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Longshot Logotype Scores Front-running Victory in the Yasuda Kinen

Eighth pick Logotype demonstrated a gate-to-wire victory in this year’s Yasuda Kinen, upsetting heavily favored Maurice, and is now a three-time winner at the highest level. The Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1, 1,600m) victor and JRA Best Two-Year-Old Colt of 2012 went on to dominate the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m) the following year but had been winless since while registering three runner-up finishes in 16 starts including his latest race, the Lord Derby Challenge Trophy (G3, 1,600m) on April 3. For trainer Tsuyoshi Tanaka, this is his fifth JRA-G1 victory, which includes two G1 jump titles, and first since his 2013 Satsuki Sho triumph with the same horse. Jockey Hironobu Tanabe celebrates his second G1 victory, his first when landing the February Stakes with the least favored runner Copano Rickey in 2014.

After breaking smoothly at the mouth of the backstretch, jockey Hironobu Tanabe hustled Logotype up to the front and led the field uncontested at a slow pace while Maurice, Real Steal, Decipher and Contentment followed a length behind. As the others made headway fanning out at the last corner for clear sailing, the six-year-old son of Lohengrin maintained the most economic route on the rails and showed no trouble finding his stride climbing up the hill, steadily stretching away to a 1-1/4 length victory.

Undefeated in his previous seven starts—the last four at G1 level—heavy favorite and 2015 Horse of the Year Maurice took keen hold at the heels of the leader early and entered the lane in second, but was unable to threaten thereafter, securing the runner-up seat by narrowly holding off a fast-closing Fiero in the last strides.  

Sixth choice Fiero took an unhurried wide trip fourth from the rear, and after finding himself in tight quarters in early stretch, found another gear to demonstrate a good burst of speed at the furlong pole to close well, a nose short from Maurice for third.

Contentment broke sharply and joined the leaders in third to start before being squeezed back to around fifth as Maurice rushed to the front on his outside to chase the leader in second. While holding his position into the final straight, the son of Hussonet came up empty and faded to last.

“Brett told me the horse was empty and had nothing to give. He’s had a long season—he’s had nine starts and this was his tenth run—we’re always in this position, you’ve got to hope you’ve got another one. He did everything perfectly running up towards the race, but on race day, there’s nothing there—he’s empty. Disappointing for us but sadly it happens to some horses,” commented John Size. Brett Preble added “He broke well and we were able to sit in a good position. He traveled smoothly but seemed to be bothered by the rough surface and had nothing left in the stretch.”

Other Horses:
4th: (7) Satono Aladdin—traveled around 8th, trapped but chased Fiero in stretch, strong closure before wire
5th: (9) Isla Bonita—sat in 6th, checked in backstretch, angled wide, battled for second but unable to sustain
6th: (4) Decipher—chased leaders in 3rd, sustained bid but weakened in final strides
7th: (2) Danon Shark—sat 3rd from rear, accelerated after 400m marker, weakened in last 100m
8th: (1) Clarente—saved ground around 7th, lacked needed kick at stretch, even paced
9th: (3) Rosa Gigantea—was off slow, raced near rear, met traffic at early stretch, passed tired rivals
10th: (12) Red Arion—trailed in rear, turned wide, never fired and unable to reach contention
11th: (11) Real Steel—advanced to 4-5th, keen to go, weakened after 300m out, outrun thereafter

THE 66TH YASUDA KINEN (G1)
3-year-old & up, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, June 5, 2016   Tokyo Racecourse   11th Race   Post Time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 222,080,000 (about US$ 1,850,667 <US$1=¥120>)
3-y-o: 54kg (about 119 lbs), 4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares,
1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2012,
2kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2013
Safety factor: 18 runners

1. Logotype (JPN), dark bay or brown, horse, 6-year-old
   Lohengrin / Stereotype (Sunday Silence)

   Owner: Teruya Yoshida	Breeder: Shadai Farm
   Trainer: Tsuyoshi Tanaka	Jockey: Hironobu Tanabe
   25 Starts, 6 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 105,688,000	Career earnings: ¥ 520,252,100
   Principal Race Performances:	’13 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m)	1st
   	’12 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1, 1,600m)	1st
   	’13 Spring Stakes (G2, 1,800m)	1st

   
   
2. Maurice (JPN), bay, horse, 5-year-old
   Screen Hero / Mejiro Frances (Carnegie)

   Owner: Kazumi Yoshida	Breeder: Togawa Bokujo
   Trainer: Noriyuki Hori	Jockey: Tommy Berry

   
   
3. Fiero (JPN), dark bay or brown, horse, 7-year-old
   Deep Impact / Ruby (Danehill)

   Owner: Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co., Ltd.	Breeder: Shadai Farm
   Trainer: Hideaki Fujiwara	Jockey: Hiroyuki Uchida

