2019 News

December 1, 2019

RSS


Unbeaten Three-Year-Old Chrysoberyl Claims This Year's Champions Cup with Record Time
Champions Cup (G1)

Champions Cup (G1)

Second pick Chrysoberyl beat strong G1 dirt winners with race record time of 1:48.5 and claimed this year’s Champions Cup with an unbeaten six-race winning streak. He is the fifth three-year-old to claim the title following Le Vent Se Leve last year. Half brother to two-time G1 winner Marialite, Chrysoberyl broke his maiden in his debut start in September last year and was sidelined for six months due to a leg problem. The Gold Allure colt won his comeback start in March this year then claimed three major NAR races including the Hyogo Championship (dirt, 1,870m) in May, the Japan Dirt Derby (dirt, 2000m) in July and the Nippon TV Hai (dirt, 1,800m) in September, before making his first JRA G1 challenge. This win gave trainer Hidetaka Otonashi his 12th JRA-G1 victory following his Mile Championship title with Indy Champ last month and jockey Yuga Kawada’s 13th JRA-G1 win following last year’s Sprinters Stakes victory with Fine Needle.

Chrysoberyl broke sharply from stall five and took an economic trip behind frontrunner Inti in third. The Gold Allure colt, still hugging the rails at the heal of Inti entering the lane, waited patiently and steered slightly to the outside for a clear path around the 200-meter pole where he met the strong challenge of race favorite Gold Dream. As the two sons of Gold Allure dueled fiercely along the lane, Chrysoberyl was the first to nail the frontrunner 100 meters out and accelerated further to cross the wire a neck in front for his title.

“We were able to settle in good position behind Inti and the colt was able to race with good rhythm. Though it was difficult to advance, having to race between Inti and Gold Dream at the stretch, we were able to pull away and win the rally at the end. He is still unbeaten and I’m confident that he will continue to develop and become even stronger,” commented jockey Yuga Kawada.

Gold Dream traveled two wide behind Chrysoberyl in fifth and angled out as the field stretched wide entering the homestretch. The 2017 Champions Cup winner produced a powerful burst of speed in the lane, dueled strongly with the eventual winner in the last 200 meters but was a neck short in second. Third pick Inti took the front as usual and, though turning over the lead in the last 100 meters, held on well until the wire to secure third place.

Other Horses:
4th: (3) Chuwa Wizard—hugged rails behind winner, met traffic and switched to outside 200m out, showed effort but failed to threaten top finishers
5th: (12) King’s Guard—raced 2nd from rear, accelerated between horses, timed fastest over last 3 furlongs
6th: (6) Omega Perfume—traveled around 8th, found little room at early stretch, switched to outside then quickened
7th: (16) Vengeance—settled 3rd from rear, turned wide, passed tired rivals
8th: (1) Time Flyer—saved ground around 10th, checked 300m out, accelerated thereafter
9th: (8) Westerlund—positioned around 10th early, gradually advanced, showed brief effort
10th: (15) London Town—sat forwardly from wide stall, ran gamely until 200m out, weakened
11th: (7) Wonder Lider—settled around 13th, angled out, showed effort but never a threat
12th: (2) Mozu Attraction—trailed in rear, circled wide, showed belated charge
13th: (10) Mitsuba—took economic trip around 12th, even paced at stretch
14th: (13) Wide Pharaoh—raced 4-wide around 9th, checked 200m out, lost momentum
15th: (9) Satono Titan—traveled 3-wide around 7th, outrun in last 400m
16th: (14) T O Energy—tracked leader in 2nd, faded after turning final corner


THE 20TH CHAMPIONS CUP (G1) – Japan Autumn International -
3-year-olds & up, 1,800 meters (about 9 furlongs), dirt, left-handed
Sunday, December 1, 2019     Chukyo Racecourse         11th Race          Post Time: 15:30
Total prize money: ¥ 216,000,000 (about US$ 1,878,000 <US$1=¥115>)
3-y-o: 55 kg (about 121 lbs), 4-y-o & up: 57 kg (about 126 lbs)
2 kg allowance for Fillies & Mares, 2kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2016
Safety factor: 16 runners

 

