Aerolithe

Takanori Kikuzawa, trainer
“In the Queen Stakes, the lap times were a bit fast, but that was the pace she likes. She didn’t overdo herself and she ran solidly to the end. Her weight was up 18kg from her last start, but she is much taller than she was in the spring and she doesn’t look heavy at all. She had some time off and has been getting regular work. On Oct. 4, I worked her with another horse over quite some distance and she felt very on her toes and. It was a good piece of work. With that, we didn’t have to do too much this week. The extra distance does add some question marks, but she has speed and power, and if she’s able to run at her own pace, I think she can handle it. Whether she can run relaxed or not is something she has to work out herself.”

Black Onyx

Shizuya Kato, assistant trainer
“The Shion Stakes was her first start in a while, but she was ready for it. I think she took advantage of the draw and kept to an inside track with little loss of ground. I’m thinking her result was due to her coming back from time off. We kept her at the training center after that. She hadn’t lost condition from the race – in fact, she was a little heavy, so on Oct. 4, we gave her a good hard workout and that should have helped. She tried hard in the Oaks and I think, looking at last race, that 2,000 meters is better for her. She’s good going around, so I think the Kyoto inner course will suit her. When she raced at Hanshin, she did lose weight due to the stabling but the situation is different at Kyoto and it shouldn’t be a problem. The competition is stiff.”

Black's Beach

Katsuhiko Sumii, trainer
“She had a difficult trip in the Rose Stakes. It was a fast pace and she was forced to move. I had hoped she’d be able to have a trip where she could keep more in reserve. She’s gotten a lot of work since then. Last week in fast work, her head was a bit high and I’d wanted her to move it more so we pushed her even after passing the finish line. She’s ready to race, but this week again, I wanted her to learn to move her head more when running and I think her form was much better. The main difference between spring and now is that she has filled out. Mentally, she’s more relaxed too. She matures bit by bit but her improvement has been great. As for the distance, we’ll have to be a bit patient but she does have the power to lead. I think she’ll be able to secure a good position. I don’t think she’ll be affected much by rain. I think this filly still hasn’t shown us all she has. She has great ability and I’m hoping she’ll give it her best.”

Caribbean Gold

Futoshi Kojima, trainer
“She lost the Shion Stakes by just a little bit. Maybe she’d moved out just a bit too strongly. She came so close. We kept her at the training center after that. She wasn’t agitated at all and has handled all her work since, which is the most important thing. She has put on muscle over the summer and she’s much more confident. And she recovered well from her last two races. I had the jockey ride her last week to check how she felt and her responses in the final stages were good. She’s always had good racing sense and she has now learned to be patient. There’ll be no problem with the course. If she can handle the haul to the track OK, I think we can look forward to seeing her potential.”

Deirdre

Mitsuru Hashida, trainer
“In the spring, we lost some easy races due to traffic problems and to avoid that in the Shion Stakes, we took an outside track. It was the same in the race before that, the jockey rode her with confidence. In work last work, Christophe Lemaire rode her and we focused mainly on the finish. Lemaire said ‘She felt good.’ She’s looking more filled out now and is in good shape. In the pre-parade ring, she’s is raring to go, but normally she is very calm. She came out of the Oaks very well, so I raced her at Sapporo. One of her strong points is that she doesn’t lose much weight with a race. This race has been our main goal, so her last two races have been ones with four turns over 2,000 meters. She has a big stride and doesn’t like to take shorter strides, but if things go smoothly all should go well.”

Fan Dii Na

Tomokazu Takano, trainer
“We had to hurry a bit getting her ready for the Rose Stakes because the summer heat had us behind schedule. And so, including those workouts at the farm, the total number came up a bit short. I have to apologize for her not living up to the fans’ expectations last out but at least she didn’t fade too quickly in the stretch. I did feel obligated to race her here if I felt she’d improved. And she has definitely improved, but her workout last week ended up being too light. I believe 2,000 meters is within her range.”

