Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1) - Preview

Lebensstil

Liberty Island

Bellagio Opera

Sol Oriens

Justin Palace

Do Deuce

Tastiera

North Bridge

The presence of superstar Equinox last year was surely a factor in keeping the field down to a mere 11, but this year 17 contestants are expected in the gate for the 170th running of the Tenno Sho (Autumn), held at Tokyo Racecourse this Sunday, Oct. 27.

Talent abounds with at least a full hand of horses considered equally capable of pulling off the win, which comes with a JPY220 million prize from a total purse of over JPY475 million. Ages range from 4 to 8, with filly triple crown champ Liberty Island holding the torch as the only filly in the field.

The field is packed with top-level champions -- Do Deuce, Tastiera, Sol Oriens, Justin Palace and Bellagio Opera. And Lebensstil, expected to vie with Liberty Island for race favorite status, chases his first big win, with likely partner Christophe Lemaire looking to make it a personal Grade 1 hat-trick.

It is very colorful in the saddles as well, with legends such as Yutaka Take participating, aces Christophe Lemaire and Yuga Kawada, German rider Andrasch Starke here on a short-term license, and two father-and-son combinations (Norihiro Yokoyama and his sons Takeshi and Kazuo, as well as Yasunari Iwata and son Mirai) vying for a share of the pot.

Though rain is expected over the days leading up to Sunday, it may not be enough to render the going any slower than fast. It should keep the fast lap times of recent weeks coming. That said, the dizzying speed of 2023 champion Equinox and his record of 1 minute, 55.2 seconds over the 2,000 meters of turf is expected to stand, and for quite some time.

The Tenno Sho (Autumn) is the No. 11 race on the Sunday card at Tokyo, and post time is 15:40 local time. The weight carried is 58kg for horses 4 years old and up. Three-year-olds carry 56kg and fillies and mares receive a 2kg allowance.

Here’s a look at a number of the expected popular picks.

Lebensstil: Lebensstil cruised along in the Top 3 in the first six starts of his career, posting a third, two seconds and three wins, which included defeating Sol Oriens, winner of the 2023 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) in the Asahi Hai St. Lite Kinen in September last year. Then, he surprised with two poor showings, first an eighth-place finish in the Hong Kong Vase over 2,400 meters at yearend, followed by an 11th of 16 in the Grade 3 Niigata Daishoten over 2,000 meters in his first start of this year. The 4-year-old colt by Real Steel found his rhythm once again under new partner Christophe Lemaire in the Grade 3 Epsom Cup over 1,800 meters at Tokyo. Despite carrying the field’s top weight of 59kg, he won it by 2 lengths and the five horses following him over the line were running under 2kg less. Next out he was paired again with Lemaire and scored another win, this time in the Grade 2 Sankei Sho All Comers over 2,200 meters at Nakayama on Sept. 22. Lebensstil takes on his first top-level race on home turf. With Lemaire expected up again, Lebensstil should have his best shot at his first big win. Lemaire is chasing second Tenno Sho (Autumn) winning streak after having won from 2018 through 2020 and presently on a double from Equinox’s wins in 2022 and 2023. Lemaire is also riding a double Grade 1 wave at the moment, having won the Shuka Sho and the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger).

Liberty Island: Yuga Kawada is also chasing a win, his first of either of the Tenno Sho versions. He is also looking to catch up after suffering a fall last Saturday, which forced him to sit out the Kikuka Sho. If all goes well, this time he’s got quite a partner -- Liberty Island. They have been together through all this super filly’s eight starts thus far. After a 1-2 in the first two starts of her career, the wonder girl turned in a four-way Grade 1 streak, scoring the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, the biggest race for 2-year-old fillies, followed by a sweep of the 3-year-old filly Classics. She then added a second in the Japan Cup to the tally and started this year off with a third-place finish overseas in the Grade 1 Dubai Sheema Classic. However, after returning to Japan and being sent to the farm, she was found to have a slight inflammation in a ligament in her right foreleg. With the swelling down, she has been getting work and returned to the training center in mid-September. This will be only her second start of the year, and the 4-year-old filly is racing for the first time in seven months. Kawada has ridden the Tenno Sho (Autumn) 14 times, with a best second in the 2019. He has ridden all of Liberty Island’s races thus far but the pair has yet to win in mixed company.

