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Kitasan Black Becomes First Champion of Newest Grade 1 Race-the Osaka Hai

Race favorite Kitasan Black claimed his fourth G1 victory in the Osaka Hai—newly upgraded to G1 status this year—following his 2015 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger), 2016 Tenno Sho (Spring) and Japan Cup triumphs. This was the first start for the 2016 Horse of the Year since given a break after his runner-up effort in the year-end Arima Kinen. The horse is now scheduled to head for the Tenno Sho (Spring) which is to be held four weeks from now where he will mostly likely face rival Satono Diamond, whom he was defeated by in the Arima Kinen, while aiming to defend his Tenno Sho title. For trainer Hisashi Shimizu and jockey Yutaka Take, the Osaka Hai win is their first G1 victory since capturing the Japan Cup with the bay champion, and individually, it is the fourth for Shimizu and 72nd for Take, who also has six more Osaka Hai titles while still a G2 race.

The 14-horse field broke evenly in front of the main stands of the Hanshin Racecourse under a clear blue sky as Maltese Apogee took the front before the initial turn, stretching his lead up to five to six lengths from Lord Vent d’Or in second as the field cruised down the backstretch. Kitasan Black was positioned a couple of lengths from that in third and smoothly made headway rounding the final turns, placing himself in second at the top of the straight. The rest of his trip was a strong and steady one as the race favorite easily picked off the tiring front-runner before the furlong pole and held off all competition to secure a 3/4-length win.

“I felt his strength had increased so I had all the confidence I needed. The race developed just the way I thought it would. Since he was responding so well, I decided to launch an early bid today, earlier than I would do in other cases. I’m very happy that we became the first champions,” commented Yutaka Take.

Third-place finisher in the 2016 Hong Kong Cup, Staphanos took advantage of his draw right next to Kitasan Black and stalked the race favorite persistently. Although the seventh favorite furiously chased the winner through the lane, he proved no match while holding off the fast closing Yamakatsu Ace for second.

Sent off fourth favorite and coming off a back-to-back G2 Kinko Sho victory, Yamakatsu Ace was reserved fourth to fifth from the rear before entering the stretch in good striking position in mid-field and displayed the second fastest last three-furlong drive but had too much ground to make up finishing a half-length from the runner-up.

Other Horses:
4th: (14) Makahiki—settled 3rd from last, angled wide and showed good response but never a threat
5th: (12) Ambitious—sat 2nd from last, turned wide, accelerated and timed fastest over last 3 furlongs
6th: (7) Satono Crown—raced behind winner in 5-6th, quickened until 100m out, weakened thereafter
7th: (1) Mikki Rocket—hugged rails toward rear, showed belated charge at stretch
8th: (10) Mondo Intero—raced in mid-pack, outrun by rivals rounding final corner, then passed tired rivals
9th: (2) Angreifen—trailed in rear, made headway in backstretch, even paced at stretch
10th: (9) Decipher—traveled 3-wide in mid-group, lacked needed kick at stretch
11th: (3) Suzuka Devious—saved ground in mid-division, unable to reach contention
12th: (11) Maltese Apogee—set pace, led by 6 lengths at one point, ran out of steam 200m out
13th: (6) Sakura Empereur—rated outside winner, dropped back before 3rd corner
14th: (8) Lord Vent d’Or—chased leader in 2nd, faded after final corner

THE 61ST OSAKA HAI (G1)
4-year-old & up, 2,000 meters (about 10 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, April 2, 2017        Hanshin Racecourse      11th Race        Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: \ 259,200,000 (about US$ 2,254,000 <US$1=\115>)
4-y-o & up: 57kg (about 126 lbs),
2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares, 1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2013
Safety factor: 16 runners

1. 1.Kitasan Black (JPN), bay, horse, 5-year-old
   Black Tide / Sugar Heart (Sakura Bakushin O)
   

   Owner: Ono Shoji	Breeder: Yanagawa Bokujo
   Trainer: Hisashi Shimizu	Jockey: Yutaka Take
   15 Starts, 9 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 122,982,000	Career earnings: ¥ 1,190,485,000
   Principal Race Performances:	’16 Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m) 1st ’16 Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1, 3,200m) 1st ’15 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m) 1st ’16 Kyoto Daishoten (G2, 2,400m) 1st ’15 St. Lite Kinen (G2, 2,200m) 1st ’15 Spring Stakes (G2, 1,800m) 1st ’16 Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500m) 2nd ’16 Takarazuka Kinen (G1, 2,200m) 3rd ’15 Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500m) 3rd ’15 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m) 3rd

   
   
2. 2.Staphanos (JPN), bay, horse, 6-year-old
   Deep Impact / Kokoshnik (Kurofune)
   

   Owner: U. Carrot Farm	Breeder: Northern Racing
   Trainer: Hideaki Fujiwara	Jockey: Yuga Kawada

   
   
3. 3.Yamakatsu Ace (JPN), chestnut, horse, 5-year-old
   King Kamehameha / Yamakatsu Marilyn (Grass Wonder)
   

   Owner: Kazuo Yamada	Breeder: Okada Bokujo
   Trainer: Kaneo Ikezoe	Jockey: Kenichi Ikezoe

* Osaka Hai (G1)

The Osaka Hai, renewing its name this year from the familiarly known Sankei Osaka Hai, was established in 1957 as a handicap race open to runners of four years of age and upwards run over 1,800m at Hanshin Racecourse in March. After the distance was extended to 2,000m in 1972, the date was moved to one week earlier to the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) in 1981. The race was given G2 status in conjunction with the new grading system in 1984, opened its doors to foreign competitors in 2003 and was upgraded to G1 this year. The winner of the race will earn automatic starting position in the Irish Champion Stakes (G1, 2,000m) held in September.
Attracting strong contenders by serving as a prep race for G1 spring races for older horses such as the Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1, 3,200m) and the Takarazuka Kinen (G1, 2,200m), many Osaka Hai champions have gone on to achieve G1 successes; Meisho Samson (JPN, by Opera House) in 2007 and Hiruno d’Amour (JPN, by Manhattan Cafe),who set the race record of 1:57.8 in 2011, both captured the Tenno Sho (Spring) that followed; and Dream Journey (JPN, by Stay Gold) in 2009 landed his Takarazuka Kinen victory two starts later. Winners who also showed extraordinary accomplishments include 2008 champion Daiwa Scarlet (JPN, by Agnes Tachyon), legendary 2013 winner Orfevre (JPN, by Stay Gold) and 2014 victor Kizuna (JPN, by Deep Impact).
Among this year’s line-up was 2016 Horse of the Year and last year’s runner-up Kitasan Black in his first start of the season, while runners coming off the Kyoto Kinen (G2, 2,200m; Feb.12) included: 2016 Hong Kong Vase (G1, 2,400m) victor Satono Crown who defended his title; winner of the 2016 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m) Makahiki who was third; and winner of the Nikkei Shinshun Hai (G2, 2,400m; Jan.17) Mikki Rocket who finished fourth.
Other runners were the Kokura Daishoten (G3, 1,800m; Feb.19) victor Maltese Apogee, last year’s Osaka Hai winner Ambitious who came off a fourth in the Nakayama Kinen (G2, 1,800m; Feb.26) and finishers of the Kinko Sho (G2, 2,000m)—date moved from December to March 11—such as; champion Yamakatsu Ace who defended his title and who completed the previous season with a fourth in the year-end Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500m); and sixth-placed Staphanos who has a record of two second and third-place finishes in 2,000m-G1 races.