Asuka Biren

Hidemasa Nakao, trainer
“She had two very nice wins in a row and, in the Kokura race, she handled the long haul there and the tight turns well. In her last start, the pace was slow but she settled well and showed nice late speed, which tells me she’s maturing. She’s overall much calmer now, so she hadn’t lost weight and was a bit heavy. So, on Nov. 3 we gave her a hard workout up the hill. She still looked a bit sluggish but that run will have done her well, so she’ll be back up to snuff this week. She’s only run up to 2,000 meters, so I don’t know how she’ll handle the extra furlong, but looking at how she was able to handle the slow pace of her last race, I’d say she’ll be OK. The jockey seems to have a good reading on her too and even though the level of competition will be a jump up for her, she too has matured and we’ll just have to see how much.”

Chaleur

Yosuke Nukada, assistant trainer
“She was in good shape for her last race, the Fuchu Himba Stakes, but it was the first time she took the lead and it may have shaken her up a bit. She didn’t run full out in the end either. She came out of the race well and we aimed her for this race right away and had her back in training immediately. Unlike before, her appetite has stabilized, so there are no worries there. Her regular jockey has commented that he thinks she would do even better with a bit more distance. It’s her first time over 2,200 meters, but I think it’ll work to her advantage, especially if it’s a bit too long for some of the other runners. She’s more solid now and I’m looking forward to seeing just how well she can do.”

Denko Ange

Jun Sato, assistant trainer
“In the Shuka Sho, the horse next to her in the gate was acting up and she missed the break. If she races in a forward position, she has a tendency to get keen but racing from the back like she did, well, what can you expect? She did show good late speed but she was never able to pass Mieno Succeed, who was on her inside in the stretch. Normally, in morning work we have her run alongside a horse and I don’t think she went all out in the race. When I think of it now, the time she won the Artemis Stakes, she came up on the outside in the stretch from way back. So, in that way, changing to the outer course where the field breaks up easily is a good change. She came out of her last race well and is on her toes. She’s in good shape.”

Mitsugu Kon, trainer
“Last race, she was coming off a layoff and I thought she wasn’t quite ready for an open-class race. She seemed too quiet before the race and I thought she was kind of spacey, but being like that may have helped her win. She has just raced but we rode her last Thursday and had the vet check her and he gave the OK to go ahead. She’s not agitated but she will definitely be on her toes. You could say she was saddled with little weight two races ago, but she did keep running even past the finish line and I could see she would be able to handle more distance than I’d thought. The good thing about her is that even when she moves up in class, she doesn’t look like she has hit the wall. I don’t know if she’ll be able to jump to the Grade 1 level and give us good results, but I have great expectations about her potential and about her turn of foot in the race’s final stages.”

Marialite

Kazutaka Ikeuchi, assistant trainer
“The Sankei Sho All Comers came down to the late speed alone. She wasn’t on the bit in places and her responses were lacking. The results were typical of a first race after a spell. We gave her a bit of a rest after that and I think she has toned up gradually. Last week, jockey Masayoshi Ebina rode her for the first time in a while. She was unusually quiet last race and we had been trying to decide whether to take her hood off or leave it on in the race. In the end, we’ve decided to have them pull it off behind the gate and hope that will wake her up a bit. With the conditions of this race, I’m hoping that we’ll get a pretty good pace, as well as a bit of spring to the track.”

Maximum de Paris

Takaaki Yoshida, assistant trainer　
“Her last outing was the first time she’d had such little time between races and I was worried about that. But she ran assertively and in the end got quite close. It wasn’t a bad race. We gave her some time off and brought her back to the training center on Oct. 22. In her uphill work, we always focus on the finish, but on Nov. 2, we pushed her hard from the start. It was a pretty good time, not what you normally see. I’m hoping she doesn’t go off her feed though. She got good results in the Shuka Sho at Kyoto. The distance won’t be a problem.”

Meisho Mambo

Yuji Iida, trainer
“She has always needed quite a bit of loosening up to get rid of her stiffness and after her last race she needed more than usual. I don’t know if that’s because of her age or if it’s because she raced all out last time. It’s hard to tell, but she is good now. She put in a good workout last week. I had the jockey ride her so he could get a handle on what kind of horse she is and she waited patiently during work and looked like she had a lot left. Her time was good. I can’t say too much because she hasn’t done very well recently. She was a bit keen last race, but even with the extra distance, if she can settle well and use what she has, I think things will go well.”

Mikki Queen

Yasutoshi Ikee, trainer
“I had planned to bring her back in the autumn starting with the Kyoto Daishoten, but we had to give her more time off because of a sprain and her training was delayed. Still, I refocused on this race alone and there hasn’t been any wrench in the mix. She came back to the training center on Oct. 9 and things have progressed just fine. We’re being careful now and are giving her fast work on the uphill course. Her movement on Nov. 3 wasn’t bad and she is most definitely improving bit by bit. With her workout this week, she should be all set. Compared to the mile at Tokyo, the conditions of the Kyoto 2,200 meters suit her more. She is a horse that always does better with a sharpener behind her, so I can’t say how she’ll do coming directly off of a layoff. She was looking a bit dull until last week but this week she has sharpened up. I think she’ll do her best.”

Pearl Code (black cap)

Mitsumasa Nakauchida, trainer
“Last week her workout was a lot faster than we’d planned, but this week was ideal. I think she’ll be in the shape needed for her to give us her best. I felt from this year that she was of top-class quality. But she is, at best, still a challenger. The Shuka Sho was frustrating, so I want her to show what she’s made of here.”

