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Kitasan Black Prevails by Record Breaking Speed in Tenno Sho (Spring)

Race favorite Kitasan Black vanquished his rivals in this year's Tenno Sho (Spring) by renewing the course and race record set by legendary Deep Impact in 2006 by 0.9 second and became the fourth contender to capture the title consecutively as he cruised to his fifth G1 victory. Since their recent G1 Osaka Hai triumph, trainer Hisashi Shimizu and jockey Yutaka Take celebrate their fifth and 73rd JRA-G1 titles, respectively. Take stretched his own record as the jockey with the most Tenno Sho (Spring) titles to eight.

The field got underway with Yamakatsu Raiden immediately taking the lead, putting six to seven lengths between the chasing group headed by Kitasan Black, Admire Deus and One and Only as he posted 58.3 in the first 1,000 meters. The front runner galloped more than 10 lengths in front of the trailing field which formed a long line down the backstretch but Kitasan Black waited patiently as the leader gradually squandered his huge lead, and shot up front at the 600meter marker. The son of Black Tide unleashed an incredible stretch drive in front of the cheering Kyoto crowds and secured a comfortable 1-1/4 length win.

“It was a really tough race—the pace never slowed down. Although the horse had little left, he showed amazing stamina and tenacity up to the end which only he can do. I never thought Deep Impact's record would ever be broken. This horse is just so much stronger than he was a year ago,” commented Yutaka Take.

Fourth favorite Cheval Grand traveled in a good fifth to sixth position, crept up steadily rounding the final corners to make his bid and entered the straight behind the winner in second. While struggling to catch the winner, last year's third-place finisher found another gear to shake off the fast closing Satono Diamond for a neck second.

Sent off second pick and archrival to Kitasan Black, four-year-old Satono Diamond was settled in mid-field throughout most of the journey, was steered to the outside before the last corner and chased the leader down the straight fiercely battling with Cheval Grand but was beaten while he slimly held third by a neck over Admire Deus.

Other Horses:
4th: (10) Admire Deus―traveled behind winner, sustained bid but weakened in final strides
5th: (7) Albert―settled in mid-pack, showed response but 3 lengths behind top finishers
6th: (9) Dee Majesty―raced 3-wide toward rear, advanced at backstretch, quickened, was too late
7th: (12) Gold Actor―broke poorly, traveled in mid-group, improved position at stretch
8th: (13) Tosen Basil―sat in mid-division, showed belated charge at stretch
9th: (1) Sciacchetra—was off slow, made headway to 5th, lacked needed kick at stretch
10th: (5) Fata Morgana―raced along rails in mid-pack, even paced
11th: (14) One and Only―ran near winner in 4th, ran gamely until final corner, outrun
12th: (16) Rainbow Line―trailed in rear, driven from 3rd corner, passed tired rivals thereafter
13th: (8) Tamamo Best Play―took economic trip in mid-group, failed to respond at stretch
14th: (4) Spirits Minoru―positioned among rear trio early, turned wide, never fired
15th: (17) Yamakatsu Raiden―set fast pace, sustained lead before final corner, faded
16th: (11) Proletariat―ran 2nd from rear, no factor throughout
17th: (2) Labradorite―hugged rails in mid-division, unable to reach contention

THE 155TH TENNO SHO (SPRING) (G1)
4-year-old & up, 3,200 meters (about 16 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, April 30, 2017 Kyoto Racecourse 11th Race Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 325,000,000 (about US$ 2,826,000 <US$1=¥115>)
4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares,
1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2013
Safety factor: 18 runners

FP=Final Position / BK=Bracket Number / PP=Post Position / B=Blinker / Wgt=Weight / L3F=Time of Last 3 Furlongs (600m)

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
   16 Starts, 10 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 153,654,000	Career earnings: ¥ 1,344,139,000
   Principal race performances:	'17 Osaka Hai (G1, 2,000m) 1st '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

   
   
2. 2.Cheval Grand (JPN), chestnut, horse, 5-year-old
   Heart's Cry / Halwa Sweet (Machiavellian)
   

   Owner: Kazuhiro Sasaki	Breeder: Northern Racing
   Trainer: Yasuo Tomomichi	Jockey: Yuichi Fukunaga

   
   
3. 3.Satono Diamond (JPN), bay, colt, 4-year-old
   Deep Impact / Malpensa (Orpen)
   

   Owner: Hajime Satomi	Breeder: Northern Racing
   Trainer: Yasutoshi Ikee	Jockey: Christophe Lemaire

* Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1)

The forerunner of the Tenno Sho was established in 1905 under the name “Emperor's Cup”, in which the winner received the silver comport bestowed by the Emperor. The race was renamed to “Teishitsu Goshoten Kyoso” the following year. The race became biannual events—held at Hanshin in spring and at Tokyo in autumn—a year after the establishment of the Japan Racing Society (the forerunner of the Japan Racing Association) in 1936, and was officially named the “Tenno Sho” since the autumn of 1947. The Tenno Sho (Spring) became the ultimate competition to determine the champion stayer, having altered its distance to 3,200 meters in 1938 while its counterpart in autumn run over 2,000 meters is one of the biggest middle-distance event contested between the proven older horses with the addition of the three-year-old hopefuls. The venue of the spring version was also moved to Kyoto Racecourse in 1948.
The Tenno Sho (Spring) was designated as an international race in 2005 and welcomed Makybe Diva (GB, by Desert King) of Australia as the first foreign contender the same year. She finished seventh to Suzuka Mambo (JPN, by Sunday Silence) and subsequently went on to make history back home by winning her third consecutive Melbourne Cup (G1, 3,200m). Red Cadeaux (GB, Cadeaux Genereux) was the latest foreign contender of this race in 2014, running for the second time after finishing third in the 2013 edition, but was unable to perform over the firm turf and finished 14th.
Following his fourth G1 victory in the Osaka Hai (G1, 2,000m; Apr.2), last year's victor and 2016 Horse of the Year Kitasan Black was among this year's lineup along with 2016 Best Three-Year-Old Colt Satono Diamond who came off his Hanshin Daishoten (G2, 3,000m; Mar.19) win where he held off Cheval Grand—third-place finisher in both last year's edition and the Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m)—by 1-1/2 lengths. Other notable contenders were Sciacchetra who captured his first grade-race win in the Nikkei Sho (G2, 2,500m: Mar.25), in which last year's Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m) runner-up Rainbow Line, 2015 Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500m) winner Gold Actor and 2016 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m) victor Dee Majesty finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. For Albert—sixth in last year's Tenno Sho (Spring)—it was his first start since his Diamond Stakes (G3, 3,400m; Feb.18) victory.