Post race interview of winning connections:
[Trainer: Tsuyoshi Tanaka]
“We had to wait for a long time to justify Logotype’s true form as a G1 winner and I am grateful that he had stayed healthy to this day to make it happen. I had discussed our tactics with Hironobu Tanabe and we both shared the same opinion on giving our best shot in front if the chance was to arise. The race developed to our advantage, and watching him cruise away along the rails—I was kicking the table in excitement. He was already showing good form in his last start in the Lord Derby Challenge Trophy in April although he was beaten by a horse carrying five kilos less in that start. I decided to pass up a possible start in between that and this race and concentrate on maintaining his fitness and motivation through regular and fast gallops in preparation to the Yasuda Kinen. While I had every confidence in Logotype’s strength, he just couldn’t manage a win and both I and the stable staff are so delighted that he has finally made it. I would say he is best suited to distances between 1,600 and 1,800—definitely a mile at Fuchu. I have not yet decided on our next move as this victory against such a strong field exceeded our expectations.”

[Jockey: Hironobu Tanabe]
“When I rode him for the first time before the Nakayama Kinen, something was still missing—perhaps because he had just come back from a break—but he was a completely different horse before the Lord Derby Challenge Trophy which was really impressive. He showed class in this race too—unfazed by the big crowd and taking everything in his stride, and he is easy to position both up front and behind horses. I could have gone to the front in the last two starts as well if I wanted to and it just happened that when I made a move to make the pace this time, nobody was willing to contest the lead. I was conscious of Maurice on my outside but he was taken a real keen hold while the others were also held back behind him. I didn’t deliberately drop the pace and could have gone faster but Logotype settled in that particular pace so I left it at that. With a strong field like this, you just have to give your best shot. My horse has such a good jump so I thought that if I could get the others to hold back it would work to our advantage.  I also observed that the inside track wasn’t as bad as many people were saying and there were some horses earlier in the day who stretched well in the inside so I had no hesitation about choosing the inside route. He was overtaken in his last start when he slowed down a bit at the top of the stretch but today, he still had a lot left after the uphill—that’s when I felt that we could hold off Maurice for the win.”

* Yasuda Kinen (G1)
The Yasuda Kinen, a race to determine the best miler of the spring season, has welcomed just over 50 foreign-trained horses since its designation as an international race in 1993, including 1995 champion Heart Lake (GB, by Nureyev) from the UAE, 2000 winner Fairy King Prawn (AUS, by Danehill) from Hong Kong and the winner of the 2006 Champions Mile-Yasuda Kinen double, Bullish Luck (USA, by Royal Academy).
Past Yasuda Kinen winners that have subsequently become the season’s Horse of the Year include Oguri Cap (JPN, by Dancing Cap; ’90), Taiki Shuttle (USA, by Devil's Bag; ’98), Vodka (JPN, by Tanino Gimlet; ’08&’09), Lord Kanaloa (JPN, by King Kamehameha; ’13) and Maurice (’15).
This year’s Yasuda Kinen was joined by Contentment. The Hussonet gelding became a G1 winner in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (G1, 1,400m) in February this year and runner-up, 2 lengths behind Maurice, in the Champions Mile (G1, 1,600m) on May 1. Trainer John Size came into the race with the hope that the improving six-year-old, who was his fourth horse in eight Yasuda Kinen challenges so far, would turn the tables and bring him his first Yasuda Kinen title.
2015 Horse of the Year Maurice, who extended his winning streak to seven with the last four being at G1 level including his most recent victory in the Champions Mile, aimed for a consecutive win in this year’s Yasuda Kinen, a feat previously accomplished by Vodka. Real Steel, who was second, fourth and second in his three-year-old Classics last year and marked his first G1 success in the Dubai Turf (G1, 1,800m) on March 26, was also a strong contender with a high possibility of claiming his first G1 on home soil.
Also included in the line-up was 2014 Mile Championship (G1, 1,600m) winner Danon Shark who came off a runner-up effort in the Milers Cup (G2, 1,600m) on April 24; Kluger (JPN, by King Kamehameha) who was the winner of this race opted to pass up the Yasuda Kinen. Clarente and Fiero, who was third and fourth, respectively, in the 2015 Yasuda Kinen, finished in the same order again in the Milers Cup. Satono Aladdin, a fourth-place finisher in the 2015 Mile Championship, also registered his first grade-race victory in the Keio Hai Spring Cup (G2, 1,400m) on May 14 with 2015 Hanshin Cup (G2, 1,400m) winner Rosa Gigantea in third place.
Of the two Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m) champions who ran in the Yasuda Kinen this year, Isla Bonita, who won the Satsuki Sho in 2014, came off a fifth-place finish in the Sankei Osaka Hai (G2, 2,000m) on April 3 while 2013 Satsuki Sho victor Logotype finished second in the Lord Derby Challenge Trophy (G3, 1,600m) on the same day. Decipher, who has four grade-race titles over distances between 1,800 and 2,200 meters, made his first start in three years over a mile; he came off a fifth-place finish in the Nikkei Sho (G2, 2,500m) on March 26.
The race record 1:31.3 was set by Strong Return (JPN, by Symboli Kris S) in 2012.