Admire Matsuri

Keisuke Miyata, trainer
“I had jockey Tanabe breeze her this week (May 14) to check her condition. Her movement and time were both very good, and the jockey said she has maintained a very high level of condition, so I'm relieved. She has always had good racing sense, and even if we send her forward from the start, she will remain balanced and well in hand. She always follows the rider’s instructions well. Her most recent race, the Fukushima Himba Stakes (1,800 meters) was her first graded race and certainly not an easy race. We were lucky in many ways, but she did travel very nicely and extended well in the stretch to win. It’ll be her first mile, but I think she’ll be able to handle it well. The pace right after the break and over the first half will be new to her and I do have my concerns about whether she’ll be able to handle it well, but if the pace is very strong she can sit tight midfield.”

Alice Verite

Masaaki Shibata, assistant trainer
“In her most recent race, the Fukushima Himba Stakes, she didn’t take the lead but still raced from a good position. She was well in hand and made a good effort in the final stage. Her racing was different in the race and being able to run well-balanced and smoothly meant she learned a great deal from that race. Earlier in the year, when she’d returned from the farm, she had been somewhat sluggish in trackwork, but she did get better the week of the race. This time she’s had a sharpener and, with that, she’s much more on her toes. She is very well filled-out, with nice muscle tone. Her condition gets better as the days warm up. It’s been a while since she raced over a mile and the competition is high. In any case, I’m eager to see how she’ll do.”

Argine

Taku Fukunaga, assistant trainer
“It all came down to the rise and fall of their heads and she got second place in the Hanshin Himba Stakes. It was a very frustrating result. Even though we needed to change the rider for the race, the jockey (Hideaki Miyuki) did a really good job. He kept her to the inside and gave her a great ground-saving trip. After that, she stayed at the training center. The main objective, of course, was getting her fully recovered from the race. And from the weekend two weeks ago, we started gradually increasing her workload. Last week, she weighed 470kg, which is about the same number we saw before her last race. The competition is going to be stronger this time, but she has definitely got stronger. She’s able to handle 1,600 meters adequately and I’m looking forward to seeing how well she can do.”

Ascoli Piceno

Yoichi Kuroiwa, trainer
“This week on May 14, she had the same workout as she had a week earlier, six furlongs on the flat, chasing and passing her training partner. I had wondered how much she would improve from last week and she showed me that she had indeed improved quite a bit. Her wind is good, she’s forward and, overall, I see no place where she’s lacking. Of course, the fact that she was returning from overseas had been a concern, but she recovered as usual at the farm and everything went without a hitch. There was concern that having raced in a sprint she would be overly hyped and hard to settle, but I’ve seen no sign of that. Everything has gone as usual. I think she is a strong horse and definitely poses a threat to others. However, she has followed a different path here than many of the others, so it’ll be interesting to see how she measures up. She is very agile and good at executing a course, even over shorter distances. I think I can leave the rest up to the jockey (Christophe Lemaire).”

Beyond the Valley

Shinsuke Hashiguchi, trainer
“I think her finish in the Hanshin Himba Stakes (fourth place, 0.2 seconds off the winner) was a good reflection of the difference between her and the top horses. She ran steadily to the end and I don’t think it was a bad performance in any way. After that, I aimed my sights on this race. On May 7, she breezed over the woodchip course in a group of three and we didn’t push her the whole way, but the other two horses were real movers and I had her run to their outside, so it was a good workout for her. She won her debut at Tokyo (1,600 meters) and though she used to lug out a bit when racing to the left, she’s good now. She has never done horribly over 1,600 meters and she is in good shape, so I’m hoping she’ll put in a good effort.”

Bond Girl

Takahisa Tezuka, trainer
“The pace was slow in the Hanshin Himba Stakes and there was also the wide draw (No. 10 of 14 horses), and she wasn’t able to maneuver well under way. She did give us some nice speed in the end, but couldn’t reach the top (finished in 6th place 0.2 seconds off winner). In work, she mostly trained up the hill course with a short run over the woodchip course on May 8. She’d been quite tense on the first day, but on the 8th, her movement was good. A breeze up the hill was enough for her final workout. She regained the weight that she’d lost in transport before and I think she’ll be in good shape for the race. She has done well over slightly heavy ground before, but fast going is the best for her. Other than the one time in the NHK Mile Cup when she suffered interference, she hasn’t done poorly at Tokyo. I think she can turn the tables this time.”

