Brede Weg

Keisuke Miyata, trainer
“In recent months, she’s raced mostly over 1,600 meters and also did race over 1,800 meters in the Dubai Turf, but she didn’t have anything left in the last stage. In her most recent race, she had the bit in her teeth more than she appeared to and she didn’t have much left for the final furlong. She spent the hot summer months, which she does not do well in, at the farm. After she got back to the training center, her condition has been stablilized. Her training is largely done on the woodchip course, and I think of ways to prepare using rather lengthy training sessions. On Oct. 22, I had her work alone and put something of a target out in front. She was moving better than her time would have indicated. Jockey Keita Tosaki rode her and he said she felt better than she had before the Yasuda Kinen. I’m also thinking of ways for her to be faster over the final stage. If she gives it a solid run, I’ll consider it good even if she’s not able to win.”

Cosmo Kuranda

Yoshinori Ito, assistant trainer
“I’ve had him in cheekpieces in his training and I wanted to see if not wearing them in his last race had brought any change. So I first had jockey Yuji Tannai (who’d ridden his previous three races) ride and then the following week on Oct. 22, I had Akihide Tsumura, who’s to have the race ride, and gave him a hard workout. His time was good and Tsumura said the horse felt good. If you look at the Sapporo Kinen and the Sankei Sho All Comers after that, you can see that he has improved with each race. He’s on the up and up and he’s getting back to where he was when he was doing well. The Tenno Sho (Autumn) requires both speed and powerful acceleration. The lineup is strong, but this horse is going into the race looking significantly better.”

Ecoro Walz

Mitsunori Makiura, trainer
“He’d had a string of tough races in the spring, so he still must have had some fatigue left going into the Chukyo Kinen in August. Additionally, it was quite hot at the time, and I couldn’t say that his condition was good. He didn’t do all that bad though, so I’d give him good marks for that. After that race, he still didn’t crash and he showed improvement. Last week on Oct. 22, he worked solo under the jockey (Kosei Miura). The focus was on keeping the horse well-balanced and the jockey got a good reading on him. As for the distance, I think a 1,600-meter race is a bit too busy for him, so having more ground with 2,000 meters should be a plus.”

Ho O Biscuits

Takeshi Okumura, trainer
“I thought the way I’d prepared him for the Sapporo Kinen would work well, but it actually worked against him. So, after learning from that, things went better in the Mainichi Okan and the result was good (finished second place). He came out of that race with no signs of fatigue and, aimed at this race, I gave instructions to push him hard in his work. Jockey Yasunari Iwata rode work on Oct. 22 and he said the horse felt calmer. He only breezed in the workouts afterward on Oct. 26 and Oct. 29, and worked with another horse in the second one. He looked good and was covering the final furlong in 11.4-11.5 seconds in both workouts. This was over woodchips that have just been changed, which makes it harder to run, but he still got good times despite that. In the Mainichi Okan, he took the lead and had a lot of push from behind, so the pace was about a second faster than I’d expected. Nonetheless, he held his ground strongly almost to the end, and didn’t seem to be having a hard time. I think this race is a big chance for him and I have my hopes up.

Justin Palace

Haruki Sugiyama, trainer
“He traveled toward the rear in the Takarazuka Kinen, but put up a good fight in the final stage and got to a good place (finished third). I would have liked him to have traveled a little bit more forward, but he has always had problems with the break. However, at his age he’s getting a bit sluggish and just doesn’t have the early speed he used to. As always, he spent the summer in Hokkaido and, being an older horse, he has now fully matured. He doesn’t act up or overdo it anymore, so it’s easy to get him ready for a race. Jockey Taisei Danno rode him on Oct. 22 and I instructed him to get after the horse over the final stage. He was well-balanced and was running smoothly. It was a good workout. I think the work on the woodchip flat course last week was effective and the horse’s movement has changed since. It’s the Tokyo 2,000 meters and I think the track will be fast. As for his race strategy, I’ll be giving that much thought up to raceday.”

Masquerade Ball

Takahisa Tezuka, trainer
“From the Japanese Derby, I’d planned to bring him back in this race. He returned from the farm on Oct. 8. He looked a bit heavy, but his overall physique was the same and, since then, he has gotten lots of work. He worked up the hill course on Oct. 16. The ground was fairly slow and it was a pretty solid workout. Christophe Lemaire breezed him on Oct. 23 on the woodchip course to get a reading on him. When the horse had entered the track, he was calm so we took the eye pacifiers off. His overall time (84.3 seconds over six furlongs) wasn’t that fast, but he was relaxed and ran well. Lemaire understands his quirks now and it was a good workout. He’ll be up against older horses, but he’ll have the weight advantage and the Tokyo course suits him. He hasn’t got into any rough spots while racing before, but I’m thinking it would be better if he can get a run toward the outside where he won’t be bothered and can race feeling good.”

Meisho Tabaru

Yutaka Take, jockey
“He did an fantastic job in the Takarazuka Kinen. Before the race, he felt almost too hyped up, much more than he had in Dubai and I was a bit concerned. But heading into the backstretch, he got into a nice rhythm and ran very well from there. The trainer says everything has gone well since and that he looked good in his final work on Oct. 29. There’s no problem with the distance itself, but it’s Tokyo, it’s the Tenno Sho, and looking at how he has raced before and what kind of speed he has, I’d have to say it’s a high hurdle. I’ve never seen a horse go wire to wire in this race. That said, I expect him to clear that hurdle and I’m also not decided whether to lead or not. He looks to be in good shape, but it’s hard to get a clear reading on him. He is somewhat difficult and not easy in the warmup. He has had problems at the gate before and those were for races in the east, so there is room for worry.”