FP BK PP Horse Sex
Age
Wgt
(kg)
Sire
Dam
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Breeder
Margin
(L3F)
Odds
(Fav)
1 3 5 Chrysoberyl
(JPN)
C3 55.0 Gold Allure
Chrysoprase
Y. Kawada
H. Otonashi
U. Carrot Farm
Northern Farm
1:48.5
(35.4)
4.4
(2)
2 6 11 Gold Dream
(JPN)
H6 57.0 Gold Allure
Mon Vert
C. Lemaire
O. Hirata
Katsumi Yoshida
Northern Farm
Neck
(35.4)
3.5
(1)
3 2 4 Inti
(JPN)
H5 57.0 Came Home
Kitty
Y. Take
K. Nonaka
Shigeo Takeda
Shigeo Takeda
1-1/4
(35.9)
4.7
(3)
4 2 3 Chuwa Wizard
(JPN)
C4 57.0 King Kamehameha
Chuwa Blossom
Y. Fukunaga
R. Okubo
Shinobu Nakanishi
Northern Racing
1/2
(35.5)
6.7
(5)
5 6 12 King’s Guard
(JPN)
H8 57.0 Sinister Minister
Kings Berry
S. Akiyama
R. Terashima
Nisshin B.
Nisshin Farm
1-3/4
(35.0)
181.9
(13)
6 3 6 Omega Perfume
(JPN)
C4 57.0 Swept Overboard
Omega Fragrance
L. Dettori
S. Yasuda
Reiko Hara
Shadai Farm
3/4
(35.9)
6.1
(4)
7 8 16 Vengeance
(JPN)
H6 57.0 Casino Drive
Special Queen
H. Miyuki
H. Oneda
Junzo Miyakawa
Junzo Miyakawa
Head
(35.6)
47.8
(10)
8 1 1 Time Flyer
(JPN)
C4 57.0 Heart’s Cry
Time Traveling
O. Murphy
K. Matsuda
Sunday Racing Co., Ltd.
Oiwake Farm
Head
(35.6)
30.0
(8)
9 4 8 Westerlund
(JPN)
G7 57.0 Neo Universe
Uanme
C. Soumillon
S. Sasaki
Sunday Racing Co., Ltd.
Northern Racing
Nose
(35.9)
20.4
(6)
10 8 15 London Town
(JPN)
H6 57.0 Kane Hekili
Fairy Banyan
Y. Iwata
K. Makita
Toru Makiura
Yasushi Tsumura
1/2
(36.4)
275.0
(14)
11 4 7 Wonder Lider
(JPN)
H6 57.0 Statue of Liberty
Astrea Peace
N. Yokoyama
S. Yasuda
Yoshinari Yamamoto
Oshima Bokujo
Neck
(35.5)
59.4
(11)
12 1 2 Mozu Attraction
(JPN)
H5 57.0 Jungle Pocket
A Shin la Courrier
K. Fujioka
T. Matsushita
Capital System Co., Ltd.
KK Eishindo
3
(35.4)
102.7
(12)
13 5 10 Mitsuba
(JPN)
H7 57.0 Kane Hekili
Saint Christmas
R. Wada
T. Kayo
K. Kyoei
Tabata Farm
2-1/2
(36.4)
332.9
(15)
14 7 13 Wide Pharaoh
(JPN)
C3 55.0 Henny Hughes
Wide Sapphire
M. Demuro
K. Sumii
Masanobu Habata
Masanobu Habata
Neck
(37.2)
45.9
(9)
15 5 9 Satono Titan
(JPN)
H6 57.0 Symboli Kris S
Machikanechikoyore
R. Moore
N. Hori
Haruki Satomi
Northern Racing
1-1/2
(37.3)
20.5
(7)
16 7 14
B
T O Energy
(JPN)
C4 57.0 Kane Hekili
Silky Craft
H. Kawasu
T. Miya
Tomoya Ozasa
Yoshitake Abe
8
(38.9)
375.8
(16)
FP=Final Position / BK=Bracket Number / PP=Post Position / B=Blinker / Wgt=Weight / L3F=Time of Last 3 Furlongs (600m)
Note1: No foreign contenders
Note2: Figures quoted under Odds are Win Odds, which show the amount of money you get back per single unit (100yen), and Fav indicates the order of favorites.

WINNING TIME: 1:48.5 GOING: Standard WEATHER: Fine
TURNOVER FOR THE RACE ALONE: ¥ 15,510,468,800
TURNOVER FOR THE DAY: ¥ 20,899,988,100 ATTENDANCE: 32,064

