All for Love

Teruhiko Sarubashi, assistant trainer
“In the Wasurenagusa Sho, they were moving up on her but she’d gotten to the front early and was going for the win. It was very close but she got it and that’s what counts. We kept her at the training center after that and have taken care not to get her tensed up. Things have gone well. Last week, she weighed in at 450kg so she’s put some of the weight back on and there are no worries about her eating. In work she can be a bit too keen but she’s not bad when she races. She settles more in a race so she should be able to handle the distance. She has a big stride so this course should suit her. We’ll see how well she can do up against strong Grade 1 horses.”

Almond Eye

Christophe Lemaire, jockey
“Her workout this week was very good and she looks to be in good condition. She was relaxed and her responses were good. And there were no problems with her movement or breathing. All looks OK. She was a bit slow going around the second turn, so I had her quicken a bit after the finish line as well. I have more confidence in my Oaks ride this year than I did last. I had confidence in Soul Stirring last year but she had lost the Oka Sho and the distance was a concern. This time I have no worry about the distance. Almond Eye won the Oka Sho and I think she’s tops. The distance is fine. She’s a very easy horse to ride in a race. She’s relaxed and can run from any position. She really is nearly perfect. I’m likely to race about midfield. Her start is usually not the fastest so we usually end up further back and gradually pick up the pace, but she has good late speed. Even if she’s a bit slow at the break, it’s not a problem. She has great acceleration and a sharp kick. She changes leads in the stretch and still keeps accelerating, which is rare over the last 300 meters. She knows her work and is a very strong racehorse. Sunday is a special day for me. It’s my birthday and I’m hoping for a big present.”

Cantabile

 Kazuya Maekawa, assistant trainer
“She was only a neck ahead of the runner-up in the Flower Cup, but I was watching the race, my impression was that she was going to win by much more. She showed her excellent acceleration and her sense of knowing just when to make a move. We passed on the Oka Sho because the owner hadn’t liked the way she’d lost weight when she went to Nakayama. He said he wanted us to concentrate solely on the Oaks. At that point, we gave her some time off and things have gone well since she got back. She worked in tandem on the flat last week, ran solidly in the later stages and her action and breathing were good. I think she’ll be in about the same shape she was for her last race. It’ll be her first time over 2,400 meters but there doesn’t seem to be any need for concern about whether she can settle well or not. I’m expecting a good race.”

Lily Noble

Yuga Kawada, jockey
“On Wednesday I was instructed to move out from the second turn and to urge her on in the final stage. She tenses up easily and in a race that means she can move up too quickly. She settles enough not to cause problems but this time it’s 2,400 meters, so I wanted to see how she was feeling. She’s more relaxed now and her action is better, better than it was for the Oka Sho. In that race the draw made it difficult to travel on the outside but she still settled well and ran well in the stretch. The distance between her and Lucky Lilac was smaller than in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies. She ran a good race and I think if the draw had been different she may have been able to gain on Lucky Lilac. The pace of the Oka Sho was much slower than the Tulip Sho but she was still able to stay patient. There was absolutely no worry about her being keen at the mile and as soon as it was over the talk was to take her to the Oaks. To be honest I don’t think the extra distance is particularly good for her. Just because she is doing so well at 1,600m, doesn’t mean she’s suited to 2,400 meters. Rain is a worry. I don’t think it would help at all but it wouldn’t be a huge problem either.”

Lucky Lilac

Mikio Matsunaga, trainer
“She started smartly in the Oka Sho and traveled from a good position. And when the jockey moved her out she ran well. I don’t think she was flagging or holding back at all. Rather than focus on the losing margin, let’s just say the winner was strong. She is much more relaxed now. We had her at Northern Farm for about 10 days and she came back in good shape. I don’t see any difference from before the Oka Sho. She’s running well and has gotten a lot of training over distance. I worked her on the woodchip flat this week, but not for any special reason. The race is 2,400 meters and I didn’t see any point in working her at speed over short distances. Last week, she did clock well over a longer distance and this week I only focused on the finish. Her time was the usual, and I think her movement was good. We usually work her behind another horse to teach her to be patient and she is. I am told she’s gotten much easier to ride. She has won racing to the left at Niigata so I’m not concerned about Tokyo, and the extra distance will be a plus. She ran in the Artemis Stakes on a yielding track and didn’t seem to mind it. She’s in good shape and I have my hopes up.”

