Mitsugu Kon, trainer
“He eats up well, and his condition is very good, despite the short time between races. We’ve had the race jockey (Kazuo Yokoyama) confirm things in training. The horse’s difficult character is improving. It’ll be a tough race this time, and to some extent the draw and the flow of the race will play a part. I think he can handle a fast pace, and it would probably be better than his last race, when things were a bit slow and muddling. It will be his first time at Tokyo, but I’ve always thought he would be fine racing left-handed. He should run well given his good condition.”

Arsenaal

Yu Ota, assistant trainer
“She’s improved for her training, and is gradually showing that she has more power. She can do well if things go smoothly for her.”

Ascoli Piceno

Yoichi Kuroiwa, trainer
“She came out of her last race well, and she’s been very good in recent training, running on the left-handed track. Her reactions and breathing have been fine, and I don’t have anything to worry about with her. She’s had her usual training in this short interval between runs, and has shown a lot of power when putting in her big strides. It’s easy to bring out her best over a mile, and the Tokyo course suits her. I hope her preparations continue to go well right up to the race.”

Bond Girl

Takahisa Tezuka, trainer
“Returning from a break last time, she ran well in the race under jockey Yutaka Take, and it was good to boost her prize money with that result. She wasn’t so tired after that race, and she’s been at the stable since. She’s been training solo, but there’s a good feeling about how she’s been running, and she’s done things fine. She’s been moving well and her breathing’s improved. As she can get a little tense, we’re doing our best to keep her calm, and on the day of the race, that will be one of the keys as to how she gets on. She’ll be up against the second horse from the Oka Sho, and the third from the Satsuki Sho, but I hope she’ll be competitive against them. I’m pleased she could finally get into a Grade 1, and I think she has a good enough chance.”

Captaincy

Mikio Matsunaga, trainer
“He’s been at the stable, and has come along well, working with the jockey (Mirco Demuro). We’ve given the horse some gate practice as well. I’m not worried about him racing left-handed for the first time, and it was only in his last race that he faded at the end. It could have been because he hadn’t run for a while, as well as missing the start slightly. He has speed, and he combines well with the jockey to find a good rhythm, so I think he will run differently this time to how he did last time. He runs well from the front, and good ground will be best for him.”

Channel Tunnel

Yuichi Fukunaga, trainer
“He’s had plenty of racing recently, but the good thing is he comes out of his races well, and it’s been important to maintain his condition. He doesn’t need to get too tense. Jockey Mirai Iwata worked him in training this last week, and despite the wet track, he ran how I expected. I think the horse should be able to handle things alright over the mile at Tokyo, despite this year’s runners looking strong. If he produces his best, he can run well.”

Danon McKinley

Hideaki Fujiwara, trainer
“He’s been doing well in training, moving smoothly. He’s a horse with ability, despite his character being a little difficult. A couple of other things to consider are how he handles the transportation to the track, and the distance of the race over a mile. How the race is run will be the key.”

Nobuyuki Tashiro, assistant trainer
“He’s worked with a good rhythm on the woodchip course, and is relaxed, so things have been good with him. He’s achieved good times and he’s kept his condition well. It was a slow pace for him two starts ago, and despite losing, he handled the long transportation to the track alright, so we were happy about that. He can get a position in a race without any worry, and is able to race well. He has enough ability to take on a Grade 1, but it’s a question of him running his own race. He’s developing the right way, and we look forward to his run over a mile this time.”

Yuichi Kitamura, jockey
“He did his strong work last week, so this week he hasn’t needed to do so much. He can be a little nervous, but things have gone well in training overall.”

Di Speranza

Tatsuya Yoshioka, trainer
“Despite the heavy ground in training, his times have been as I would have expected. He’s been eating well, and he’s a horse with a lot of power. Jockey Katsuma Sameshima said he’s easy to ride and control. I don’t worry at all about the horse transporting over to the track. Racing left-handed should be fine for him, and the mile at Tokyo should suit too.”

Sho Tajima, assistant trainer
“There’s no tiredness after his last race. He’s done some fast work uphill in training, and has been moving well, despite the heavy ground. Things have gone as expected with him. If he runs like he did last time, it doesn’t matter about the draw or the pace. At the wide Tokyo track, it’ll be easier for him to take on the other runners. It’ll be interesting to see what he can do in this Grade 1.”

Enya Love Faith

Naoyuki Morita, trainer
“His condition is good, and he’s been moving well. He can get a little scared, so we’ve worked on keeping him calmer. In the race, hopefully he won’t lose concentration, and won’t find himself lacking enough space to run smoothly.”

