Cheval Grand tops field of Copa Republica Argentina

The top five choices held down the return on a fair-weather Sunday afternoon as they all made the top five spots in Tokyo’s main race, albeit not in the order of their popularity.

In the 54th running of the G2 Copa Republica Argentina, it was second pick Cheval Grand and Yuichi Fukunaga who took home the grand prize of 57 million yen when they beat 5.4-to-1 fourth pick Albert, partnered with Keita Tosaki, by half a length. Making third place a head’s margin behind Albert was race third choice Volsheb, with Mirco Demuro up. They topped the 3.4-to-1 favorite Mondo Intero and Christophe Lemaire by half a length. 

Courir Kaiser took the lead from the gate followed closely by Shonan Bach, pulling the field at a slow pace over the 2,500-meter course with lap times hovering just under 13 seconds for much of the first half.

The Heart’s Cry-sired 4-year-old Cheval Grand, breaking from the No. 11 gate and carrying the top weight of 58 kg, settled handily midfield three off the rail. To his inside on the rail was Mondo Intero, a 4-year-old by Deep Impact racing under 56.5 kg. Rounding into the corner, Fukunaga took Cheval Grand wide but held back until Lemaire moved on Mondo Intero, splitting the ranks between Shonan Bach and Mousquetaire and moving clear at the 300 mark.

As the favorite gained steadily on the front-running Courir Kaiser, Fukunaga aboard Cheval Grand about four widths to the outside switched into top gear.

Mondo Intero caught and passed Courir Kaiser at the 200 mark, but was no match for the fast-gaining Cheval Grand. Mondo Intero was caught and passed by the eventual winner with 100 meters to go, then by Albert and Volsheb in the final strides.

Winning jockey Yuichi Fukunaga said postrace, “I didn’t think the pace would be fast, so I thought I’d get a good position and I was able to get a very good start. He was a bit too enthusiastic at points, but I got him cover and had him wait. When I moved him out in the stretch, his response wasn’t that good, but that was to be expected carrying 58 kg and just back from a layoff.”

“He picked up speed and from there he really poured it on. He was stronger than his winning margin would indicate,” Fukunaga said. 

Trained by the Ritto-based Yasuo Tomomichi, Cheval Grand is set for the Japan Cup next, followed by the Arima Kinen (The Grand Prix).

“I think it’s a very good race for him to have going into a G1,” Fukunaga said. “His younger sister did beat him to the G1 though,” he added, referring to this year’s Shuka Sho winner Vivlos, also trained by Tomomichi, “but I think this is one horse we can expect much of this autumn.”

Tomomichi, who also fielded Volsheb, agreed, “These two siblings are really something else. I take my hat off to them.”

Christophe Lemaire had his Tokyo weekend streak of eight wins and two seconds in 10 races straight stopped by his mount’s fourth-place finish in the Copa Republica Argentina. Lemaire commented on Mondo Intero’s performance, saying, “He had felt really good but in the end he stopped. It being his first race in a while and the strong field were surely factors. I think we can see expect improvement from him.”

Cheval Grand covered the 2,500 meters of fast turf in 2 minutes 33.4 seconds, the final 3 furlongs in 34.2 seconds.

A Northern Farm-bred chestnut colt, Cheval Grand is out of the Machiavellian mare Halwa Sweet. He is owned by former pro baseball player Kazuhiro Sasaki.

The Copa Republica Argentina was Cheval Grand’s first start since the June 26 Takarazuka Kinen, in which he finished ninth. That race followed a third in the Tenno Sho (Spring), his best result in a Grade 1 race to date. The Copa Republica Argentina was his second victory of a Grade 2 race. He is now 6 for 15, with 3 seconds and 3 thirds.