Mau Lea

Takahisa Tezuka, trainer
“After the Tulip Sho, she’d stayed at the training center and we were able to get her ready as planned. She was in good shape for the Oka Sho, but the extra ground she had to cover from the wide draw had its repercussions. Because her start wasn’t the best, she wasn’t able to get the position I thought she would and she used up what she had chasing the others. The top two finishers were strong, but I do think that if she’d had a more inside gate, the margin would have been less. She stayed at Ritto a while after that because I had Young Man Power running in the Milers Cup. After returning to Miho, her appetite wasn’t the best but she’s coming along as planned. Considering that the going was bad for her workout on May 9, I’d say she moved well enough. She hasn’t shown any big improvement up to now, but I do think the extra distance will work in her favor.”

Ohana

Kazutomo Mori, assistant trainer
“In the Flora Stakes, she was traveling well in a good position but when the jockey got after her, she hung in to the left and didn’t accelerate at all. We don’t know exactly what went wrong but it’s clear that she couldn’t access her power. She came out of the race well and was back in pre-race shape soon after. If I were to say anything, I’d say I think she needs to put on more weight but she has maintained the condition she had. The reason for her loss last race was not the distance. It may have been a psychological thing. Her sister Hanalei Moon was also like this. We’re doing our best to try to work with this.”

Koji Maki, trainer
“She took on a graded-stakes race just after breaking her maiden and put in a solid run. Until now, she had handled races of 1,800 meters well thanks to her ability but she has always been suited to more distance. And the Flora Stakes was good because it was her second race at 2,000 meters following her first win. After a race she used to lose weight but this last time she stayed on her feed and was back up to 430kg last week. She hasn’t lost condition and is nicely filled out. I had (jockey) Hiroshi Kitamura ride her in work on May 9 and he said, ‘She’s a very honest horse and very easy to control.’ He seems to have gotten a good reading on her. From her pedigree she is suited to distance. She has good racing sense and a strong presence, so the extra distance will be a plus. A lot of horses follow the top competitors but her ability to run close to the pace is a strong point.”

Kazuya Maekawa, assistant trainer
“Two races ago, we held her back in second position and she was raring to go. She hung in and was difficult in other ways. So, for her to have raced as she did in the Sweetpea Stakes last out was a very big thing. With each of her races, she has learned more about racing. Her weight was down 12kg last race but she didn’t give the impression that she was too thin. Normally, she eats too much. Her work has gone well and I don’t think there are any problems. Last week, we breezed her up the hill and her responses were good. It’s 2,400 meters this time and key will be how well she settles.”

Nobuyuki Tashiro, assistant trainer
“It probably would have been good if she’d kept a bit more in reserve in the Oka Sho, but she did travel in a good position and wasn’t that far behind the top finishers. She put in a solid run. We gave her time off and it looks like she came back refreshed. She had a long workout last week and clocked well. We didn’t push her that hard but she did finish in the lead. She does well without that much urging and I think she’ll be ready with just a bit of fine-tuning. The distance is suddenly getting a lot longer, but she’s not that keen. If you put her behind a horse it makes things easy, so I don’t think she won’t be able to handle it. The going is not a concern, but key will be if she can keep something for the final push.”

Tomohito Ozeki, trainer
“In her second start, she had to battle her way through the others and it was a difficult race, so for her to have gotten such good results was very good. I think it was a strong win. I initially had aimed her for the Flora Stakes but then thought I’d be careful and focus solely on this race. On May 9, I thought I’d have her learn something from a Grade 1 horse and worked her with Red Falx. Keita Tosaki got a good handle on her and that afternoon she ate heartily. She’s getting stronger bit by bit. She got good results at 2,000 meters and 2,200 meters and she’s an easy horse to ride, so I think 2,400 meters with other fillies is within her repertoire.”