Hello Unicorn

Ippo Sameshima, trainer
“We’d gotten her ready in a hurry for the Rose Stakes and I thought we’d made it but she didn’t run like she should have. I had considered sending her directly here without a prep, but she will have improved with that race. Last week, as we usually do, we worked her for half a mile on the woodchip course. Over the summer, she has filled out and looks good all around. She won the Wasurenagusa Sho, so 2,000 meters should not be a problem. This time, if her wind is good, she’ll do better. She still is difficult to settle, but if she has a good trip, her results should be better.”

Kawakita Enka

Tamio Hamada, trainer
“In the Rose Stakes, no one wanted to lead, so it was just natural that she would. And she just held on and made second. Looking at her time, I think she really tried hard. She has handled all the work she’s gotten since then and her appetite has stabilized. On Oct. 5, (jockey) Yuichi Kitamura rode her for fast work. The focus was on keeping her well in hand and he just pushed her some in the end. She looked good. He’s ridden her a number of times since her last race and I think he has a good grasp of her quirks. It’s her first time at the distance and with four turns. I think she’ll race from a forward position, either take the lead or second position, settle, and key will be how well she can find her own rhythm.”

Takeshi Okumura, trainer
“She has strength and talent, but her constitution isn’t the strongest. Still, when I think of how she made her debut race, I realize how strong she has become. She gives it everything she has and she’s exhausted after a race. So, I couldn’t set our sights on any one goal, and instead the focus has just been on getting her over a race and getting her ready for another. In her second start, she lost a shoe and her third start was up against older horses and males, but she won both. She’s been coming out of races in a little bit better shape each time and they haven’t been affecting her gait like they had been. She has amazing ability but the day will come when she will be beaten and this time the competition is a while different level. I think she has a little chance and I just hope it won’t be a poor race.”

Lys Gracieux

Takahide Ando, assistant trainer
“She was coming off a layoff for the Rose Stakes and her responses were a bit slower than usual. As for her training, in the spring we would start out in the round ring but now we usually train her on the hill course. She’s eating well and doesn’t seem to be worked up at all. She’s much calmer now. As we usually do, we pushed her pretty hard last week and (jockey) Yutaka Take said, ‘She’s ready. Light work next week will be enough.’ She needs time getting her engine going, so I think it’ll be better on the inside course if she goes right along with the flow. She tends to get pretty excited on raceday and how she is with the start right in front of the grandstand will be key. How well she can keep her cool is important.”

Wataru Kurihara, assistant trainer
“I thought she was going to win the Rose Stakes, but she didn’t have enough left. The jockey too said she had nothing in the tank for the last 100 meters. It was a tough race for her. Normally, she hangs to the left but this time she went right. She gave it her all. We raced her twice in the hot summer months so we went fairly easy last week but we were able to do what we wanted. She’s maintained her condition and she has matured. She’s in good shape. She can settle well so she can handle the distance. She has a good kick but if the ground is a bit soft, I’ll think she’ll do even better. This being a Grade 1 race I don’t know what the pace will be like, but I’m hoping she can go with the flow on an inner track.”

Mirissa

Sei Ishizaka, trainer
“She raced from a poor position in the Rose Stakes and it was a tough race for her with the trip she got. Still, she ran well. I still feel good about her and the race she ran. She’s gotten the work she needs. On Oct. 4 she worked on the uphill course and put in a solid run. Like last race, she’s in good shape. She’s still doing well even as the conditions get tougher for her and that’s a very good thing. Last race, the results she got were by no means because she had an easy trip. I think she’ll go to the gate in good shape.”