Christmas Parade

Yoshinori Ito, assistant trainer
“She came back from the farm (on April 30) in great shape. She was filled out and looked much bigger. Her muscles looked nice and supple. In trackwork on May 7, we put two horses out ahead of her and had her catch up. Just as planned, she turned into the straight and soon lined up with them. Also, she was very eager to run and continued running past the finish line. I think it was a very good workout. She has experience at the top level, with last autumn’s Shuka Sho and she also has good experience competing against strong horses. She isn’t bothered by a race decided by a very fast time over the final stage. A mile may be able to bring out her very best. I have my hopes up.”

Kenta Fujino, trainer　
“In her most recent start, the Ritsuunkyo Stakes, she broke well and was able to travel from a good position. The entire way she was able to move at her best and she was able to bring out her strengths. After that, she went to the farm for a short stay and all went well. She returned to the training center with looking good and well refreshed. In work on May 8, she again gave us some of her best work and her preparation has gone smoothly. I think she’ll go to the gate in the same good shape as last time. The jockey (Norihiro Yokoyama) got a very good grasp on her tendencies from her last race, so having him ride this time again is a confidence boost. She has just moved up in class, so I can’t be overly confident but I believe what she’ll learn from this race will help her in her races to come.”

Mi Anhelo

Toru Hayashi, trainer
“I think it all hinged on the break in her most recent start (Nakayama Himba Stakes). She’d had a lot of practice learning to stand well in the gate, but she wasn’t able to break well. In the race before that, she got hit at the start and that may have frightened her a lot and somewhat traumatized her. It’s something I’ll have to give more thought to. She returned from the farm on April 24 and I had her practice starting from the gate alone and then with her between two others. I think she has gotten better and I hope it’ll translate well to the race. The jockey (Michael Dee) rode her this week and her footwork was good. These last two races, I’m afraid she hasn’t been able to live up to the expectations of the fans and I apologize for that. I think the Tokyo mile suits her well and she definitely has the talent to do well. I’m hoping for a decent break and a smooth trip.”

Queen’s Walk

Mitsumasa Nakauchida, trainer
“In her most recent race, the Kinko Sho, I was worried about the bad track conditions, but she held up surprisingly well and made a very good effort to win the race. She did look quite spent after that, so she went to the farm to recover and refresh. It did take some time, but she is back on her feet. Yuga Kawada rode work last week to get a reading and it was an excellent workout. Her rhythm was good, she finished well, and Kawada said he hoped she’d race in the same condition. I do think she has maintained that condition. We have the trip to the track and I’m being careful she doesn’t get overworked. I’ve always thought she had great potential, but things often didn’t come together well and she didn’t get the results we were hoping for. Her first start as a 4-year-old wasn’t great, but she finally got results in the Kinko Sho. I think she’s physically and mentally in sync now. Her weight is up, but I’m pretty sure that increase is growth.

Ravel

Yukihiko Araki, assistant trainer
“Her condition in the Osaka Hai was by no means lacking. The winner finished in a track record (1 minute, 56.9 seconds). The time was just too fast and I think she simply wasn’t able to bring out her best. She went to the farm after that and returned on April 29. She’s eating well, but I would like to see a bit more improvement condition-wise. On May 8, she worked alone as usual and it was a solid workout with urging and a time of 81.9 seconds over six furlongs. We’ll have to see if that will improve her some. She’s raced in the 1,800-2,000 meters range, but her second career start was over a mile at Tokyo, a graded race she won (the Grade 3 Artemis Stakes), so I don’t think the distance will be a problem.”

Safira

Manabu Ikezoe, trainer　
“We took on the Hanshin Himba Stakes as a challenge, a much higher class of race. I thought she was going to be overtaken in the final stage, but she showed her tenacity, found more strength, and won. There didn’t appear to be any damage afterward, so she returned from the farm two weeks ago. I put the jockey (Kohei Matsuyama) up to check her out and he was surprised at how much she’d improved. She worked relatively hard last week, so I saw no need to push her this week. Her work was good and considering we have the trip to the track, so I didn’t want to overdo it. She always responds well when asked for more and I want her to be able to have something to draw on. I’m not particularly worried about the Tokyo course. She finished second in the Artemis Stakes as a 2-year-old, but she is very different now. I’m hoping for a fast track.”