Gonbade Qabus

Noriyuki Hori, trainer
“He’s a lot more balanced now, and in training he’s shown he has speed and can run well. He recently weighed 474kg after training. He’s been off for a while, so he might lack a little, and mentally also is a slight worry, but he’s in good enough condition, and I hope he can show some of the ability that he undoubtedly has.”

Joao Moreira, jockey
“His action and footwork are good, and he’s shown me he can run with a good rhythm. He’s run before against good horses, and I’m looking forward to the challenge this time in a Grade 1.”

Ipheion

Yoshiaki Sugiyama, trainer
“There’s no tiredness about her, and she’s looked good in training. Her workload has been good. She’s filling out more, and is generally quite relaxed. She was fine transporting over to Nakayama previously, where she got a good result. The Tokyo course should suit her. There are strong horses in the race, but I think her rotation’s just right for this next one. Hopefully things go well, and we can look forward to races later in the year with a good run here.”

Jantar Mantar

Tomokazu Takano, trainer
“He came out of his last race well, and we’ve just kept him ticking over since the Satsuki Sho, with the short time between races, but he’s been running well. He’s not tense at all. He has a lot of natural speed and good racing sense, and I’ve always thought he’s had potential since he was a 2-year-old. Thinking about the mile this time, we’ve made sure that he remains easy to ride, and have just kept him doing his usual work in training. On the day of the race, we’ll rely on the jockey to get the best out of him.”

Yuga Kawada, jockey
“Everyone’s looking forward to his run here over the mile at Tokyo. I want to bring out the best in him among the other strong horses in the race. All being well, things will go smoothly right up to the race.”

Logi Leon

Masaaki Koga, trainer
“It feels like he’s developing as his career moves on. The jockey riding work (Hiroshi Kitamura) says he’s better than before. The horse’s footwork has improved, and he will go to the race in good condition. His race jockey (Keita Tosaki) says the horse is bigger and has developed more. He has had a seven-week rotation between the Crocus Stakes, the Falcon Stakes and now this race. With this as his spring target, we set him up with the previous two races, where he raced on left-handed tracks. He should be better at the wider Tokyo track, and I’ll expect him to do better than last time.”

Koji Maki, trainer
“There’s no real change with her, and she’s been moving well in training on the woodchip course. She’s able to race a lot better now, compared to when she was younger and running in maidens. I don’t think there’s a problem changing to the Tokyo course. We’ll just have to see how she does up against the strong field here, but I’m not really thinking about her opponents. Until we try, we won’t know.”

Noble Roger

Tatsuya Yoshioka, trainer
“He seems better mentally now that he’s getting used to things, and he is easier to ride. The ground wasn’t so good for his last race, and I think he can run better on good ground. I also think he can adjust well to how a race is run.”

Sho Tajima, assistant trainer
“Things have been good with him since he returned from the farm. He’s worked on the uphill, and he can quickly gather speed, but it’s important to stop him overdoing things, and just to keep him at the right pitch leading up to this next race. He won his first race at Tokyo, showing good speed to do that, so it looks like a good track for him, and if the ground’s firm, I think he can compete well, even in a Grade 1. There’s flexibility with the way he races, and he should be able to show his turn of foot in the homestraight.”

Kohei Matsuyama, jockey
“He’s relaxed, and is an easy horse to ride, with the condition he’s currently in.”

Strauss

Ryo Takei, trainer
“He’s a big horse, so we’ve worked him in a way to get him moving well. He’s improved when it comes to changing leads, and he’s a lot more dexterous now, so we can look forward more to things. One slight worry is his temperament. He got a little too far back in his last race, so I’d like to see him ridden more forward this time. He has ability, so hopefully he’ll show us more of this.”

Water Licht

Hiroshi Kawachi, trainer
“The training track was heavy this week, but I was pleased with what he did. He was a bit loose as a 2-year-old, and his weight used to change a bit, but now he’s able to keep a constant weight. He’s switched on more as well now. It’s another Grade 1 for him shortly after the Satsuki Sho, and the opposition’s strong again, but I think the one turn in the race at Tokyo will suit him more. I don’t think the Nakayama course is good for him, so I hope he can show us a different race this time, as I think he can. He’s a horse with good footwork.”

Jiro Ono, trainer
“In his last work this week, we went steady with him because of the ground. It’s been enough for him. There hasn’t been long between races, but he seems to be in good condition and is running well.”

Daiki Yamada, assistant trainer
“From an inside gate last time, he showed good racing sense to get to the lead, and was almost able to keep it up until the finish. He’s become a lot more patient when racing. The opposition’s strong this time, and the homestraight at Tokyo is long, but he’s developing more with his races, so we’ll just have to see what he can do here.”