Mozu Katchan

Ippo Sameshima, trainer
“In the Rose Stakes, the jockey had wanted to bring her outside in the final turn but things didn’t work out and she lost ground on the inside and couldn’t make it up. I think if she’d been able to move out smoothly, the results would have been different. She had had a lot of work and was in very good condition and, although she was up 14kg, she has matured and she may have been a touch heavy coming off the layoff. I think that was the difference between her and those horses who had one race over the summer. Last week she clocked 56.3 seconds on the uphill course and that was a little slower than I wanted but there are no problems with her movement and her overall condition. Before the last race, she was quite agitated and we’ll be trying to keep her calmer this time. She will definitely show improvement from her last race.”

Port Vendres

Hiroyuki Uehara, trainer
“It may have been because it was the jockey’s first time up, but in the Shion Stakes, she raced from further back and then moved up well in the stretch splitting the ranks. We reaped a lot and learned that she can run a strong, confident race. After that we gave her a bit of time off and she returned to Miho Training Center refreshed. Since then all has gone as planned. On Oct. 5 we gave her a rather long workout and she looked good. With one more bit of fast work on race week, she should be able to maintain her condition. The race is over the inside course and she’s good at getting up front and holding her ground gutsily, so ideally she’d be out in front or close to it. The jockey is up for the second time and I think he’s got a good handle on her.”

Rabbit Run

Katsuhiko Sumii, trainer
“The lineup was strong in the Rose Stakes and this filly had just moved from dirt to turf, so I was just looking to see how well she could do. When I saw the race I was thinking, ‘Wow, she is this good?!’ I hadn’t expected her to do so well and was quite surprised. Now she has had one start this autumn and last week for fast work, she worked in tandem with Salonika. I wanted to check that she was on her toes. I think she looked good. Her head was a bit high and I wanted to see how patient she could be with another horse coming up behind her. She did well. On Oct. 9 her work up the hill was faster than I expected. She looked good, but the ground was good too. This week I worked her solo and it was a good workout. She listens to the rider well and moves well. From her pedigree she is a dirt horse and that’s why I started her on dirt and then had planned on aiming her at a 1,400-meter dirt race for foreign-breds but there were a lot of nominations so I moved her to turf. That was a stroke of good luck. She has great speed, light on her feet, and I think she has a lot of talent. She has matured just at the right time and gotten much stronger from this fall. She has always raced from behind and, although it’s a tighter track the pace should be faster, so I think she’ll settle well. We won’t know how she’ll fare with a softer track until we try it, but I think she’ll do well.”

Reine Minoru

Hitoshi Nakai, assistant trainer
“I’d thought she’d had ample work before the Rose Stakes and I thought she’d do fine, but after the race she was out of breath. It was the first time she’d had that long a break between races and coming back after such a long time off must have had an effect. She was well in hand during the race, running nicely balanced, and I had thought she would quicken in the straight. She has improved quite a bit since then and uses her body better too. Of course, her breathing is better and I think she’ll tone up even more. Mentally, she also seems to be on her game. 2,000 meters will be fine. As long as she’s in good condition, she’ll give it a solid run.”

Hitoshi Nakamura, trainer
“After Kokura we gave her some time off, then brought her back to the training center with this race as our target. Things have gone according to plan. On Oct. 5 we trained her on the woodchip flat course over distance. She set off keen and her lap times were fast, and the final laps slow, but I think the work will stand her well. She was getting work while she was away from the training center, so she didn’t get soft. She’s looking as good as she did when she won her last two races straight. She is big, and dirt probably is better for her. But her sire is Kurofune, which makes a difference. It being a Grade 1 race, I can’t make any claims, but I’m eager to see how well she can do with the shape she’s in.”

Vous Etes Jolie

Teruhiko Saruhashi, assistant trainer
“In the Port Island Stakes last out, she was coming off a layoff and couldn’t quicken enough in the final stages. It was, after all, some six months since her last race. But I think the extra 16kg she’s put on was a good thing. She didn’t go off her feed after the race, but there’s little time between races so we went easy on her. I’m not saying she’s not ready yet, but she does have room for improvement. As for the distance, we’ve never raced over 2,000 meters, so it is an unknown. She usually runs well-balanced. The question is if she’ll have the wind for it.”