Aguri

Keiichiro Yasuda, assistant trainer
“In the finish of the Hankyu Hai, the others started gaining on him. He was back after time off and still soft in places and he was tiring out. However, seeing that he ran his own race really makes me think highly of him. He was able to run all out in that race and he will be stronger next time. Even with a relatively short time between races, things have gone smoothly. With the temperatures rising, the sheen has come up on his coat and his muscle tone is looking good. The jockey (Kazuo Yokoyama) rode last Thursday and gave him a solid workout and later said the horse was totally different from the race before. This week we were careful to not get the horse too switched on. He is on a four-way winning streak. If he can hold back enough to keep something in reserve, I think he’ll do well.”

Buon Voyage

Tomoyuki Umeda, trainer
“She hasn’t gotten good results in her last two races, but her last start was the first 1,400 meters for her in quite a while. She gets worked up and tense very easily, so I gave her a bit of time off at the farm with the hopes that a change in scenery would help calm her down. With a temperament like hers, she gets race-ready very quickly. Jockey Haruhiko Kawasu has been riding her trackwork and she was looking good this week. Of course, the competition is strong and I don’t think she’ll be popular, but three races ago she did win as the race 16th pick. You never know what will happen in a race, but you’ll have no chance at all unless you give it a try.”

Daddy’s Vivid

Teruhiko Chida, trainer
“He was lean and mean for the Hankyu Hai and had improved as I’d expected he would. He raced to his fullest and just missed the win by a neck. Jockey Shinichiro Akiyama rode work last week and I think he got a good reading on the horse. I think he’s looking quite good now. He is able to do well at 1,200 meters, but there are a lot of specialists over the distance in this lineup. Earlier, he was raring to go but now you almost have to prod him to go, so I don’t know how that will pan out. He travels well and he’s especially good racing to the left. He has sharpened up from his last race and I think he’ll be able to do well if he goes to the gate in the shape he’s in now.”

Ryo Shimizu, assistant trainer
“The jockey gave him a really good ride in the Ocean Stakes and his clean break was definitely a big factor in him making second place. Being kept waiting with an inside gate also seems to calm him and help him get better results. Thankfully, he came out of the race well. Though it won’t be an easy rotation with only two full weeks between races, we have raced him before in short races with little time in between and it doesn’t seem to be a problem. It’s his first Grade 1 and the competition will be keener. If he can break as he did last time, I think he’ll be able to travel close to the front. I’m hoping he’ll show us some good racing.”

First Force

Yusuke Kawamata, assistant trainer
“He just missed the win by a head in the Silk Road Stakes. In the race before that, he traveled near the back and quickened in the final stage and I think that helped him in the Silk Road Stakes. He ran well and I think he really gave it his all. Last week, jockey Ryoya Kozaki rode him up the hill course for fast work and it was a good workout. His times are good if he puts his mind. The jockey also said the horse didn’t feel heavy on his feet. He is in good shape. He was second in last year’s Centaur Stakes, so Chukyo seems to suit him. He is a powerful mover so the ground in the last week of the meet shouldn’t pose a problem. Last year, he finished ninth but he was only 0.3 seconds behind the winner. I’d like to see him get better results than he did last year.”

Grenadier Guards

Taku Fukunaga, assistant trainer
“In the Hankyu Hai, he went wide going around the bend and wasn’t able to give it his best. This has happened in trackwork before when he was a bit too hyped up, but we haven’t seen it in a while. I think he’s just showing some of his difficult temperament. We kept him at the training center after that and he’s been on his toes. Last week on the 16th, he worked on the woodchip flat course and clocked 82.2 seconds over the six furlongs, with a final furlong in 11 seconds flat. There’s no problem with him physically and everything has gone smoothly. He finished 12th here last year, but had drawn the far outside gate and he didn’t lose by as much as his finishing order would suggest. He was a bit tense under way and, that considered, I’d say he seems suited to 1,200 meters. Depending on the draw and the way the race unfolds, he should be able to do better.”

