Duramente

Duramente: The strong headed colt by King Kamehameha is sure to be a warm order for Sunday’s race after winning the Satsuki Sho in somewhat interesting circumstances.In that race, on turning for home, the horse veered away from its inside position before finally straightening up and leaving the rest of the field flat-footed in the Nakayama home straight. It cost jockey Mirco Demuro a short suspension, but the only foreign jockey to win the Derby (Neo Universe in 2003) is more than happy to take up the challenge with a horse like Duramente, believing he has another Neo Universe on his hands. Trainer Noriyuki Hori’s quirky star provided him with his first Classic title in the Satsuki Sho, and there could easily be more to come. Duramente is three wins and two seconds from five starts, and has raced at Tokyo twice this year. His gate tests have gone OK, but stable staff still admit he’s not ‘completely under control’. Duramente recently put in a piece of work at the Miho Training Center, covering five furlongs in 70.5 seconds, with a three furlong time of 39.6 seconds, posting a final furlong time of 12.6 seconds. All eyes will be on this fascinating character on Sunday.

Satono Crown

Satono Crown: Also from the stable of Noriyuki Hori, Satono Crown has done very little wrong, being unbeaten up until his sixth in the Satsuki Sho, where he found himself wide on the final turn and a lot to do in the short home straight at Nakayama. The Northern Racing bred colt by Marju will once again be ridden by Christophe Lemaire, looking for his sixth Grade 1 in Japan, and his first since acquiring a full time JRA license. In recent work at Miho, Satono Crown clocked similar times to Duramente, with the stable wanting to keep a bit in reserve with him, feeling that he perhaps did a bit too much prior to his last race. Satono Crown won his first two career starts, both at Tokyo over 1,800 meters. Going into the Derby with a couple of horses like this, trainer Hori would seem to have a couple of gifts from the gods.

Kitasan Black

Kitasan Black: A colt by Black Tide who didn’t run as a 2-year-old, but burst onto the scene just this year when he won on his debut at Tokyo in January over 1,800 meters, leading connections to quickly consider a racing rotation which would put him on a path to the Derby. He won over 2,000 meters at Tokyo three starts ago, and ran second for most of the way in the Satsuki Sho, before finally settling for third behind Duramente.The big striding colt is trained by Hisashi Shimizu, looks suited to the Derby trip, and will have his regular jockey, Hiroshi Kitamura, back with him, bidding for more rewards to add to his 94 million yen in prize money to date.

Real Steel

Real Steel: After the Satsuki Sho, Real Steel was sent to Northern Farm Shigaraki for a break, and returned to the Ritto Training Center on May 9. The Yoshito Yahagi trained colt worked well last week in tandem with stablemate Kyoei Basara, and all seemed well with the son of Deep Impact on his return to training, with no worries at all. Real Steel is two wins and two seconds from four starts, and beat Duramente over 1,800 meters at Tokyo this February. He will be ridden by Yuichi Fukunaga, who has great faith in this colt’s ability, and it might just be possible that Real Steel can give Japan’s current leading rider his first taste of Derby success.

Porte d'Auteuil

Porte d’Auteuil: The likely ride of five time Derby winning jockey, Yutaka Take, Porte d’Auteuil is coming off a second place finish in the Grade 2 Kyoto Shimbun Hai over 2,200 meters on May 9. He just lost by 1/2 length that day, but was never going any better than at the finish, and since then, Take has had the Derby in mind for this horse.His comments on the Deep Impact colt are: “There’s plenty of room for improvement with him and he’ll certainly get better.” Will it be a sixth Derby victory for the Japanese legend aboard the Tomokazu Takano trained Porte d’Auteuil?

Satono Rasen

Satono Rasen: Another Deep Impact colt from the stable of Yasutoshi Ikee, who masterminded the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) win last week with Mikki Queen. Satono Rasen is three wins from nine starts, and has always finished in the first three. His most recent win was in the Grade 2 Kyoto Shimbun Hai, when he was sent off second favourite and always kept in a handy position throughout the race. All his wins have come as a 3-year-old, and on his only run at Tokyo, he finished second over 2,000 meters in February. The Northern Racing bred colt may be the Derby ride of jockey Yasunari Iwata.

Adam's Bridge

Adam’s Bridge: The lightly raced colt by Zenno Rob Roy is two wins from three starts, and will be having his first run at Tokyo this Sunday. His two wins came over 2,000 meters, and jockey Ryuji Wada holds him in high regard. After a recent piece of work at the Ritto Training Center, where he clocked four furlongs in 55.0 seconds, 39.6 seconds for three furlongs and a final furlong time of 12.8 seconds, Wada said, “He’s feeling stronger, and different from his last race,” when he finished third over 2,000 meters at Hanshin in March.

Reve Mistral

Reve Mistral: This would be a dream come true if trainer Hiroyoshi Matsuda could win his first Derby in what is his last year as a trainer, and it would surely lift the roof off the Tokyo grandstand if Reve Mistral were to carry off the honours. The colt runs in the Sunday Racing colours and is coming off a win over 2,400 meters at Tokyo in the Grade 2 TV Tokyo Hai Aoba Sho, a recognized Derby trial. Reve Mistral is a half brother to 2010 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies winner, Reve d’Essor. He’s won his last three races, and jockey Yuga Kawada will be trying his best for the charismatic trainer, more known for winning big races with fillies. Another hurdle is that in 21 runnings of the Aoba Sho, winners of that trial race have finished second in the Derby six times but produced no winner.

Komet

Komet: Trained by Minoru Tsuchida, Komet finished tenth in his last race, the Satsuki Sho, and eighth in his previous run, behind Duramente and Satono Crown respectively.The colt is a good starter and consistent on that point, making his move early, but encounters problems when the speed suddenly goes on in the final stages. It could prove a tough race for Komet.