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Danon Decile Defeats Strong Field of 3-Year-Olds in This Year’s Tokyo Yushun

Ninth pick Danon Decile ruled as the top three-year-old in this year’s Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), revenging his exclusion from running in the first leg of the Triple Crown, the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas). Debuting in October last year, the son of Epiphaneia broke his maiden in his next start and capped off his two-year-old season with a fourth in the Kyoto Nisai Stakes (G3, 2,000m). He commenced the current season with his first graded victory in the Keisei Hai (G3, 2,000m) in January but was excluded from running in the Satsuki Sho just before the race due to lameness in his right foreleg. Trainer Shogo Yasuda, who opened his yard in 2018, claimed his tenth grade-race and first G1 title in JRA. Jockey Norihiro Yokoyama scored his 28th JRA-G1 victory and third Derby title since 2009 with Logi Universe and 2014 with One and Only, becoming the oldest G1-winning jockey at the age of 56.

Breaking sharply from gate five, Danon Decile rushed out to take the front but eased back to settle 3-4th from Ecoro Walz who set a slow pace. The son of Epiphaneia saved ground along the rails while eyeing the race favorite on the outside, continued to take an economic trip rounding the final corners and broke loose from the pack through an inside opening to pull away with a powerful drive for a two-length win.

“I thought that the pace would be normal or slow since there were no horses that wanted to set the pace, but as Ecoro Walz took the front, we were able to wait in good position until the straight, and the horse responded strongly from there. I’m happy to have won the Derby but I’m also glad that my decision to not race him in the Satsuki Sho was not wrong. Danon Decile is a horse with great potential, and we knew that he would be a great horse if we took good care of him. I’m really grateful to the horse,” commented Norihiro Yokoyama.

Race favorite Justin Milano missed his break from an outside draw but quickly recovered to settle 3-4th from the front. Though meeting traffic entering the lane, the son of Kizuna steered slight to the outside for an open space, pulled away from the pack 200 meters out but was unable to catch up with Danon Decile’s closing speed to finish second.

Off a little slow, seventh pick Shin Emperor advanced to settle in seventh, dropped position turning the last corners and though checked 300 meters out, showed an impressive turn of foot to close in on the leaders. While failing to threaten the top finishers, the Siyouni colt secured third place by 1-1/4 lengths.

Other Horses:
4th: (1) Sunrise Earth—trailed in rear, advanced rapidly in backstretch to close in on leaders, fought well
5th: (2) Regaleira—sat around 10th on rails, angled out for clear path at early stretch and launched fastest late charge but belatedly
6th: (6) Cosmo Kuranda—broke poorly, made headway in backstretch, never threatened
7th: (11) Sugar Kun—tracked leader in 2nd, rallied for lead until 200m pole
8th: (18) Ecoro Walz—set pace, showed tenacity until 200m pole
9th: (12) Sixpence—settled around 5th near favorite, dropped position in last corners, lacked need kick
10th: (3) June Take—hugged rails around 7th, ran willingly until 100m out
11th: (8) Urban Chic—ran around 14th, circled wide, showed little at stretch
12th: (10) Sunrise Zipangu—sat around 10th, outrun turning last corners, even paced
13th: (14) Gonbade Qabus—raced around 6th behind favorite, gradually dropped back
14th: (9) Danon Ayers Rock—saved ground around 9th, showed effort up to 200m pole
15th: (17) Shonan la Punta—traveled wide around 11th, unable to reach contention
16th: (7) Mr G T—positioned near rear, showed third fastest late kick, had too much ground to make up
17th: (4) Byzantine Dream—took economic trip around 13th, never fired
Scratched: (16) Meisho Tabaru—stone bruise in his left hind leg

THE 91ST TOKYO YUSHUN (JAPANESE DERBY, G1)
3-year-olds, Colts & Fillies, 2,400 meters (about 12 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, May 26, 2024       Tokyo Racecourse        11th Race         Post Time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 648,000,000 (about US$ 4,596,000 <US$1=¥141>)
3-y-o: 57 kg (about 126 lbs), 2 kg allowance for Fillies, 2 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2021
Course Record: 2:20.6       Race Record: 2:21.9 [Do Deuce (JPN, by Heart's Cry), 2022]
Safety factor: 18 runners    Going: Good to Firm    Weather: Fine

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 29,814,435,600       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 45,738,281,600       Attendance: 78,678

Winner= 5 starts: 3 wins / Added & stakes money: ¥ 328,868,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 382,000,000

* Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) (G1)

With the aim of establishing a systemized program that emulates the Triple Crown race held in Britain, and enhancing the quality of thoroughbreds in Japan, a 2,400-meter race for three-year-old thoroughbreds was established at Tokyo Racecourse (then situated in Meguro ward) in 1932. While maintaining its status as one of the most popular JRA events with a record crowd of 196,517 in 1990, the race has evolved during its long history, opening its door to runners from National Association of Racing (NAR; local public racing) since 1995 and foreign-bred participants since 2001. In 2010, the race entered a new phase as JRA reached the final stage of its internationalization project, allowing foreign contestants in all its graded events. The winner’s prize money, which had already exceeded 100 million yen in 1989, has now reached 300 million, making it the third richest race behind the Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m) and the Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500m).
Among those who won both the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, 2,000m) and the Derby, only eight in the past went on to claim the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, 3,000m), successfully becoming JRA’s Triple Crown winner—the latest being Contrail (JPN, by Deep Impact) who followed his sire as one of only three in JRA history to accomplish the feat undefeated in 2020. Meanwhile, Vodka (JPN, by Tanino Gimlet) became the first filly in 64 years to claim the derby title in 2007.
This year, Justin Milano, Cosmo Kuranda, Jantar Mantar (JPN, by Palace Malice), Urban Chic and Shin Emperor, the top five finishers in that order of the Satsuki Sho (Apr.14), automatically acquired berths to run in the second leg of the Triple Crown while Jantar Mantar instead headed to the NHK Mile Cup (G1, 1,600m, May.5) and claimed his second G1 title. Proven grade-race winners who were not among the top five in the Satsuki Sho, Regaleira (6th) and Byzantine Dream (13th) were also at the starting gate, aiming to exceed their performances in the first leg. Contenders coming off Derby trials were Sugar Kun and Shonan la Punta, the top two finishers of the Aoba Sho (G2, 2,400m, Apr.27), and Danon Ayers Rock, winner of the Principal Stakes (Listed, 2,000m, May.4). The field also included Danon Decile, Sixpence and June Take, respective winners of the Keisei Hai (G3, 2,000m, Jan.14), the Spring Stakes (G2, 1,800m, Mar.17) and the Kyoto Shimbun Hai (G2, 2,200m, May.4), as well as 2023 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup (G3, 1,600m) winner Gonbade Qabus who came off a fourth in the NHK Mile Cup (G1, 1,600m, May.5).