Satono Walkure

Katsuhiko Sumii, trainer
“She was a bit slow out of the gate in the Flora Stakes and, as a result, traveled from behind. I thought she could run at speed at length but I didn’t think she could do as well as she did. Her turn of foot is much improved. We gave her light work for about a week after that race and she was back eating normally in no time. She’s ready so now it’s about being careful not to let her get too tense and I want to keep her eating well and have her fill out some more. On Wednesday, I’d wanted her to clock 55-56 seconds up the hill but she was actually 1-2 seconds slower than that. But the ground was pretty torn up so I think it was still a workout that served its purpose. I think she’ll be fine over the distance. I’d like to see her weight be a bit up on raceday. She hasn’t competed with those from the Oka Sho so there’s no way of knowing how she’ll measure up, but I do know that she’s going up against them in good shape.”

Sayakachan

Hidetaka Tadokoro, trainer
“In the Sweetpea Stakes, she looked like she was going to be keen but she carried herself well and was able to run her race. I could say it would have been better if she’d run on the better ground in the straight, but still, it wasn’t that bad of a race and she did try hard. She’s been raced regularly, she’s eating well and I don’t see any signs of fatigue. She’s put on about 10kg from her last start. She has raced over 2,000 meters, so I’m not that worried about the distance. The pace will be important though and it’ll be good if she can take the lead and run at her own pace.”

Sister Flag

Eiko Umeuchi, assistant trainer
“In the Yaguruma Sho, just when she wanted to pick up the pace, the eventual runner-up took the place she wanted. But she ran balanced and I don’t think it was a bad race. She worked up the hill on May 9 and things went as planned. She’s moving better than she was and her last race has brought out the muscle. She can handle the haul to the track and she’s relaxed even at the track. The last time she lost at Tokyo was over the mile. This time it’s a distance she has experience at and I think she’ll do well even in a Grade 1.”

Kiyoshi Tani, trainer
“The ground was loose in the Wasurenagusa Sho and in places she seemed to shrink back and lose ground. But last out, in the Yaguruma Sho, she moved out smoothly from second position and I’d have to say that she had a bit too much condition two starts ago. She’d lost weight over the two trips to Kokura and I think she put too much weight on too quickly afterward. Her best is most likely around 460kg. There was only two full weeks between races, so the plan was to work her on the weekend and then just focus on the finish this week. She went to Kokura twice over a short time, so there’s no worry about the trip to the track and I think she can handle the distance, but in her current stage of development I think there’s still quite a difference between her and the top-class competitors. It’ll help her if the horses who only know the mile have some difficulty with this distance.”

Tosen Bless

Yukihiro Kato, trainer
“In the past few starts we have had her run in with the pack and have bene teaching her to be patient. And, it has helped. Last start she was surrounded by others, so unlike the winner, the jockey couldn’t move her out in the stretch as quickly. She’s needs time getting her engine revved, but she quickened nicely over the last furlong. She’s calmer, doesn’t get as worked up as she used to. She’s stronger too and I think she’s improving quickly. (Jockey) Yoshitomi Shibata rode her on May 9 and worked her at distance over the flat woodchip course. She’s in good shape. We’ve taught her a lot and I think that with what she’s learned she’ll be able to handle 2,400 meters.”

Takashi Suzuki, trainer
“She was checked at the first turn in the Flora Stakes and lost momentum there. She gave it her all until the finish and, if things had gone smoother, she’d likely have done better. She worked up the hill course on May 9, but because the ground was bad I only had the rider focus on the finish. It’s the third long haul to the track in a row, so I kept work light. She has stamina and her bloodline indicates distance shouldn’t be a problem. She has matured mentally and I think she will continue to improve. For now I’m looking forward to seeing what she can do.”

Masanori Masui, assistant trainer
“She has good late speed and, in her last start, she was able to move up slowly and go all out in the final stage, which is the style that suits her. Two starts ago in the stretch, she leaned in, but last race she moved out and ran straight. It wasn’t a bad race by any means. She has improved with each race and she has good stamina. The competition is stiff but the distance is a plus.”