Copano Rickey ends career on high note with Tokyo Daishoten title

Copano Rickey

 

 

Third pick Copano Rickey went wire to wire and finished his career by winning the Grade 1 Tokyo Daishoten on Dec. 29 at Oi Racecourse. The Gold Allure-sired Copano Rickey won the race in 2:04.2, three lengths ahead of the late-charging Sound True, the 2015 champion of the year-ending 2,000 meter dirt race.

The fan’s top pick K T Brave kept pace with Copano Rickey throughout the trip, but lost momentum in the final stretch to finish 2 1/2 lengths behind Sound True for third. Apollo Kentucky, last year's winner, made a late charge to finish fourth, with London Town, winner of the Korea Cup, rounding out the first five. The top five finishers were all JRA-trained horses.

Since a shocking win of the 2014 February Stakes as the least favorite horse in a field of 16, Copano Rickey went on to win 10 more races before the Tokyo Daishoten, mainly in the mile to 2,000 meter range, at the top level – both in JRA and NAR racing. However, the connections aimed him for the JBC Sprint (1,200 meters) in November, in which he missed the start to finish second, leaving some doubts that he may be past his peak.

In the following Grade 1 Champions Cup, Copano Rickey hit the front in his usual style, hung on to finish third, and was one of the favorites heading into the Daishoten but was not the overwhelming pick. JRA jockey Hironobu Tanabe, who rode the horse in the 2014 February Stakes victory for his first Grade 1 title, knew which horse would be his rival and made sure Copano Rickey would end his brilliant career on a high note.

“I’m just relieved,” Tanabe said after the race. “K T Brave made an early charge for the lead and that was a bit unexpected, but my horse settled nicely and adjusted to the pace of the race. The latter half of the race unfolded just as I had imagined. This horse gave me my first Grade 1, as the least-favorite in the field, and left an impact on many fans’ hearts with his all-or-nothing style. I'm already looking forward to riding winners with his crops.”

Tokyo Daishoten (G1)
December 29, 2017, 3yo & up, Dirt, 2,000m, Post time: 16:30

Result & Race Replay (Japanese) 
http://www.nankankeiba.com/result/2017122920160410.do
*For Race Replay, please click “レースリプレイ”.

Click here for Detailed Result (English)

Source (comments): Tokyo City Keiba and Net Keiba

Please visit the following websites for more information.

Racing by Local Governments
https://japanracing.jp/en/about/local_racing.html

Oi Racecourse
https://japanracing.jp/en/racing/go_racing/local_racecourses/n11.html

Oi Racecourse (Tokyo City Keiba) 
http://www.tokyocitykeiba.com/ (Japanese)
http://www.tokyocitykeiba.com/en/ (English)

Tokyo Daishoten (G1)
http://www.tokyocitykeiba.com/special_page/daishoten_2017/

National Association of Racing (NAR)
http://www.keiba.go.jp/ (Japanese)
http://www.keiba.go.jp/about/english/english.html (English)