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Sixth Pick Satono Ares Claims Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes to Reign as Two-Year-Old Champion Colt

Deep Impact colt Satono Ares captured this year’s Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes to become the season’s two-year-old champion colt. Runner-up in his first two starts in August, the dark bay promptly broke his maiden in his third start in September, marked another win in the Begonia Sho (Tokyo Racecourse, 1,600m) in November and extended his winning streak to three in his first grade-race challenge. He is the third colt that came off a win in the Begonia Sho to win this race in the past five years, the first two being Logotype in 2012 and Danon Platina in 2014. Trainer Kazuo Fujisawa registered his 24th JRA-G1 title following the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies with Soul Stirring just last week and became the first trainer to capture both two-year-old G1 titles in the same year. Veteran jockey Hirofumi Shii marked his 15th JRA-G1 victory following the 2010 Takamatsunomiya Kinen with Kinshasa no Kiseki.

Satono Ares broke smoothly from stall 17 and settled toward the back of the field, around sixth from the rear. Gradually making headway circling wide around the corners, the dark bay colt produced a powerful turn of speed after entering the homestretch, passing tiring rivals from the outside with the second fastest final three-furlong time, nailed the front 100 meters out and further accelerated while holding off the strong challenge by Monde Can Know for his first G1 victory.

“I rode him for the first time but was told by the trainer that he has a strong late charge. So I decided to race him toward the rear and he responded really well in the stretch. I think his strong point is indeed his turn of foot. I think he will definitely be able to aim for the big titles going forward,” commented Hirofumi Shii.

Seventh choice Monde Can Know was rated fourth from the rear, surged out behind Satono Ares when facing the homestretch and threatened the winner with his explosive late drive that timed the fastest of the field to cross the wire half a length behind in second.

Twelfth pick Bom Servico, rushing out from stall four, immediately took command to set the pace and continued to run persistently in the stretch. Though overtaken by the first two finishers in the last 100 meters, the Daiwa Major colt managed to fend off Mi Suerte to come in third.

Mi Suerte traveled in mid-division, around seventh from the front, and demonstrated an impressive late charge in the lane but was a head short of nailing Bom Servico to finish fourth.

Other Horses:
5th: (18) Trust—chased leaders in 2nd from widest stall, held well until 100m out, outrun thereafter
6th: (11) Trillionaire—settled in mid-pack, turned behind favorite, quickened in last 200m
7th: (6) Clear the Track—stalked leaders in 3rd, sustained bid until 100m out then weakened
8th: (15) Red en Ciel—advanced to 5th from wide draw, found little room 300m out, even paced
9th: (16) America’s Cup—slow break, took wide trip in mid-group, ran gamely until furlong pole
10th: (7) Bee Kali—rated in mid-division, met traffic at top of stretch then accelerated
11th: (9) Daiichi Terminal—eased back to near rear, angled out, improved position at stretch
12th: (2) Ashaka Lien—trailed in rear, switched to outside for clear path after final corner, passed tired rivals
13th: (8) Danburite—raced in mid-pack, boxed in at early stretch, showed brief effort in last 200m
14th: (5) Tagano Asura—sat toward rear, found little room at top of stretch, never fired
15th: (12) Toho Domingo—broke poorly, ran near rear, turned wide, unable to reach contention
16th: (3) Links Zero—saved ground in mid-group, checked at early stretch, never a threat
17th: (1) Levante Lion—tracked leaders in 3rd or 4th, failed to respond and outrun after 300m out
18th: (14) Bullbear Baboon—traveled in mid-division, advanced before 3rd corner but no factor

THE 68TH ASAHI HAI FUTURITY STAKES (G1)
2-year-old Colts & Fillies, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, December 18, 2016   Hanshin Racecourse        11th Race    Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 152,200,000 (about US$ 1,268,000 <US$1=¥120>)
2-y-o: 55kg (about 121 lbs), 1 kg allowance for Fillies, 3 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2014

1. 1. Satono Ares (JPN), dark bay or brown, colt, 2-year-old
   Deep Impact / Satono Amazones (Danehill)

   Owner: Hajime Satomi	Breeder: Hajime Satomi
   Trainer: Kazuo Fujisawa	Jockey: Hirofumi Shii
   5 Starts, 3 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 71,260,000	Career earnings: ¥ 91,347,000

   
   
2. 2.Monde Can Know (JPN), bay, colt, 2-year-old
   Kinshasa no Kiseki / Raise and Call (Sakura Bakushin O)

   Owner: Your Story	Breeder: Northern Farm
   Trainer: Takayuki Yasuda	Jockey: Mickael Barzalona

   
   
3. 3.Bom Servico (JPN), chestnut, colt, 2-year-old
   Daiwa Major / Baimoyuri (Sakura Laurel)

   Owner: Nagoya Yuho	Breeder: Nagoyayuho Co., Ltd.
   Trainer: Manabu Ikezoe	Jockey: Kohei Matsuyama

* Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1)

Races for two-year-olds were held for the first time in 1946 at Tokyo. As the number of contenders increased, championship races—the Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes (predecessor to the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes) and the Hanshin Sansai Stakes (predecessor to the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies)—which determined the top two-year-olds of the season in eastern and western Japan, respectively, were established in 1949. In conjunction with the new grading system implemented, the two races were designated G1 status in 1984.
In 1991, the two races were divided by gender into two separate G1 events; the Hanshin Sansai Himba Stakes for two-year-old fillies and the Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes for two-year-old colts and geldings, then renamed “Hanshin Juvenile Fillies” and “Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes”, respectively, in 2001. Since 2004, the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes has been limited to non-gelded colts and fillies in view of the race being positioned as the two-year-old “classics”. The race, which started off as a 1,100-meter sprint, was extended to 1,200 meters in 1959 and again to 1,600 meters in 1962. In 2010, the race was opened to foreign runners. Due to the restructured racing program for two-year-olds, the venue was transferred from Nakayama to Hanshin Racecourse, the same location as the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, in 2014 while no changes were made in the distance.
Mi Suerte, one of the two fillies in the field who opted to challenge in this race instead of contesting in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies held a week ago after claiming her graded title in the Fantasy Stakes (G3, 1,400m) on November 5, faced against potential male contenders coming off graded lead-up races: Monde Can Know who captured his first grade-race title in the the Keio Hai Nisai Stakes (G2, 1,400m) on November 5; Hakodate Nisai Stakes (G3, 1,200m) champion Levante Lion who was 11th in the Keio Hai; Danburite, runner-up in the Saudi Arabia Royal Cup (G3, 1,600m) on October 8; Sapporo Nisai Stakes (G3, 1,800m) champion Trust who came off a fifth in the Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes (G3, 1,800m) on November 19; and Bom Servico who finished second in the Daily Hai Nisai Stakes (G2, 1,600m) on November 12. Runners that came off a win in the allowance races were: America’s Cup who won the Nojigiku Stakes (1,800m) on September 17; Red en Ciel, winner of the Momiji Stakes (1,400m) on October 16; Tagano Asura who claimed the Kigiku Sho (2,000m) on November 13; and Satono Ares, victor of the Begonia Sho (1,600m) on November 27.
The 2004 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes winner Meiner Recolte (JPN, by Chief Bearhart) had held the race record for almost a decade, having covered the mile distance at Nakayama in 1:33.4, until the race was transferred to Hanshin Racecourse in 2014. Last year, Leontes (JPN, by King Kamehameha) marked a record time of 1:34.4 at the new rececourse.