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Third Time's the Charm for Gold Ship for Tenno Sho (Spring) Title

Installed as second favorite despite two unsuccessful Tenno Sho (Spring) starts in 2013 and 2014 in which he finished fifth and seventh, respectfully, Gold Ship responded by claiming his sixth career G1 title. His victory, which followed his third consecutive victory in the Hanshin Daishoten last March, raises high hopes towards his next target in becoming the first horse in JRA history to claim three consecutive G1 victories (flat racing) in the coming Takarazuka Kinen in June. Trainer Naosuke Sugai reached a milestone of 10 JRA-G1 victories with the win while jockey Norihiro Yokoyama won his 24th title—the latest being in last year’s Takarazuka Kinen for both.

Slow into the pace after refusing to load and having to be blindfolded into the gate, the Stay Gold entire trailed well off the pace set by Courir Kaiser. The field that had formed a long line got closer as the field passed the first 1,000 meters at a moderate pace and the leader eased the pace even more for a breather. Veteran jockey Norihiro Yokoyama, who had partnered Gold Ship for most of the 2014 season after the gray’s flop in his second Tenno Sho (Spring) including their victory in the Takarazuka Kinen, rode him for the first time since their unsuccessful overseas challenge in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and was careful to take his time to set his difficult mount into the mood as he urged the talented stayer to make an early move along the outside. Already among the front group going downhill past the third corner and taking a smart turn into the center lane for home and in full gear, Gold Ship moved up alongside Curren Mirotic who had taken command turning for home and looked poised to win until being hooked in the last 50 meters, then held off Fame Game who came charging along the outside for a neck victory.

“I was thinking of going front if he started well which obviously was not the case. From there on I just concentrated on following the pace and careful not to turn him off. In the straight, he really showed his stamina and perseverance. He’s often said to be unsuited to Kyoto Racecourse but I think it’s just that he’s not a handy type of horse and needs a skilled rider to guide him,” commented Norihiro Yokoyama.

Fame Game was rated between horses in mid-field, was caught behind rivals as the field increased speed before the third corner and met traffic again turning for home, having to angle out for a clear path. He showed a powerful turn of foot to just miss by a neck.

Curren Mirotic chased the leader in second or third along the rails for most of the trip, overtook the tired leader 600 meters out and into the homestretch, and ran on gamely up until the last strides for third.

Race favorite Kizuna sat well behind and trailed in last after being taken over by Gold Ship soon after the first 1,000-meter call. Followed the eventual winner towards the front group along the backstretch but failed to improve after reaching mid-pack while turning wide for home.

Other Horses:
4th: (4) Last Impact—positioned in rear pack, showed good effort along rail, timed fastest over last 3 furlongs
5th: (3) Neo Black Dia—ran latter half of mid-pack, quickened between horses at stretch
6th: (6) Hokko Brave—saved ground in mid-group, accelerated at stretch, but weakened in last final strides
8th: (10) Lovely Day—traveled in 4th, showed effort until last 100m
9th: (15) Sounds of Earth—raced around 6th, ran gamely until 200m-marker, weakened thereafter
10th: (12) Denim and Ruby—settled near rear, turned wide and failed to quicken
11th: (11) Hula Bride—ran in rear pack, unable to reach contention
12th: (16) Win Variation—sat 3-wide in mid-division, lacked needed kick at stretch
13th: (7) Tosen Arnica—raced toward rear, entered last into stretch, passed tired rivals
14th: (5) Tamamo Best Play—hugged rail in 5th, outrun by rivals at stretch
15th: (17) Admire Deus—traveled wide in 6-7th, lost momentum at final corner
16th: (9) Courir Kaiser—set moderate pace, weakened before turning for home
17th: (8) Suzuka Devious—chased leader in 2nd or 3rd, used up 300m out

THE 151ST TENNO SHO (SPRING) (G1)

4-year-old & up, 3,200 meters (about 16 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, May 3, 2015         Kyoto Racecourse       11th Race        Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 313,000,000 (about US$ 2,608,300 <US$1=¥120>)
4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares,
1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2011
Safety factor: 18 runners

