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Blow the Horn Claims First G1 Title in This Year’s All-Star Takarazuka Kinen

Third favorite Blow the Horn won this year’s Takarazuka Kinen to claim his first G1 victory. Initially trained by Eiji Nakano, the son of Epiphaneia debuted as a two-year-old in November, broke his maiden in his ninth career start in June (Hakodate, 2,000m) at three, and marked another win the same year in December (Nakayama, 2,500m). Last year, he captured three victories between 2,200-2,600-meter distances as a four-year-old but pulled up due to an atrial fibrillation in his last start of the season in the Kyoto Daishoten (G2, 2,400m) in October. He kicked off this season by registering his first graded title in the Nikkei Shinshun Hai (Kyoto, G2, 2,400m) in January, and after moving to the current stable with the retirement of the trainer, he finished third in the Hanshin Daishoten (G2, 3,000m) and second in his previous start, the Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1, 3,200m) at Kyoto Racecourse on April 28. Trainer Tatsuya Yoshioka, who opened his yard in 2020, claimed his fifth graded win and first G1 title, while jockey Akira Sugawara, who debuted in 2019 and has partnered with this horse in recent starts, scored his tenth graded and first G1 victory.

Five-year-old Blow the Horn broke smoothly from stall 12 and settled second from last, right outside the race favorite. As the field entered the uphill climb in the backstretch, the Epiphaneia bay edged forward from the outside, turned the final corners the widest and passed his rivals one by one in the lane before taking the front 100 meters out and pulling away with a powerful late kick that marked the tied fastest three furlongs for a comfortable two-length victory.

“We were able to win the race because the horse ran really hard despite the heavy going. Although we were positioned further back than planned and took the widest route, the horse seemed to have plenty of strength left when we turned the fourth corner so I urged him to go at the stretch and he responded with a remarkable turn of speed,” commented jockey Akira Sugawara.

Seventh pick and last year’s Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m) victor Sol Oriens settled wide around seventh, dropped position turning the last corners wide to enter the stretch in 12th, and though he had too much ground to catch up with the eventual winner, launched the tied fastest late drive to secure the runner-up seat just before the wire by a neck.

Fifth choice and this year’s Osaka Hai (G1, 2,000m) champion Bellagio Opera chased the pace in fourth, rallied for the lead after the third corner and briefly took command before the 200-meter pole but soon surrendered the lead and was denied by Sol Oriens for third while holding Pradaria by a neck.

Race favorite Do Deuce traveled in the very rear and took the inner course after entering the stretch to make bid but was unable to catch up with the leaders and finished sixth.

Other Horses:
4th: (7) Pradaria—tracked leader in 2nd, rallied for lead at stretch, weakened in final strides
5th: (10) Rousham Park—raced around ninth early, made headway in backstretch to rally for lead at final corner, failed to sustain bid while briefly met traffic 200m out
7th: (5) Deep Bond—sat wide around 5th, showed effort at early stretch, unable to keep up with top finishers
8th: (13) Rouge Eveil—set pace on rails, angled out to stretch, faded after 100m out
9th: (11) Yamanin Sympa—trailed in rear, advanced after 1,200m to go, lacked needed kick
10th: (2) Justin Palace—traveled around 7th, driven near favorite but failed to respond
11th: (1) Struve—took economic trip around 9th, briefly made headway, showed little at stretch
12th: (6) Heat on Beat—saved ground around 5th, advanced to 3rd at one point, faded after 3rd corner
13th: (8) Karate—stalked leader in 2nd early, gradually dropped back

THE 65TH TAKARAZUKA KINEN (G1)
3-year-olds & up, 2,200 meters (about 11 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, June 23, 2024          Kyoto Racecourse              11th Race            Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 475,200,000 (about US$ 3,628,000 <US$1=¥131>)
3-y-o: 53kg (about 117 lbs), 4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares,
1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2020, 3kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2021
Course Record: 2:09.7          Race Record: 2:09.7 [Titleholder (JPN, by Duramente), Hanshin, 2022]
Safety factor: 18 runners       Going: Yielding                  Weather: Cloudy

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 24,605,942,500       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 34,909,758,400       Attendance: 55,530

Winner= 21 starts: 7 wins, 3 seconds & 4 thirds / Added & stakes money: ¥ 222,730,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 485,373,000

* Takarazuka Kinen (G1)

The Takarazuka Kinen, established in 1960, opened its doors to foreign-trained horses in 1997 and became the first international grade-one race designated by the International Cataloguing Standards Committee (ICSC) held in western Japan in 2001. The race joined the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series in 2011, enabling its winner to earn automatic starting position in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1, 2,400m). The winner is also eligible to start in the Cox Plate (G1, 2,040m) since 2019. In 2018, the race welcomed Hong Kong’s 2015/16 Horse of the Year Werther (NZ, by Tavistock) who finished a neck second. He was the second foreign contender to challenge the race since Australian-trained Seto Stayer (AUS, by Bellotto; 9th) in 1997. This year, the venue was temporarily shifted to Kyoto Racecourse due to the repair of the stands at Hanshin Racecourse.
It is a Grand Prix (All-Star) race, along with the year-end Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500m), in which the runners are selected by a fan poll. The fans can cast their votes online to select the ten most popular runners. Among the horses entered in the race, ten runners with the most votes are entitled to run in the race while the rest of the field is determined in order of earnings.
This year’s contenders that were among the top ten horses voted included: Do Deuce (1st), three-time G1 winner including last year’s Arima Kinen; Bellagio Opera (3rd), the Osaka Hai (G1, 2,000m) champion; Justin Palace (5th), last year’s Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1, 3,200m) victor; Deep Bond (7th), four-time graded winner; and Sol Oriens (10th), last year’s Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m) victor.
Other contenders within the top 40 horses voted included Blow the Horn (24th), runner-up of the Tenno Sho (Spring), Pradaria (30th), three-time graded winner, and Rousham Park (29th) and Rouge Eveil (34th) who came off a second and a third, respectively, in the Osaka Hai.
Horses that were ranked among the top ten but passed up their entry were: Liberty Island (JPN, F4, by Duramente; 2nd); Durezza (JPN, C4, by Duramente; 4th); T O Royal (JPN, H6, by Leontes; 6th); Justin Milano (JPN, C3, by Kizuna; 8th); and Jantar Mantar (JPN, C3, by Palace Malice; 9th).