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Irogotoshi Shows Stamina Romping to Nakayama Grand Jump Win

Sixth favorite Irogotoshi captured his first graded victory in this year’s Nakayama Grand Jump in his fourth start in jump racing, becoming the first horse to do so with the least career starts. The six-year-old debuted in flat racing as a two-year-old and registered 3 wins among 24 starts with a fifth in the 2020 Kyoto Shimbun Hai (G2, 2,200m) as his best finish at the graded level. After switching to steeplechase racing this year, he claimed his first win in his second start and landed a third in his next and latest race, the Pegasus Jump Stakes (3,350m) on March 18. He also marks a milestone in becoming the first Kyushu-born horse to win at the highest level while most are born and bred on the northern island of Hokkaido. For trainer Kazuya Makita, who opened his yard in 2011, this was his first G1 title after claiming three graded wins in flat racing. Jockey Yu Kuroiwa also celebrates his fourth grade-race and first G1 title since his debut in 2002.

The field of ten broke on the rain-soaked track with third favorite Village Eagle taking the lead as expected, followed by T O Socrates and Mikki Meteo while Irogotoshi was settled in mid-pack. After taking a wide move into the backstretch coming out of the last dip still in fifth, the son of Vincennes cleared the 10th obstacle (no.8) beside the race favorite in fourth, made rapid headway from the outside to easily take over the lead from the tired pacesetter before the 11th jump (no.9) and showed incredible stamina to pull away comfortably for the win, 3.1 seconds ahead of the next finisher.

“His experience as a jumper is very short but since he prepped here at this same racecourse last month, I had a good feeling he was going to show a better performance today. He has an amazing sense of the game—to run like that against such a strong field nearly as a novice—we have a lot to look forward to in the future,” commented Yu Kuroiwa.

Second favorite Mikki Meteo was positioned in fifth early, advanced to run in third from the 3rd jump (no. 2) up to the backstretch, dropped to sixth before the 11th jump (no.9) but found another gear to accelerate and inherit the runner-up seat 100 meters out while never imposing any threat to the winner.

Favored fifth, Daishin Clover raced in around seventh, steadily closed the gap with the frontrunners after the 7th jump (no.7), circled wide into the stretch and after clearing the final obstacle (no.10) in fourth, showed a late charge to pass the tiring T O Socrates at the wire for third.

Race favorite Nishino Daisy missed his break and trailed in the rear but gradually elevated to fifth by the 8th jump (no.2), cleared the 10th obstacle (no.8) in third, but was used up by the last corner and faded to ninth.

Other Horses:
4th: (8) T O Socrates—tracked leader in 2nd, took brief lead after 10th jump (no.8), soon surrendered lead, overtaken by runner-up 100m out and missed third place just before wire
5th: (4) Smart Apex—settled near pace around 4th early, dropped back after 5th jump (no.6), angled out to improve position at stretch
6th: (1) June Velocity—ran near rear, passed tired rivals at stretch
7th: (5) Village Eagle—set pace until 10th jump (no.8), faded
8th: (6) Emilio—raced 2nd from rear, no factor throughout trip
10th: (9) Kurino Oja—traveled around 5th early, gradually fell back

THE 25TH NAKAYAMA GRAND JUMP (J-G1)
4-year-olds & up, 4,250 meters (about 2 and 2/3 miles), turf
Saturday, April 15, 2023     Nakayama Racecourse      11th Race         Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 142,660,000 (about US$ 1,089,008 <US$1=¥131>)
4-y-o: 62kg (about 137 lbs), 5-y-o & up: 63kg (about 139 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares
Course Record: 4:43.0       Race Record: 4:43.0 [Oju Chosan (JPN, by Stay Gold), 2018]
Safety factor: 16 runners    Going: Yielding                 Weather: Rainy

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 1,820,028,100       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 9,142,876,800       Attendance: 13,326

Winner= 28 starts: 5 wins, 1 second & 4 thirds (4 starts: 2 wins & 2 thirds *steeplechases only)
Added money: ¥ 66,357,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 142,075,000 (¥ 80,400,000 *steeplechases only)

* Nakayama Grand Jump (J-G1)

The Nakayama Grand Jump, the biggest steeplechase event in spring, span off from the biannual Nakayama Daishogai (J-G1, 4,100m) steeplechase races in 1999. The history of the Nakayama Daishogai dates back to 1934 when the two races, one each in spring and autumn, were created for the purpose of making them the most prestigious and attractive races in steeplechase racing, just like the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) in flat racing.
In 2000, a year after the Nakayama Grand Jump received its current name, the race became an international event. Seven foreign runners from five countries took part and Boca Boca (IRE, by Mandalus) from France finished second to Gokai (JPN, by Judge Angelucci) that year. During 2000 - 2010 when the Nakayama Grand Jump was an invitational event, St. Steven (NZ, by Hula Town) was the first foreign contingent to claim the title in 2002. He finished third the following year while Australian contender Karasi (IRE, by Kahyasi) became the first horse to win three consecutive titles between 2005 and 2007. In 2013, eighth favorite Irish raider Blackstairmountain (IRE, by Imperial Ballet) became the first European contender to claim the title.
The Nakayama Grand Jump features 12 jumps over the figure-of-eight-shaped course, which includes five up-and-downs over the banks and three hurdles set on the outside turf towards the final stretch. The 310-meter uphill stretch before the wire also is quite a test for many of the runners especially after running at a solid pace throughout the race.
Last year’s victor Oju Chosan (JPN, by Stay Gold), who was awarded the JRA Award for Best Steeplechase Horse five times in 2016-2018, 2021 and 2022, retired with a sixth-place finish in the Nakayama Daishogai late last year.
The victor of last year’s Nakayama Daishogai, Nishino Daisy, commenced the current season with a third in the Hanshin Spring Jump (J-G2, 3,900m, Mar.11) with Mikki Meteo behind in fourth. Key runners who came off the Pegasus Jump Stakes (3,350m, Mar.18) were the top three finishers—Village Eagle, Daishin Clover and Irogotoshi, in that order, while 2021 Tokyo Jump Stakes (J-G3, 3,110m) winner Smart Apex was fifth. The field also included T O Socrates who extended his winning streak to three in the Shunrei Jump Stakes (3,390m, Feb.25), and June Velocity who finished right behind in second in that race.