Seventh in last spring’s Tenno Sho, fifth the year before, Gold Ship’s track record in this particular marathon race does not bode well for success. One mustn’t forget, however, that the son of Stay Gold is a five-time G1 champion and that one of those G1s was another long-distance test, the 2012 Kikuka Sho. Also, Gold Ship pocketed three straight wins of the 3,000-meter G2 Hanshin Daishoten, including his win this year on March 22. Trainer Naosuke Sugai says he discovered after that race that Gold Ship had had internal bleeding in the hoof of his right fore. A Tenno Sho appearance was touch and go, but a week off with care saw Gold Ship return looking good enough to get the go-ahead to run. “He hasn’t been at his best these past two years,” says Sugai, “but he’s won the Kikuka Sho, which shows he can handle Kyoto.” Norihiro Yokoyama is slated for the ride. “With a jockey who knows him well, I’d like to see him get his revenge on his third try” said Sugai of his charge. However, with times expected to be fast, doubts loom as to whether Gold Ship can sail home in the money.

Denim and Ruby Denim and Ruby – This year sees the first female presence in the race in five years. One of three females nominated for the Tenno Sho, Denim and Ruby surely has the best chance to become only the second female, the first female since Leda in 1953, to win the race. Denim and Ruby’s last outing, the Hanshin Daishoten, was her first time over 3,000 meters. Not only did she settle well, as she usually does, but she was able to quicken neatly in the finish. With the aid of the difference in weight carried, she finished only 0.2 seconds off Gold Ship in second place and the distance this time should by no means prove a hurdle. She should take well to the Kyoto turf and will have a 2 kg advantage over the boys. One mustn’t forget her second in the 2013 Japan Cup. Here’s rooting for Ruby to shine with her first G1.

Hokko Brave Hokko Brave – The 7-year-old seasoned stayer Hokko Brave finished third in the race last year after coming off a second in the Nikkei Sho. He followed his Tenno Sho run with an eighth-place finish in the Takarazuka Kinen, where traffic problems in the stretch hampered his final drive. Had things been smoother, Hokko Brave would have likely made the top spots. He has the ability to bring about a victory at Kyoto and his third-place performance in the Nikkei Sho this year should see him on the up and up.

Fenomeno Note: Fenomeno will not run in this race. Fenomeno – Fenomeno, winner of the 2013 and 2014 editions of the spring Tenno Sho, will be aiming to become the first horse ever to win the same JRA G1 race three years in a row. He has, however, not had a win since last spring’s Tenno Sho. In his four starts since, he has tallied double-digit finishes in two starts and eighth-place performances in the others. His last race, the Nikkei Sho, saw him cross the line in eighth, but the race was his first since the yearend Arima Kinen. Keita Tosaki had the ride in the Nikkei Sho and is expected to replace Masayoshi Ebina (who rode the previous two Tenno Sho) on Sunday. Trainer Hirofumi Toda believes the horse’s lack of success recently is due more to psychological factors than physical ones. “The jockey may have had too much of an image of the horse being keen, as he was in work, and thus didn’t ride him aggressively enough in his last race. This time, he’ll be riding for the second time and should have a better handle on him.” A third win is a tall order even under the best conditions, however. In 1981, the Tenno Sho first allowed former winners of the race to enter in subsequent years, and though T.M. Opera O captured the spring and fall versions in 2000 followed by the spring version in 2001, no horse has won three spring versions in a row. Mejiro McQueen came closest in a bid for three straight when he ran second in 1993 losing by 2 1/2 lengths to Rice Shower.

Last Impact Last Impact --- This 5-year-old son of Deep Impact ran third last time out in the 3,000-meter Hanshin Daishoten. Like Kizuna, he’s an unusually big horse given the small stature of his sire, but recently Last Impact has taken on more of a stayer’s physique. He was ninth in last spring’s Tenno Sho but followed that up with two graded stakes wins in the fall – the 2,400-meter G2 Kyoto Daishoten and the 2,000-meter G2 Kinko Sho. He may be worth a wager.

Fame Game Fame Game – A bona fide stayer, the Heart’s Cry-sired Fame Game topped the field last time out in the 3,400-meter G3 Diamond Stakes for the second year in a row. He did it with a winning margin of 2 lengths and carrying 58 kg, 3 kg more than last year. It was his fourth graded stakes win, which also include the 2014 G2 Copa Republica Argentina in 2014. Sixth in last spring’s Tenno Sho, Fame Game’s forte is his stamina. If he can find the pace, Fame Game’s name may be on a winning ticket.