Bellagio Opera: Bellagio Opera, a 4-year-old colt by champion sprinter Lord Kanaloa, posted a 10-4 in the first two 3-year-old Classics. The only difference between his fourth in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) and the winner’s circle were the margins of a neck, nose and another nose. He had also turned in the field’s top speed over the final three furlongs - 33 seconds flat. He followed up the Derby six months later with only one more race and then capped the year with winnin the Grade 3 Challenge Cup over 2,000 meters at Hanshin. Back in form this year, Bellagio Opera ran three races and has posted a second, a first and a third, all in graded competition. The two most recent races being a win of the Osaka Hai and a third in the Takarazuka Kinen. Now returning after four months off, he eyes his second top win. Though trainer Hiroyuki Uemura says he does feel Bellagio Opera has mellowed from last year, there is still hope of a performance worthy of a standing ovation. Pegged for the ride is Kazuo Yokoyama, who has ridden all the colts starts since the Derby.

Sol Oriens: A late bloomer like his sire, the Kitasan Black-sired Sol Oriens debuted at the very end of his 2-year-old year. He then sailed through his next five races up to and including the 2023 Kikuka Sho, and posted a 1-2-3 in the 3-year-old Classics. From there, once up against older horses at the graded-stakes level, the waters got a bit tricky. Sol Oriens finished off the board or out of the Top 3 in the Arima Kinen (The Grand Prix), the Grade 2 Nakayama Kinen and the Osaka Hai, but finally made second place in the Takarazuka Kinen. That was four months ago and he, like Bellagio Opera, comes straight to the Tenno Sho (Autumn) without a prep. He hasn’t won since the Satsuki Sho, which was over the same distance as the Tenno Sho (Autumn), but at a very different venue. Takeshi Yokoyama, who rode all but three of the colt’s 10 starts, should be in the saddle Sunday. Trainer Takahisa Tezuka chases his 10th Grade 1 victory and his first win of the Tenno Sho (Autumn).

Justin Palace: Justin Palace was runner-up here last year by 2 1/2 lengths, a margin that was in no way embarrassing given that the race had been clinched in record time by superstar Equinox, who went on to bag the Japan Cup less than a month later. Justin Palace had his own accomplishments to be proud of, a third in the Kikuka Sho, a win in the Tenno Sho (Spring) last year, and a third in the Takarazuka Kinen. However, his last three starts (all Grade 1s, one of them overseas) have brought a disappointing two fourths and a 10th. Still, considering the ardors of overseas travel and that the heavy track of the Takarazuka Kinen did not showcase Justin Palace at his best, this 5-year-old son of Deep Impact has every chance of shining.

Do Deuce: A 5-year-old son of Heart’s Cry, Do Deuce has tallied three Grade 1 victories. No small feat, he topped Equinox in the 2022 Japanese Derby, but then missed not only the winner’s circle but the Top 3 positions in four of his five starts that followed, including a seventh in last year’s Tenno Sho (Autumn). Back in form at that end of last year, he capped 2023 with winning the Arima Kinen. He followed that up with a 5-8 in Grade 1 company, both abroad and at home, and returns to the track for the first time since the Takarazuka Kinen at the end of June. He is looking good in morning work and a comeback may be in the cards. Expected up is Yutaka Take, who had ridden all of Do Deuce’s starts up to last year’s Tenno Sho (Autumn), but when Take was injured earlier in the day, Keita Tosaki took the reins in not only that race, but next out in the Japan Cup as well. Take returned to the saddle for the Arima Kinen. Now Take is set to ride in his first Tenno Sho (Autumn) in four years, and a seventh win of the race is on the line. If Do Deuce wins, Take will tie for most wins of the Tenno Sho (Autumn), a record presently held by the legendary late Takayoshi Yasuda, the first Japanese jockey to ride overseas and the man who pioneered the short-stirrup style of race-riding in Japan.

Others of interest are:

Though he’s recorded a 6-11-7 in his three starts since last year’s Kikuka Sho, Tastiera has taken on some big challenges, -- the Arima Kinen, the Osaka Hai and the Tenno Sho (Tenno Sho). But with a record of 2-1-2 in the Classics last year, the Satono Crown-sired colt should not be overlooked.

A Grade 2 winner, 6-year-old North Bridge heads into the Tenno Sho (Autumn) for the third time. His record hasn’t been pretty, but his 4-3-1 this year, which included jaunts to Qatar and Hong Kong is showing what may be newfound maturity. His third saw him follow Romantic Warrior and Prognosis home in the QE2 Cup at Sha Tin, and he now returns two months after a win of the Grade 2 Sapporo Kinen over 2,000 meters.