Kir Lord

Yasuhito Tamura, trainer
“A lost shoe in the Silk Road Stakes was definitely a factor in his 12th-place finish. He was floundering at the start and finish. The race was not at all representative of what he can do. He went to the farm after that for a bit and returned to the training center on March 3. Last week, he was leaning in slightly when running to the right, but he does really well working with another horse and has gotten ample work. He’s an old hand, so he knows what’s going to be asked of him and he’ll have switched on now. Everything has gone according to plan. He’s not good in hot weather, but the temperature about now is just right. He’s looking fine and with his good results last year (third), I have my hopes up.”

Lotus Land

Yasuyuki Tsujino, trainer
“In the Kyoto Himba Stakes last out, she had drawn the far outside gate, so we knew everything needed to come down to the final stage. She is better in the stretch than we’d expected. She reached down and showed us something new and I think this will open up new possibilities for her. I kept her at the training center after the race and all have gone smoothly. On Wednesday last week, she worked over the course with the jockey (Yasunari Iwata) pushing her just enough to get her on her game. She has improved with a race behind her. She felt much better this time compared to her work before her previous race. Her balance and responses have improved. She should be even sharper after her work up the hill this week. She ran a good race here last year to finish second. The weather, track condition and draw all came together in her favor. I’m hoping the same happens this year too.”

Meikei Yell

Hidenori Take, trainer
“She went to the farm after the Hong Kong Sprint and she has been getting work with this race as the target. Her time was a bit too fast for her work over the woodchip course on Wednesday last week, but she didn’t overdo it and was fine the next day. She has filled out, been calm and is in a much better state of mind than she was in Hong Kong. Last year in this race, she went up the outside (finished fifth). The horses on the inside were holding their ground, but there was one on the outside that was gaining. When she’s racing to the right she tends to lug out a bit, but everything goes smoothly when racing to the left. I think the Chukyo 1,200 meters suits her. She’s still on her game and showing no signs of slowing down. She should be raring to run on Sunday. I’m really hoping to get results this year.”

Namura Clair

Kodai Hasegawa, trainer
“The jockey (Suguru Hamanaka) said she felt like she needed just a little more leading up to the Sprinters Stakes, but last out in the Silk Road Stakes she did a good job and seemed in perfect shape. Things did open up for her in the stretch, but overall it was pretty tight. Her being able to break away shows just how good her turn of foot is. You can say she had an ideal trip up the inside, but to have reached the top from as far back as she was in a final three-furlong time of 32.9 seconds is pretty amazing. She went to the farm after that race, refreshed and came back to the stable fully recovered. Everything has gone as planned. She had a hard workout on March 15. The jockey said she felt good and was showing sufficient improvement. She has won three graded-stakes races so far and it’s not every day that I meet a horse with such talent. There are a lot of strong horses in the lineup, but I have my fingers crossed she’ll land a Grade 1 title.”

Naran Huleg

Yoshitada Munakata, trainer
“He was slow away in the Ocean Stakes and I think the 59kg he was carrying also was a factor in his result (ninth). Still, that’s not the whole reason. He had filled out, but I think that his weight (up 15kg at 498kg) was just about right considering the short trip to Nakayama. He came out of that race unharmed and his weight was soon back up to the 510kg range. At first, I wanted to have three full weeks in between races, but it’s the same rotation as last year and he wasn’t tired, so I clocked him up the hill course for the first time on March 15. After that bit of work, he weighed 515kg. Since it’s Chukyo and we have the long trip to the track, I think he’ll go to the gate at around 490kg. Things went well for him last year, but it is a year later and there’s new talent in the mix, so it’s hard to say what to expect.”

Yoshinori Muto, trainer
“In her last race, the Ocean Stakes, another horse took the lead and she traveled on the inside in second position, then lost momentum in the finish. It would have been better if she’d been on the outside. Any horse would have found it difficult racing as she did. She’s suited to Chukyo as she’s a southpaw, and she doesn’t lose weight during the trip to the track. She has three wins over the turf 1,200 meters, so I think that’s a plus. Of course, the competition is high so I can’t make any claims. The field doesn’t have one solid front, so running her own race will be key. If it all comes down to the fastest late speed, it’ll be tough for her. With the rough track and if the finishing time is about 1 minute, 8 seconds, then she’ll have a chance. I hope she’ll do her best.”

