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Rey de Oro Tactfully Defeats Strong Field of 3-Y-Os in This Year's Tokyo Yushun

Second favorite Rey de Oro partnered with Christophe Lemaire bested his three-year-old opponents in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) to revenge his fifth-place finish in the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) and to capture his first G1 and second graded victory. The son of King Kamehameha debuted in October last year and won his first three starts including his first graded win in the year-end G2 Hopeful Stakes. This marked trainer Kazuo Fujisawa's 26th JRA-G1 victory following last week's Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) title with Soul Stirring and his first classic title for colts. He is the fifth trainer—first in 13 years—to win both the Oaks and Derby in the same year. For jockey Christophe Lemaire, this win marked an impressive three-week G1 winning streak, which includes the Victoria Mile with Admire Lead and Yushun Himba with Soul Stirring. He is the second jockey since Olivier Peslier in 2001 to do so. This was his first Derby win and 13th G1 victory. He is also the fifth jockey—first in 42 years—to win both the Oaks and the Derby in the same year.

Rey de Oro settled toward the rear, around fifth from last, while My Style took the front to set a slow pace. Traveling wide through the first two corners, jockey Christophe Lemaire urged his mount to make an early bid and the King Kamehameha colt responded willingly to forge its way toward the front along the backstretch. Rey de Oro tagged behind the frontrunner in second around the last two corners, nailed the front before the 200-meter pole and fended off the strong challenge by Suave Richard to claim his first G1 victory.

“We had no specific tactic, but we were forced to travel toward the rear after a slow start and the pace was slow, so I decided to move forward in the backstretch. He was very relaxed and was responding well in the homestretch so I knew we will win in the last 100 meters. I'm really happy to be able to win both the French and Japanese Derby,” commented Lemaire.

Third choice Suave Richard remained in good striking position, around seventh from the front by the rails, stirred to the outside after entering the homestretch and pursued Rey de Oro with his powerful late kick for a 3/4-length runner-up effort.

Odds on favorite Admirable, breaking from the outermost stall, traveled wide around second from the rear and though briefly checked at the top of the stretch, dislodged an impressive turn of speed that marked the fastest over the last three furlongs to reach the wire 1-1/4 lengths behind the runner-up.

Other Horses:
4th: (3) My Style―set slow pace, led until 200m marker, sustained bid, outrun in last 100m
5th: (7) Al Ain―chased leaders in 3rd or 4th, checked at top of stretch, showed effort thereafter
6th: (1) Danburite―took economic trip in 3rd or 4th, quickened after 300m marker
7th: (11) Persian Knight―raced 3-wide in mid-pack, ran willingly outside winner, weakened in last 200m
8th: (8) Trust―stalked leader in 2nd, sustained bid until 100m, outrun thereafter
9th: (10) Best Approach―traveled 3-wide in mid-group, showed effort but never a threat
10th: (6) Satono Arthur―settled in mid-pack, gradually fell back, showed belated charge
11th: (13) Cadenas―sat in rear group, turned wide, responded well at outer stretch but belated
12th: (16) Kyohei―trailed in rear, accelerated in last 300m, was too late
13th: (5) Clincher―positioned around 6th, never fired at stretch
14th: (15) Daiwa Cagney―ran 3-wide around 5th, failed to respond at stretch
15th: (17) Win Bright―raced 4-wide in mid-division, checked at early stretch, lacked needed kick
16th: (9) Meiner Sphene―traveled in mid-pack, unable to reach contention
17th: (2) America's Cup―hugged rails in mid-group, showed little at stretch
18th: (14) Jo Strictly―rated along rails in rear division, no factor throughout

THE 84TH TOKYO YUSHUN (JAPANESE DERBY, G1)
3-year-old Colts & Fillies, 2,400 meters (about 12 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, May 28, 2017     Tokyo Racecourse      10th Race        Post Time: 15:40
Total prize money:             ¥ 432,000,000 (about US$ 3,757,000 <US$1=¥115>)
3-y-o: 57 kg (about 126 lbs), 2 kg allowance for Fillies, 3 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2014
Safety factor: 18 runners

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

1. 1.Rey de Oro (JPN), bay, colt, 3-year-old
   King Kamehameha / La Dorada (Symboli Kris S)
   

   Owner: U. Carrot Farm	Breeder: Northern Racing
   Trainer: Kazuo Fujisawa	Jockey: Christophe Lemaire
   5 Starts, 4 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 228,000,000	Career earnings: ¥ 322,770,000
   Principal race performances:	'16 Hopeful Stakes (G2, 2,000m) 1st

   
   
2. 2.Suave Richard (JPN), chestnut, colt, 3-year-old
   Heart's Cry / Pirramimma (Unbridled's Song)
   

   Owner: NICKS Co., Ltd.	Breeder: Northern Racing
   Trainer: Yasushi Shono	Jockey: Hirofumi Shii

   
   
3. 3.Admirable (JPN), bay, colt, 3-year-old
   Deep Impact / Scarlet (Symboli Kris S)
   

   Owner: Hideko Kondo	Breeder: Hideko Kondo
   Trainer: Hidetaka Otonashi	Jockey: Mirco Demuro

* Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby)(G1)

With the aim of establishing a systemized program that emulates the Triple Crown race held in Britain, and enhancing the quality of thoroughbreds in Japan, a 2,400-meter race for three-year-old thoroughbreds was established at the Tokyo Racecourse (then situated in Meguro ward) in 1932. While maintaining its status as one of the most popular JRA events with a record crowd of 196,517 in 1990, the race has evolved during its long history, opening its door to runners from National Association of Racing (NAR; local public racing) since 1995 and foreign-bred participants since 2001. In 2010, the race entered a new phase as JRA reached the final stage of its internationalization project, allowing foreign contestants in all its graded events. The winner's prize money, which had already exceeded 100 million yen in 1989, has now reached 200 million, making it the third richest race behind the Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m) and the Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500m).
Recent winners include Vodka (JPN, by Tanino Gimlet) who became the first filly in 64 years to claim the derby title in 2007 and Orfevre (JPN, by Stay Gold) who subsequently became the seventh Triple Crown winner in JRA history and won against older G1 winners in the year-end Arima Kinen to become the Horse of the Year of 2011. Top four finishers of the Satsuki Sho on April 16—Al Ain, Persian Knight, Danburite and Clincher—acquired their tickets to this race while grade-race winners Rey de Oro (fifth), Suave Richard (sixth), Win Bright (eighth), Cadenas (ninth) and America's Cup (18th) attempted to make revenge.
Contenders coming off the trial races were Admirable and Best Approach, winner and runner-up, respectively, of the Aoba Sho (G2, 2,400m) on April 29, and Daiwa Cagney, winner of the Principal Stakes (2,000m) on May 6. Other notable runners included Satono Arthur, runner-up of two graded races including the previous Mainichi Hai (G3, 1,800m) on March 25, and Jo Strictly who won the New Zealand Trophy (G2, 1,600m) on April 8 but was 12th in the NHK Mile Cup (G1, 1,600m) on May 7.
Duramente (JPN, by King Kamehameha) set the race record of 2:23.2 in 2015.