Shinryokuka

Masahiro Takeuchi, trainer　
“She was improving as the days got warmer, but in the Fukushima Himba Stakes she couldn’t pick up speed from the gate and ended up racing from near the back. So, this time, we plan to put cheekpieces on her and that may help her keep up with the pace from the start. There’s not much time between races, but she came out of her last race well and she has gotten a lot of trackwork. She had a good run at the Grade 1 level as a 2-year-old (2nd in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies). Although I think she’s best suited to the distances in the range of 1,800-2,400 meters, I think she’ll be able to bring out her best over a mile if she can get a good position over the first half of the race.”

Shirankedo

Mitsunori Makiura, trainer
“The Nakayama Himba Stakes was her first open-class race, and she won it. In the higher-level races, I didn’t think her previous strategy of racing out in front would hold up, so I had changed the strategy from the race before that. Even with her traveling from further back, she won with a strong late kick. Her repertoire has increased and she can handle different situations now. We gave her time off and she has come along nicely since returning to Ritto. Mirco Demuro rode her fast work on May 7. This week, an assistant rode her up the hill course. She has a tendency to tense up, so we focused on keeping her relaxed and just checked her responses toward the end. It’ll be her first time at Tokyo, but I’ve raced her at a number of tracks to gain experience, so I think she’ll be fine. As for the ground, she hasn’t run over turf that’s too torn up. A slightly heavy track should be OK.”

Sing That Song

Tomokaza Takano, trainer　
“The jockey (Arata Saito) gave her a very nice ride in the Aichi Hai and she showed great heart that really brought out her strength. It was a very close race, with her finishing in second place, but she was able to add to her earnings, which was good. And then we aimed her for here. We’ve been working closely with the farm and everything has gone according to plan. She’s in quite good shape. Up to now, when the race has been far from home base, she’ll tend to lose weight if we ship in the day before, so we’ve taken that into consideration in her preparation. Two races ago, she had an outside gate over 1,600 meters at Nakayama and that made the race difficult for her. With that in mind, I think Tokyo will be better. If she can access all she has, we’ll just have to see how she measures up amid this lineup.”

So Dazzling

Koichi Shintani, trainer
“In the Hanshin Himba Stakes (finished in 6th place), a keen horse came up on her outside and that threw her off and, in my opinion, her final result was largely due to that incident. Also, according to the jockey, the trip aside, he felt she had ample reserves to draw on. I kept her at the training center the whole time after that. Her fast work two weeks out was on a Friday (May 2), and 1 week out was also on the Friday. We have the long trip to the track this week, so we just breezed her on Wednesday. She was running well in hand in her last start and she felt good going into the straight. She did give us a final three-furlong time of 33.3 seconds, but at the time, there were others who bettered that. Here too, the trip is going to be a big factor.”

Stellenbosch

Sakae Kunieda, trainer
“Concerning her performance in the Osaka Hai, I can find nothing in her preparation or the race itself that could be seen as the problem, but her racing was off. I think she was in condition to run, but I really don’t know. This week, she had the same training partner in fast work as last week. But this time, I had her start from behind the other horse. I think she moved well. She was a bit keen, but she did catch up and pass the other horse in the end. Her footwork was sharp, her balance and rhythm all looked very good. Last week too, she looked good out in front of the other horse. She breaks well but doesn’t have early speed, so with the pace likely strong from the start, she’ll probably be racing from behind. Thus, I wanted to give her practice doing that. I think there are others that are more suited to the distance than she is, but she has done very well. If she gets a good trip, I think we have a chance. She’s a good honest runner. Her last race was unfortunate, but she’s in good shape and I very much want her to get good results.”

Wide Latour

Nobuyuki Tashiro, assistant trainer
“The way her last race (the Grade 3 Aichi Hai) unfolded was a big factor but, nonetheless, she showed her talent racing on the outside, then neatly moving in to gain the top. It was a very good race. We gave her time off at the farm after that and then set this race as our target. I think she came back quite refreshed. The jockey (Yuichi Kitamura) rode fast work on May 7 over the woodchip course and she remained calm. It looks to me like she’ll be in good shape for the race. She has gotten good results racing to the left, so I don’t think the change to Tokyo will pose any problems. She has gotten good results over 1,400 meters recently, but in the Turquoise Stakes (1,600 meters at Nakayama) three starts ago, she finished only 0.4 seconds off the winner so I think she can handle the mile. It might be a good strategy for her to conserve her energy under way and leave a lot for a final burst of speed. The pace, of course, will be a factor, but I think she has ample chance.”