Pixie Knight

Masanari Tanaka, assistant trainer
“He suffered a fracture from getting entangled in the accident in the 2021 Hong Kong Sprint, but thanks to the veterinarians and all the people at the farm, he returned to the training center on Jan. 28. We’d gotten him ready to make his comeback in the Hankyu Hai, but he was having some trouble with his left hind, so we sent him back to the farm. After getting a go-ahead on his movement, we got the go sign again and he returned to the training center. He’s looking good in work and doesn’t seem to be showing any effects from the accident. He’s returning after over a year and going straight in to a Grade 1, which surely won’t be easy. However, He is a talented horse and I’m hoping he’ll do his best.”

Toshin Macau

Mizuki Takayanagi, trainer
“In the Silk Road Stakes, handicap he was asked to carry was a lot more than I’d expected and the outside draw was by no means advantageous. Still, the jockey (Katsuma Sameshima) did a real good job and I think the results (fourth) weren’t that bad. This one went to the farm and returned as planned, with this race as the target. The jockey rode last week’s fast work as usual and this week’s too. His acceleration in the final stage was fantastic and he looked better than he had before the Silk Road Stakes. Compared to his condition for the Keisei Hai, he is still a bit lacking though. The last race sharpened him up and his weight should be the same as last race. For a colt, he’s not that big and having had that big increase in the assigned weight last time was tough on him. This time it’ll be a little lighter, which should help.”

Atsushi Nishioka, assistant trainer
“He’s coming straight from the Hankyu Hai in December without a sharpener, unlike last year. He bled in last year’s Takamatsunomiya Kinen and I think that was the result of having added to his load by giving him a race before the main one. This year, the plan was to head straight into the race without a prep. He returned to the training center early seven weeks ago and has had ample time to handle the plenty of work we’ve given him. Two weeks ago (on March 8), we pushed him hard from the start and he got a fast time of 49.5 seconds over the four furlongs up the hill. Last week, jockey Yuji Tannai rode work and got a feel for him. I think the horse will be in good shape for raceday. He’s 8 years old now and I do feel that he’s missing that last little bit of power in the finish. That’s where I do feel his age. But, he’s good at Chukyo and if we have a little rain, things could get interesting.“

Vento Voce

Goro Takahashi, assistant trainer
“He was returning from time off for the Ocean Stakes and was at about 70 percent. However, since he’d had a good rest, he was fresh. I think it was a very good win. After that race, we clocked him for the first time on March 16 and he was on his toes and showing no signs of fatigue. There are two full weeks in between this race and his last one, so there isn’t any need to push him hard this week. I think the priority is that he goes to the gate in top shape. For the Sprinters Stakes, the race before last, he’d been racing regularly and we went into it as a challenge because his condition wasn’t on the upswing. This time, however, the race will be his second after a layoff and I don’t think you can even begin to compare his condition now to what it was before. He is really looking good. Jockey Atsuya Nishimura knows the horse well and if Vento Voce gets to run his own race, I’m looking forward to seeing just how far he can go.”

Water Navillera

Koshiro Take, trainer
“As far as her last race is concerned (14th place on Feb. 18), her condition was good but I think it was a temperament problem. I think that her being in heat prior to that was a factor as well. She just didn’t seem to have run to her fullest. I kept her at the training center the whole time after that and she’s gotten regular work. Nothing really seems to have changed. She had a good long workout on March 15 and she moved well and there seemed to be no problems with her physically. Seeing her run in the Kyoto Himba Stakes over 1,400 meters, she looked like she could handle this distance as well. That said, it’s not so much the distance that concerns me, it’s whether she’ll feel like running.”

Win Marvel

Masashi Fukayama, trainer
“In the Silk Road Stakes, he was assigned a heavy weight and he drew wide. On top of that he was late away. Even with all these strikes against him, he gained ground in the finish. Considering that it was a preliminary race, I don’t think it was anything too tragic. We gave him a bit of time off after that, then upped the pace gradually. He was slow in the beginning of his workout on the 8th and he still seemed lacking, so we worked him over seven furlongs on the 10th. Last week, he was able to handle the hard workout we gave him and I was satisfied with his time. He was lighter on his feet than I had expected, so I’ll likely just do some fine-tuning this week. He was second last year in the Sprinters Stakes, but most important thing is getting him to the gate in good shape. I think he’ll just be 480kg or less on raceday.”