Training Report of Foreign Entry
The 66th Running of the Yasuda Kinen (G1)

June 2, 2016 (Thursday)

<At Tokyo Racecourse>

Weather: Fine
Going: Standard (dirt course)

Contentment (AUS, G6, Chestnut)

- jogged 6 laps in exercise arena, jogged 1/4 lap, cantered ~ galloped (600m) 1 lap, cantered 3/4 lap on dirt course
(exercised from 7:55 AM to 8:14 AM, ridden by Sing Hon Pang)

“It’s an honor for us that the JRA invited us here. We came second last time in the Champions Mile against your Maurice, and we came back here to challenge Maurice and hopefully see what happens.

“The trainer says the horse is enjoying himself very much – the weather is much better here in Japan than in Hong Kong. This is my second time here and the huge racecourse that holds more than 100,000 people will be a very good experience for my family as well.”

(Comments taken from Tak Wing Lo, owner)

“I decided to aim for the Yasuda Kinen about a year ago. Since he’s an international Group One winner, he has the qualifications to run and I think he deserves a shot at the race. He always gave me the impression that he would be a good traveler because he has a good temperament, he’s quiet, sound and does well. Even at the end of a long season and after his last start, he hadn’t shown any signs that he’s tired, so hopefully he’s got one more run in him and can earn some prize money.

“Your horses are so strong, we don’t expect to come here and beat them, but my horse is also highly rated and I support the international racing circuit. So as circumstances change with different horses and different occasions, and even though this year we’re against horses like Maurice and Real Steel, I still think my horse has a very good chance.

“I think the field is smaller this year than normal, so I think the importance of the barrier is which horse is drawn beside you rather than the number. So he’d probably enjoy a leader horse to follow. Our horse has good gate speed and he runs normally behind the leader, so if he can find a horse with a bit more speed than him that he can follow in second or third, I think that would be very suitable.”

(Comments taken from John Size, trainer)