1. Gold Ship (JPN), gray, horse, 6-year-old
   Stay Gold / Point Flag (Mejiro McQueen)

   Breeder: Eiichi Kobayashi	Owner: Kobayashi Eiichi Holdings LLC.
   Trainer: Naosuke Sugai	Jockey: Norihiro Yokoyama
   25 Starts, 13 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 153,612,000	Career earnings: ¥ 1,397,767,000
   Principal Race Performances:	’14&’13 Takarazuka Kinen (G1, 2,200m)	1st
   	’12 Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500m)	1st
   	’12 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m)	1st
   	’12 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m)	1st

   
   
2. Fame Game (JPN), dark bay or brown, horse, 5-year-old
   Heart's Cry / Hall of Fame (Allez Milord)

   Breeder: Northern Farm	Owner: Sunday Racing Co., Ltd.
   Trainer: Yositada Munakata	Jockey: Hiroshi Kitamura

   
   
3. Curren Mirotic (JPN), chestnut, gelding, 7-year-old
   Heart's Cry / Star Mie (A. P. Indy)

   Breeder: Northern Racing	Owner: Takashi Suzuki
   Trainer: Osamu Hirata	Jockey: Masayoshi Ebina

* Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1)
The forerunner of the Tenno Sho was established in 1905 under the name “Emperor’s Cup”, in which the winner received the silver comport bestowed by the Emperor. The race was renamed to “Teishitsu Goshoten Kyoso” the following year. The race became biannual events—held at Hanshin in spring and at Tokyo in autumn—a year after the establishment of the Japan Racing Society (the forerunner of the Japan Racing Association) in 1936, and was officially named the “Tenno Sho” since the autumn of 1947. The Tenno Sho (Spring) became the ultimate competition to determine the champion stayer, having altered its distance to 3,200 meters in 1938 while its counterpart in autumn run over 2,000 meters is one of the biggest middle-distance event contested between the proven older horses with the addition of the three-year-old hopefuls. The venue of the spring version was also moved to Kyoto Racecourse in 1948.
The Tenno Sho (Spring) was designated as an international race in 2005 and welcomed Makybe Diva (GB, by Desert King) of Australia as the first foreign contender the same year. She finished seventh to Suzuka Mambo (JPN, by Sunday Silence) and subsequently went on to make history back home by winning her third consecutive Melbourne Cup (G1, 3,200m). Red Cadeaux (GB, G9, Cadeaux Genereux) was the latest foreign contender of this race last year, running for the second time after finishing third in the 2013 edition, but was unable to perform over the firm turf in 2014 and finished 14th. None took part this year.
Gold Ship had come off his third consecutive Hanshin Daishoten (G2, 3,000m) victory on March 22 with 2013 Japan Cup runner-up Denim and Ruby finishing second and multiple grade-race winner Last Impact three-lengths behind that in third. Admire Deus also came off two grade-race victories, the Nikkei Shinshun Hai (G2, 2,400m) earlier this year in January and the Nikkei Sho (G2, 2,500m) on March 28. Win Variation and Hokko Brave, who were second and third, respectively, in the race, had also finished in the same order behind Fenomeno in the 2014 Tenno Sho (Spring). Sounds of Earth, who was fourth behind the three in the Nikkei Sho, was well backed in this year’s Tenno Sho, having finished second in the 2014 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m) at Kyoto despite breaking the previous race record by more than a second. Consecutive Tenno Sho (Spring) winner of 2012 and 2013, Fenomeno (JPN, H6, by Stay Gold) was headed to defend his title again this year, but strained his tendon in his left foreleg during training and was forced to withdraw his entry. 2013 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m) winner Kizuna, who had just made his comeback in February this year after sustaining a leg injury in this race last year, was third in the Kyoto Kinen (G2, 2,200m) and second over soft going in the Sankei Osaka Hai (G2, 2,000m) on April 5. The race also included Fame Game and Lovely Day, who each had scored a grade-race title in February this year in the Diamond Stakes (G3, 3,400m) and the Kyoto Kinen (G2, 2,200m), respectively.
The race record holder, Deep Impact (JPN, by Sunday Silence), marked 3:13.4 in 2006.