Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1) - Preview

Durezza

T O Royal

Tastiera

Blow the Horn

Chuck Nate

Deep Bond

After a pause in the action, the big-name races are back and moving from the Satsuki Sho at Nakayama to Kyoto for the Grade 1 Tenno Sho (Spring), before they head to Tokyo for five-straight dizzying weeks of Grade 1 events. If you enjoy tests of endurance or just want to watch the action for minutes, not mere seconds, this race is for you.

This year marks the 169th running of the Tenno Sho, which is held twice a year, the longer version in the spring at Kyoto, the shorter version in the autumn at Tokyo. The Tenno Sho (Spring) is the most prestigious showcase for stayers and the longest of Japan’s national-level Grade 1 events. It takes over three minutes to complete as a full field of 18 runners aged 4 years old and up compete over a grueling 3,200 meters.

This year’s 21 nominees see a return of four hopefuls from last year’s lineup - 2023 runnerup Deep Bond, last year’s third-place finisher Silver Sonic, Matenro Leo (fifth last year), and Melody Lane (12th) are back again for another shot at the top prize of 220 million yen or a share of the total purse of over 475 million yen. The returnees have formidable competition from the upcoming talent, among them proven G1 champions - last year’s Kikuka Sho champion Durezza and Japanese Derby winner Tastiera - and those whom that coveted G1 feather still so tantalizingly eludes - T O Royal, Deep Bond, Silver Sonic.

The Tenno Sho will be the 11th race on the Sunday Kyoto card of 12. Post time is 15:40 local time on Sunday. Fillies and mares will carry 56 kg; all others 58.

Here’s a look at the expected top picks.

Durezza: With five wins, one second and a third, the Duramente-sired 4-year-old Durezza reached the heights last October with a 3 1/2-length victory in the Kikuka Sho, the 3,000-meter Triple Crown capper. It was the colt’s first and only run thus far at Kyoto. After a spell, Durezza returned mid-March to take on the Grade 2 Kinko Sho and finished in second place. Although he was a full five lengths behind winner Prognosis, Durezza’s final-stage effort displayed his top-level meddle, with the loss having little to do with a lack of ability, and far more with a poor trip, the field top weight of 59kg, and the fact that this upcoming race was always the main target. Ahead of the Golden Week rush, trainer Tomohito Ozeki has had the foresight to ship the Miho-based colt west early. On April 17, Keita Tosaki, fresh off a win of the Satsuki Sho, took Durezza through his morning paces over the woodchip flat course. The colt looked to have improved and ready for revenge. It should be noted that the Kikuka Sho winner has claimed the spring Tenno Sho seven times over the past decade.

T O Royal: A 6-year-old son of Leontes, whose promising career was cut short by a tendon injury, T O Royal has been more of a late bloomer. With a slow start to his career, he shone at the lower levels as a 3-year-old, then started to pick up steam and reveal his ability as a stayer. He finished third in his first Grade 1 bid, the 2022 Tenno Sho (Spring), which was run at Hanshin that year. A double-digit finish in the Japan Cup later that year revealed a fracture that sidelined him for nearly a year until his return last November. His second start from his return saw him back in form, with an ensuing posting of 2-1-1 (all graded races, all over 3,000 meters and up) bringing him up to date in style. His most recent win was of the Grade 2 Hanshin Daishoten, a 3,000-meter event, and he looks primed for success. This will be T O Royal’s first time at Kyoto but the change in venue may be just the charm he needs to claim his first Grade 1 on his third try. Trainer Inao Okada and expected rider Yuji Hishida are both gunning for their first top-level victory.

