Osaka Hai (G1) - Preview

Makahiki

Kitasan Black

Yamakatsu Ace

Satono Crown

Ambitious

Staphanos

This year, the curtain opens on a new face among the Grade 1 lineup - the Osaka Hai. The Osaka Hai is a 2,000-meter event over turf to be run at Hanshin Racecourse on Sunday, April 2 and it will boost the number of JRA G1s on the flat to 24. It follows the mile-long February Stakes and the 1,200-meter Takamatsunomiya Kinen as the third top-level race of the year.

Though this is the first year for the race to attain Grade 1 status, the 2017 version is regarded as the 61st running of the race. The Osaka Hai has been served as an important trial race for the Tenno Sho (Spring). In more recent years, the race’s winners have included such stars as Tokai Teio, Mejiro McQueen, Air Groove, and Orfevre, to name but a few.

The Osaka Hai winner’s prize is 120 million yen and from this year, the race winner will also win a ticket to the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes.

Fifteen horses have been nominated for this year’s Osaka Hai, which allows a field of a maximum 16 runners, and the roll call boasts a number of already well-known names. These include four G1 winners -- 2016 Horse of the Year Kitasan Black, 2016 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) winner Dee Majesty, 2016 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) champion Makahiki and 2016 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase winner Satono Crown.

The race is the 11th race on the Sunday card of 12 at Hanshin. Post time is 3:40 p.m. Hiruno d'Amour holds the Osaka Hai record of 1 minute, 57.8 seconds set in 2011.

Here’s a look at some of the likely top picks.

Makahiki - Following his win of the Japanese Derby at the end of May, the Deep Impact-sired Makahiki flew to France, where he clinched the G2 Qatar Prix Niel before running in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October. Though he was heavily favored for the win, he stunned with a 14th-place finish. Now 4 years old, Makahiki started the year with a run in the G2 Kyoto Kinen in February. He finished third over a slightly yielding track, but with a fast track and the sharpener behind him, Makahiki is once again considered one of the most likely to pull off a win Sunday and notch his second G1. “The going was surely a factor in the Kyoto Kinen,” says trainer Yasuo Tomomichi. “Luckily, he came out of the race well and we’ve kept him in training at Ritto Training Center since. He had a solid workout on March 23. He needs a fast track, but I think the 2,000-meter distance is the best for him.” Makahiki has a good record over distances in the 1,800-2,000 meter range, with three wins and one second in four starts. It is, however, the first time since his second in last year’s Satsuki Sho for Makahiki to take on that distance. Christophe Lemaire is set for the ride.

Kitasan Black - Kitasan Black, a son of Black Tide, will take on the Osaka Hai as his first start of the year and his first race since finishing second in the Arima Kinen at yearend. Winner of the 2015 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger), last year’s Tenno Sho (Spring) and the Japan Cup, Kitasan Black is known as an ace at longer distances. He did, however, run second in the Osaka Hai last year, while running under 58 kg. Marked by the eventual winner, who only carried 56 kg, Kitasan Black lost by a neck but it was a stellar performance. He displayed stamina with honest running throughout and a final 3-furlong time in the 33-second range, showing that he can be expected to perform well no matter what the pace. It will be the 4-year-old’s first time over the distance since last year’s Osaka Hai, but if anyone can do it with aplomb, Kitasan Black can. A very consistent runner, Kitasan Black has eight wins, two seconds and three thirds from 14 starts. In fact, he has figured out of the top three spots only once in his entire career. The only blemish on his record is a 14th-place finish in the Japanese Derby. Pegged for the ride is Yutaka Take, who holds the record for most wins of the Osaka Hai with six first-place performances to date. Trainer Hisashi Shimizu says of his star horse, “Last week, we clocked him and he looked good and like he still had a lot to give. He can sense that a race is near. As for his condition, I think he looks the best he ever has coming off a layoff.”

Yamakatsu Ace - Yamakatsu Ace, a son of King Kamehameha and now 5 years old, is fresh off a win of the G2 Kinko Sho at Chukyo on March 11. Oddly, it is his second win of the race in only three months, a feat that is possible due to the race having been run in December as well before being moved to the March spot to serve as a step race for the Osaka Hai. Sandwiched between the two Kinko Sho wins was Yamakatsu Ace’s fourth-place finish just 0. 3 seconds off the winner in the Arima Kinen. Run at the same distance as the Kinko Sho, albeit on a right-handed track, the Osaka Hai could be within reach. Though his recent results at Hanshin have been a sixth place and a 13th, the former saw Yamakatsu Ace finish only 0.4 seconds behind the winner, who clinched the race in record time. The latter, the Takarazuka Kinen, was over poor going and carrying 58 kg. Yamakatsu Ace is by no means unsuited to Hanshin and, more importantly, he is currently looking good. Trained by Kaneo Ikezoe, Yamakatsu Ace is to be piloted by Kenichi Ikezoe. It represents a father-son combination that has reaped 10 graded-stakes wins, but has yet to notch a G1 victory.

Satono Crown - Following his win of the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase in December, in which he beat Highland Reel, runnerup in the Arc and winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf, by half a length, Satono Crown returned to the track in February to win the G2 Kyoto Kinen. Despite carrying 58 kg, the now 5-year-old son of Marju was able to reach the finish line ahead of Makahiki and looks to be in fine shape, with considerable more punch per pound. Satono Crown is trained by Noriyuki Hori, current No. 2 trainer at Miho Training Center. Mirco Demuro is due up.

Ambitious - Winner of last year’s Osaka Hai, Ambitious has only finished further down the line than fourth once in his four starts since and that was over soft ground in the Takarazuka Kinen. He’s been right up there battling in the upper ranks and holding his own as he fights for his first G1 win. The Deep Impact-sired Ambitious won the race running from a No. 2 position, but he has learned to settle well, has patience and can run from any position successfully. Fourth in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (run over the difficult Tokyo 2,000) and fourth in the 1,800-meter Nakayama Kinen at the end of February, Ambitious is expected to improve. Slated to take the reins for the first time is Yuichi Fukunaga, who won the race in 2006 aboard Company, who was owned by Hideko Kondo, who now owns Ambitious.

Staphanos is also worth a wager. He returned to the track for the first time since his third-place finish in the 2,000-meter LONGINES Hong Kong Cup in December to finish sixth in the Kinko Sho. Improvement is likely.