Museum Mile

Daisuke Takayanagi, trainer
“Keita Tosaki was cool-headed and had the horse running very rhythmically in the St. Lite Kinen last out, and he gave a strong performance in the final stage and won. Compared to the spring, I was thinking he’s a bit heavy, but still in the acceptable range. He’s now able to handle a lot of work without losing weight. Since he had seemed to be too lean there for a while, this is a good development. He trained with another horse this week and last, and looked good. The Derby distance was long for him and the race didn’t flow well, but I do think the Tokyo 2,000 meters suits him. That said, he hasn’t gotten good results racing to the left, so I really can’t say but hope this experience leads him to his future races. He’s been good at the start recently, but I am a bit worried about whether he’ll be able to keep up with the pace. I’m hoping he can keep up and travel about midfield. If he gets blocked in, he won’t be able to run at his own pace, so I wouldn’t like to draw too far inside.”

Queen’s Walk

Taku Fukunaga, assistant trainer
“She had an accident before the Niigata Kinen, got loose in the warmup, jumped the rail and fell so she didn’t race. As she had some injuries, she went to the farm for a while, recovered without any problems and returned to Ritto on Oct. 3. Her preparation has gone smoothly and I don’t see any effect from her accident. Yuga Kawada rode her trackwork on Oct. 22 and she clocked 83.6 seconds over six furlongs on the woodchip course. The jockey said she was calm and didn’t feel bad. She weighed about 550kg at the time. Her weight before the Niigata Kinen was 540kg and I think we’ll see about the same number this time. She has gotten good results racing to the left. Her Oaks run wasn’t bad at all (finished fourth) and she’s suited to 2,000 meters. It’s her first race since the accident, so getting her safely into the gate will be a priority.”

Seiun Hades

Shinsuke Hashiguchi, trainer
“After winning the Epsom Cup in May, I had no plans for him to race over the summer, and if he had raced it would have given him little time between that and the autumn race. He’s the type that’ll still measure up even with quite a bit of time between races, so I decided to go straight to the Tenno Sho (Autumn). He wasn’t heavy when he came back to the stable and he’s been easy to prepare. He has no leg problems anywhere, so he has gotten a good deal of trackwork. On Oct. 22, he worked under jockey Akira Sugawara with a training partner. He started behind the other horse and ran on the outside. He wasn’t able to catch the other horse, but his time was good for him and his footwork was satisfactory. The jockey said he found him easy to ride. The lineup is strong but he is definitely suited to the Tokyo course.”

Shirankedo

Mitsunori Makiura, trainer
“Her most recent start was the Niigata Kinen. It being a mixed field of male and female, I wasn’t sure how she’d do, but she won very nicely. I passed on the Queen Elizabeth II Cup because I wanted to race her again in a spacious course. From the beginning, she didn’t suffer much damage from a race, but now she recovers even better, which makes it easier to aim her for the next race. Her strong point is the late speed, which she showed in her most recent race. Recently, she has raced from far off the pace, but early on she’d raced from a forward position. Where she’ll be this time will depend on the pace, but I think we should see that strong turn of foot this time too. Jockey Takeshi Yokoyama came to Ritto to ride her on Oct. 22. It was his first time up and, it still being over a week away from the race, I wanted him to get after her somewhat. It was a good hard workout and I think she has improved.”

Sol Oriens

Takahisa Tezuka, trainer
“In the final stage of the Takarazuka Kinen, he quickened nicely but it would have been better if he hadn’t traveled from so far back and had been able to stay closer to the others. He relaxed and refreshed over the summer at the farm and returned to Miho on Oct. 8. He had a good, hard workout on Oct. 15 and the jockey (Yuji Tannai) rode him on Oct. 23. The goal was to get a reading on his peculiarities, and the jockey was impressed that the horse could really run. After returning to the training center, he has filled out and is looking good. I think he’ll be in a good mental state on raceday. He has a good late kick, so if he doesn’t travel too far back, but keeps up with the pace, he has a chance.”

Tastiera

Noriyuki Hori, trainer
“After returning from Hong Kong, we decided to avoid the hot months to get him completely recovered, and start him back with the Tenno Sho (Autumn). When he returned to the training center, he was at his highest weight ever, 535kg. His breathing was strained and he needed more work. Considering his condition as of last week, I wanted to push him this week. From about the final 400 meters (of a five-furlong workout under Damian Lane on Oct. 29), about when he turned into the stretch, he didn’t seem to want to move on his own. He wasn’t as sharp as I’d have liked and his breathing still seemed a bit rough. Still, he has been improving steadily, so he should improve with this workout. I think he’ll be able to bring out his ability over the Tokyo 2,000 meters. The track condition, the draw and other particulars are going to make the difference between winning and losing, but he should be able to bring out his best.”

Urban Chic

Ryo Takei, trainer
“He worked on Oct. 22 over the woodchip course on the outside. His time was slower than I had expected, but he did pick it up well toward the end, so I’d say it was a good workout. Still, even though his training partner may have been moving well, this one was not really well into the bridle, and I think he had a lot more in the tank. The rider said he didn’t have the turn of foot that he’d previously had. Alexis Pouchin rode his final workout this week, and the horse’s condition looked improved. I’ll continue to adjust and finetune through to the race. He’s not easy to settle, so I thought 2,000 meters would be good for him. However, he’s not good at the break and that is a concern. I’ll give him gate practice at Miho and hope he’s good at the break.”