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Cafe Pharoah Claims Dirt Grade 1 Win in February Stakes

Race favorite and four-year-old Cafe Pharoah captured his first G1 victory in this year’s February Stakes. The bay colt debuted claiming his first two career starts and went on to win the Unicorn Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,600m) but failed to deliver in the following Japan Dirt Derby (dirt, 2,000m) where although sent off race favorite, he was beaten to seventh. Bouncing back and marking a win against older foes in the Sirius Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,900m) last autumn, he finished sixth in the other JRA-G1 dirt event, the Champions Cup (G1, dirt, 1,800m), as second favorite. While Danon Pharaoh, also sired by American Pharoah, captured the NAR’s Japan Dirt Derby last season, this is the first JRA-G1 race claimed by a foal of the legendary American Triple Crown winner. Since his latest JRA-G1 win in the 2019 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes with Salios, trainer Noriyuki Hori now boasts 13 JRA-G1 titles, while jockey Christophe Lemaire earned his 36th JRA-G1 victory, his first since last year’s Japan Cup with Almond Eye. The French jockey also celebrates a back-to-back February Stakes victory following his win with Mozu Ascot in last year’s version.

Absent of the fans and cheers, the first G1 event of the season was on its way on the backstretch with Air Almas, Helios and Wide Pharaoh fighting for the lead. As Helios slipped back in the early stages, Cafe Pharoah, breaking from stall three, stalked the two frontrunners while saving ground before smoothly angling out right beside them to enter the lane in third. From there on, the American Pharoah colt unleashed a powerful stretch drive stealing the lead by the furlong marker and held off the fast-closing Air Spinel by a 3/4-length margin.

“His condition was super, and I had confidence already at the paddock. We decided to use cheek pieces hoping for a more aggressive performance. His start was good, we were positioned well and he responded beautifully. The colt has such high potential. I had no doubt that he could land a G1 win if he gave his best. I’m happy that it all worked out today,” commented Christophe Lemaire after the race.

Ninth favorite Air Spinel was settled on the rails in mid-division and struggled to find room in early stretch but once angling out and finding a clear path 300 meters out, shot out with the fastest closing speed overtaking the tiring pace setter in the last half-furlong while threatening the winner for second.

Wonder Lider, sent off eighth favorite, took an economic route behind the winner up to the last turn and displayed a powerful stretch drive furiously chasing the runner-up to the line while holding off a strong challenge by Red le Zele for a 2-1/2-length third.

Other Horses:
4th: (16) Red le Zele—raced around 10th, showed tied 2nd fastest late drive, failed to threaten top finishers
5th: (1) Air Almas—pressed pace in 2nd, showed tenacity, weakened and outrun in last 100m
6th: (2) Inti—sat around 13th, struggled to find clear path, switched to outside, showed belated charge
7th: (15) Mutually—trailed in rear, angled out, passed tired rivals
8th: (13) Soliste Thunder—traveled in 12th, edged up after 3rd corner, accelerated until 200m pole
9th: (6) Arctos—sat around 5th outside winner, showed effort until 200m marker, weakened
10th: (12) Yamanin Imprime—settled around 7th, checked 300m out, showed brief effort
11th: (9) Sunrise Nova—was off a bit slow, trailed in rear, never fired at stretch
12th: (11) Smart Dandy—ran 3-wide in 9th, unable to reach contention
13th: (14) Auvergne—prominent early around 4th, outrun rounding final corner, faded
14th: (8) Wide Pharaoh—rallied for lead, ran out of steam after 400m pole
15th: (5) Success Energy—broke poorly, raced around 13th, no factor
16th: (4) Helios—traveled around 4th near winner, faded after final corner

THE 38TH FEBRUARY STAKES (G1)
4-year-olds & up, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), dirt, left-handed
Sunday, February 21, 2021        Tokyo Racecourse        11th Race         Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 216,000,000 (about US$ 2,058,000 <US$1=¥105>)
4-y-o & up: 57kg (about 126 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares,
1 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2017
Course Record: 1:33.8              Race Record: 1:34.0 [Moanin (USA, by Henny Hughes), 2016]
Safety factor: 16 runners     Going: Standard    Weather: Fine

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 13,288,942,400        Turnover for the Day: ¥ 22,972,279,600

Winner= 7 starts, 5 wins / Added money: ¥ 103,360,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 201,809,000

* February Stakes (G1)

Japanese horse racing, which is influenced by British racing, is held mainly on turf. However, dirt tracks that were popular in the U.S., quickly became widely used around the country since the Tokyo Racecourse implemented a new dirt track in 1960. While the mainstream of major JRA races remained over turf, the February Stakes (then called February Handicap), which was established in 1984 in conjunction with the new grading system, was one of just three graded dirt races at the time—the current number of graded dirt events is 15. The race was upgraded to G2 in 1994 and then to G1 in 1997, and stood as the highest-prized event until the Japan Cup Dirt (called the Champions Cup from 2014) took over in 2000. The race also joined the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series in 2016, enabling its winners to earn automatic starting position in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1, dirt, 2,000m).
Past winners include Wing Arrow (JPN, by Assatis; ’00), Agnes Digital (USA, by Crafty Prospector; ’02), Gold Allure (JPN, by Sunday Silence; ’03), Admire Don (JPN, by Timber Country; ’04), Kane Hekili (JPN, by Fuji Kiseki; ’06), Vermilion (JPN, by El Condor Pasa; ’08), Espoir City (JPN, by Gold Allure; ’10), Transcend (JPN, by Wild Rush; ’11), Copano Rickey (JPN, by Gold Allure; ’14&’15) and Gold Dream (JPN, by Gold Allure; ’17)—all ten are winners of multiple-G1 races as well as JRA Award winners. Last year’s victor Mozu Ascot (USA, by Frankel) retired from racing at the end of the season after finishing fifth in the Champions Cup (G1, dirt, 1,800m, Dec.6).
Held without any spectators from January, the season’s first JRA-G1 event included 2019 champion Inti who came off a disappointing 12th in the one of main prep races, the Tokai Stakes (G2, dirt, 1,800m, Jan.24), in which Auvergne won the race while notching his first graded title. In another prep, the Negishi Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,400m, Jan.31), Red le Zele also scored his first grade-race win and was followed by Wonder Lider in second with last year’s Mile Championship Nambu Hai (dirt, 1,600m) victor Arctos in fourth. Other key runners coming straight off their Champions Cup challenges were Cafe Pharoah (6th) and Sunrise Nova (12th) who finished third in last year’s February Stakes. The field also included Wide Pharaoh, winner of 2020 Kashiwa Kinen (dirt, 1,600m) and Soliste Thunder who recently marked a win in the Moji Stakes (dirt, 1,700m, Jan.17).