Tastiera: A son of Satono Crown, the now 4-year-old Tastiera far surpassed his sire’s performance in the classics with a 2-1-2 performance that landed him the title of Top 3-Year-Old of 2023. Continuing at the Grade 1 level, his last two starts saw him off the mark with a fifth in the Arima Kinen (attributable to interference in the stretch) and a far-more-surprising Osaka Hai 11th-place finish, the reason for which remains a mystery. Trainer Noriyuki Hori admits he has yet to find a cause for Tastiera’s poor performance in the Osaka Hai, but does note that, after shipping west to Hanshin Racecourse, the colt had left 80 percent off his feed uneaten the day before the race. With luck, the return to Kyoto will be more to his liking. The last Derby winner to claim the spring Tenno Sho was Meisho Samson in 2007, the last winner that went to the Tenno Sho gate directly off a double-digit performance was Beat Black in 2012. Although the prospects may look somewhat bleak, Tastiera’s expected partner for the race definitely brightens the outlook. The bay colt has had five different riders over his eight-start career and this time Joao Moreira, who rode him to his second-place finish in the Kikuka Sho, is pegged to ride.

Blow the Horn: Taking on his first Grade 1 race is Blow the Horn, a 5-year-old by Epiphaneia (winner of the 2013 Kikuka Sho). Though he got off to a slow start, finally breaking his maiden on his ninth start, Blow the Horn has figured in a winning ticket for all but two of the 12 races since, and in one of those (the Kyoto Daishoten last October) he was unable to complete the race due to heart troubles. He returned in January to win the Grade 2 Nikkei Shinshun Hai (Kyoto, 2,400m), and followed that up last month with a third in the Hanshin Daishoten over 3,000 meters (carrying 58kg for the first time). It will be only his second time under the weight and his first time at the distance, but he has been fitted with a new bit to help with control and he returns to Kyoto, where he has won twice. The combination may spell success in his first big bid.

Warp Speed: Warp Speed takes on his first Grade 1 after a solid showing from his last three starts (all at 3,000 meters or longer) and culminating with a second to T O Royal in the G2 Hanshin Daishoten last out under Yuga Kawada. Proven at Kyoto, the Drefong 5-year-old is a big horse topping 500kg and tends to race rear of midfield. Saving his best for the final stage, the long stretch at Kyoto should work in his favor. Out of the mare Deep Love, Warp Speed’s half sister Divine Love finished third in the 2021 Kikuka Sho, which could bode well for the brother’s Grade 1 debut.

Chuck Nate: A 6-year-old gelding by Heart’s Cry, Chuck Nate has never missed the board in 15 starts (largely over 10-13 furlongs), and he has only missed the top three spots twice. This will be his first Grade 1 following his move to the graded stakes level late last year. He tallied a 3-1 from two Grade 2 runs, his most recent the Grade 2 American Jockey Club Cup over the Nakayama 2,200 meters. He has the stamina needed and can handle any going. A win here would be a first for a gelding since the Tenno Sho opened to them in 2008.

Others to watch:

Fifth in last year’s Kikuka Sho, the 4-year-old Savona has proven himself consistent over distances of 12 furlongs and up and has done well at Kyoto, where he scored a second in the Grade 2 Nikkei Shinshun Hai over 2,400 meters. Yet to win a graded race, he has come close, with two seconds at the Grade 2 level. He is returning from a sixth place over the Hanshin 3,000 meters in the Grade 2 Hanshin Daishoten, where ground close to “heavy” took its toll, but if the track is fast, this fellow has a chance at the money.

The Sakae Kunieda-trained Saliera, a 5-year-old mare by Deep Impact, takes on her second Grade 1 after finishing sixth in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup last November. She returned mid-February for the Diamond Stakes, a Grade 3 event over the Tokyo 3,400 meters and missed the win by a mere neck to finish second under Christophe Lemaire. This time up she is expected to have a new partner, Yutaka Take, in the saddle as well as the weight advantage of racing under 56kg. One of four females nominated for the race, if Saliera can win the spring version of the Tenno Sho, she will become only the first female to do so since 1953.

Deep Bond, though he hasn’t seen the winner’s circle since early 2022, has a way of surprising in this race, with a 2-2-2 record over the last three years. He is 7 years old now and his usual prep, the Grade 2 3,000-meter Hanshin Daishoten, ended in a personal worst seventh-place finish. Still, this veteran trooper may be good for yet another surprise.