Teruhiko Saruhashi, assistant trainer
“In her last race, the Shuka Sho, she didn’t get a smooth run and wasn’t able to give it her all, but she still had a nice run. She was in the lead at one point and really trying for the win and in the end didn’t have enough left. The winner was strong. Her time last week was faster than we’d wanted, but she’s eating well and coming along fine. I really can’t say why she showed a drop in weight last start but she doesn’t look thin to me, so I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. She has learned to settle well now and there should be no problem with it being an extra furlong long and on the outer course. I also don’t think it being her first time up against older horses is any cause for concern either. She’ll have a 2-kg weight advantage, so I’m hoping she’ll do her best.”

Minoru Oguri, assistant trainer 　
“She was right behind the frontrunner in the Moonlight Handicap and that horse had nothing left at the end, so she didn’t exactly have an easy trip. If you consider that, I think she really held her ground well. We worked her in tandem with a horse from another stable last week and I think we pushed her pretty hard. She had a little bit of time off but has gotten a lot of work and she is in good shape. With a fast gallop this week, she should be ready. The only thing we want to avoid is having a slow pace and having it come down to the final drive alone. I’d like to see her make her move when it suits her. She’s moving up in class and will be carrying more than before, but she’s on the up and up.”

Shigeyuki Kojima, trainer
“She was in good shape for the Miyako Stakes but compared to her best times, I still think she was lacking. Even so, she won. I think the blinkers she was wearing for the first time worked well. They hadn’t had much effect during work, but on raceday she was really on her toes from the saddling enclosure and raring to go. After returning to Miho Training Center, we then moved her to Ritto Training Center on Nov. 3. I’d wanted to be able to tune her up until the very last moment and so decided that staying at Ritto was the best idea. She definitely has improved from her last start. This race was our goal from the spring and I am so glad that she was able to get a berth. In her last race, she ran more forward than usual and that makes me think she’ll be able to handle the 2,200 meters. It’s her first Grade 1 but she is in good shape and I’m hoping for a good race.”

Queens Ring

Keiji Yoshimura, trainer
“We only had her race twice in the late spring, the Victoria Mile and the Yonago Stakes, and gave her time off. Since she was able to have the summer off, I think she has come back well-refreshed. Being able to win the return race, Fuchu Himba Stakes, convincingly was the most important thing. Last week, the jockey took her over the course in fast work. It was a long workout and we pushed her pretty hard. Her condition hasn’t slipped at all and I think we’ll even see improvement from last race. Looking at her movement last week, I figured that this week just a solo run up the uphill would be enough to check her condition. And that’s what we did. She was eighth in this race last year, but she got into traffic problems in the stretch and it wasn’t the smoothest trip. In that race, she had the bit in her teeth for only a little while, which was minor enough to judge that she will be able to handle 2,200 meters. With her late-blooming bloodline, we expect her to get even better from here on.”

Mirco Demuro, jockey
“I don’t want it to rain. Even if it is a slow track, then I hope it’s like for her win of the Kyoto Himba Stakes and not like her second in the Hanshin Yonago Stakes.”

Sing with Joy

Yasuo Tomomichi, trainer
“She ran at her own pace last out and she held her ground pretty well in the stretch. Considering it was after a layoff, it wasn’t a bad race. On Nov. 2, we gave her a fast gallop on the woodchip course. The horse she ran with moved well and this one did too. We don’t want to push her too hard in the early stages on Sunday, but if she can get a good position near the front, I think she’ll handle the distance. Her morning work is usually reflected in the race. She’s in good shape and I’m looking forward to seeing how she can do in a Grade 1.”

Sundarbans

Eiichi Yano, trainer
“The pace in her last start, the Fuchu Himba Stakes, was not as strong as I had expected. The jockey held her back nicely, so she had a lot left for the finish. I don’t think her position was too far back but the race didn’t unfold to the best of her advantage. Two weeks ago, she was looking extremely well in work and I was finally seeing what I had imagined she was capable of all along. Her footwork was sharp and she looked about the same as she had when she won the Nakayama Himba Stakes. She has filled out nicely. She finished seventh here last year but her time was only 0.2 seconds off of the winner. She had the bit in her teeth a bit, so the distance itself was not the lone factor for the loss. She settles well when partnered with a jockey who knows her well, so I think she’ll be even closer this year. Last year the track was slightly yielding and I’m hoping for a fast track this time.”

Yutaka Yoshida, jockey
“She had room for improvement as far as her condition went last race. The final 3-furlong time was just too fast. She felt very good in her fast work this week and she ran easily in the final stage as well. Her responses were good, too. With one race she has improved quite a bit. In an all-female lineup, I think she has a chance. I’ll try to give her a run that leaves something over for the finish. She settles well and the 2,200 meters shouldn’t be a problem.”

Touching Speech

Sei Ishizaka, trainer
“Looking at her races earlier this year, I think competing against the boys may have been too high a bar for her. That, and she may not have been totally over the fatigue she’d surely had from her hard schedule up until last fall. She’s been getting the work she needs and last week we gave her a hard workout. I’d say she has come back refreshed from her layoff. The 2,200 meters is clearly better for her than 2,000. That and the long stretch of the outer course are both pluses. As for the going, you can see from her run in the Kyoto Shimbun Hai that she can handle bad going. She just missed out on this race by a little bit last year. Last week we pushed her quite hard so this week we eased off. You don’t want to push fillies too much. Her movement was good.”