PAY-OFF (for ¥100)
WIN No.5 ¥ 440 BRACKET QUINELLA 3-6 ¥ 490 QUINELLA 5-11 ¥ 960
PLACE No.5 ¥ 170 QUINELLA PLACE 5-11 ¥ 380 EXACTA 5-11 ¥ 1,820
No.11 ¥ 130 4-5 ¥ 670 TRIO 4-5-11 ¥ 1,900
No.4 ¥ 190 4-11 ¥ 410 TRIFECTA 5-11-4 ¥ 8,980
  1. 1.Chrysoberyl (JPN), bay, colt, 3-year-olds
    Gold Allure / Chrysoprase (El Condor Pasa)
    Owner: U. Carrot Farm Breeder: Northern Farm
    Trainer: Hidetaka Otonashi Jockey: Yuga Kawada
    6 Starts, 6 Wins
    Added money: ¥ 103,402,000 Career earnings: ¥ 224,602,000

  2. 2.Gold Dream (JPN), bay, horse, 6-year-olds
    Gold Allure / Mon Vert (French Deputy)
    Owner: Katsumi Yoshida Breeder: Northern Farm
    Trainer: Osamu Hirata Jockey: Christophe Lemaire

  3. 3.Inti (JPN), chestnut, horse, 5-year-olds
    Came Home / Kitty (Northern Afleet)
    Owner: Shigeo Takeda Breeder: Shigeo Takeda
    Trainer: Kenji Nonaka Jockey: Yutaka Take
Fractional time (sec./furlong): 12.8 - 11.3 - 12.5 - 12.1 - 12.1 - 12.0 - 12.0 - 11.6 - 12.1
Last 4 furlongs: 47.7          Last 3 furlongs: 35.7

Positions at each corner: 1st corner 4,14,5(11,15)(3,6,9)13(1,8)10(7,16)-12,2
2nd corner 4,14(5,15)11,3(6,9)(1,8,13)10(7,16)12-2
3rd corner 4(14,15)(5,11,13)9(3,6,8)(1,16)(10,7)12-2
4th corner 4(14,15)(5,11,13)(3,6,9,8)(1,16)(10,7)12,2

Note1: Underlined bold number indicates the winning horse.
Note2: Horse numbers are indicated in the order of their positions at each corner, with the first position listed first. Two or more horses inside the same parentheses indicate that they were positioned side by side. Hyphens between the horse numbers indicate that there is distance between the former and the latter. The asterisk indicates a slight lead.

 

* Champions Cup (G1)

Formerly run under the name Japan Cup Dirt until 2013, the Champions Cup takes place at Chukyo Racecourse which is situated in Chubu region between Tokyo and Osaka. The Japan Cup Dirt, which began as the dirt version of the Japan Cup in 2000 at Tokyo Racecourse held over the 2,100-meter left-handed course until 2007, was temporarily shifted to Nakayama Racecourse over the 1,800-meter right-handed course in 2002, then held at Hanshin Racecourse, also a right-handed track and over 1,800 meters, between 2008 and 2013. Fourteen of the past 19 winners of the Champions Cup, which is one of JRA’s two dirt G1 races along with the February Stakes (G1, dirt, 1,600m), have won the season’s JRA Award for Best Dirt Horse.
Lord Sterling (USA, by Black Tie Affair), who finished third in the inaugural year, was one of the first foreign contenders, while Fleetstreet Dancer (USA, by Smart Strike) became the first foreign winner in 2003. In the past, 29 runners from not only North America but also from France, Germany, Great Britain and Hong Kong have participated in the race including 2018 Stephen Foster Handicap (G1, dirt, 1,800m) winner Pavel (USA, by Creative Cause) from the U.S. who finished 15th last year. This year’s lineup included Chrysoberyl, unbeaten winner of this year’s Japan Dirt Derby (dirt, 2,000m), who came off his fifth straight victory in the Nippon TV Hai (dirt, 1,800m). Coming off the Mile Championship Nambu Hai (dirt, 1,600m; Oct.14) were 2017 Best Dirt Horse Gold Dream (3rd), two-time Korea Cup (dirt, 1,800m) winner London Town (5th) and this year’s Kawasaki Kinen (dirt, 2,100m) victor Mitsuba (6th). Vengeance came off his first graded win in the Miyako Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,800m; Nov.3) followed by King’s Guard and last year’s Champions Cup runner-up Westerlund in second and third, respectively, while February Stakes champion Inti was a disappointing 15th. From the JBC Classic (dirt, 2,000m; Nov.4) were winner Chuwa Wizard and 2018 Tokyo Daishoten (G1, dirt, 2,000m) victor Omega Perfume who was a nose second. The field also included the top two finishers of the Musashino Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,600m; Nov.9)—winner Wonder Lider and runner-up, 2017 Hopeful Stakes (G1, 2,000m) winner Time Flyer—and the March Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,800m) victor Satono Titan who came off a win in the Brazil Cup (dirt, 2,100m; Oct.20).

Champions Cup (G1) related contents