The Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby will begin early Saturday morning with the $271,844 (USD) Cattleya Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse.
Kazumi Yoshida's Consigliere (JPN) was the early 2-1 favorite in the Cattleya. Trained by Yukio Inagaki, Consigliere broke his maiden at first asking on Aug. 22 at Niigata. The son of Drefong is scheduled to be ridden by Christophe Lemaire.
Consigliere is slated to face 14 rivals including Mataichiro Yamamoto's World Connector, the current 4-1 second choice in the wagering. The son of Connect broke his maiden on Oct. 31 over the turf at Tokyo Racecourse. The Kazuo Fujisawa trainee will be ridden by Ryan Moore.
The one-mile Cattleya Stakes is carded as Race 9 at Tokyo with a post time of 12:15 a.m. ET. The Top 4 finishers will be awarded points on a 10-4-2-1 scale.
The Del Mar Fall Challenge, a one-day handicapping contest involving 85 big bettors from across the country participating in a $3,000 “buy-in” tournament, will be conducted Saturday at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.
Of the $3,000 entry fee, $1,000 goes to the prize pool and $2,000 is loaded onto an account wagering card for “live money” wagers. Players may participate on-track at Del Mar or online through TVG.com. Wagering from the Challenge participants is expected to be nearly $350,000.
The Challenge is conducted on-track in the Seabiscuit Skyroom. However, players may wager on any SAM betting machine throughout the facility. Challenge players will check-in Saturday between 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the umbrella table in front of the Executive Offices.
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners could have as many as two contenders for the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile presented by NYRA Bets, slated for Saturday, December 4, at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, N.Y.
Aron Wellman, managing partner of the syndicate, said multiple graded stakes winner Independence Hall is confirmed for the final Grade 1 race at NYRA for the calendar year in his last start before going to stud.
Wellman added that Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Aloha West could also run in the Cigar Mile in pursuit of an Eclipse Award for Champion Sprinter.
“Independence Hall is definite pending his next work at Churchill,” Wellman said. “The Cigar Mile is under consideration for Aloha West, but no decisions have been made.”
Trained by Michael McCarthy, Independence Hall registered a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure last out when going gate-to-wire in the Grade 2 Fayette on October 30 over a sloppy and sealed Keeneland main track.
Owned in partnership with Twin Creeks Racing Stables, WinStar Farm, Kathleen Verratti and Robert Verratti, the son of Constitution is 2-for-2 at a one-turn mile at Aqueduct when romping to a 12 ¼-length victory in the Grade 3 Nashua in November 2019 followed by a four-length score in the Jerome on New Year's Day 2020.
Aloha West, a two-time winner at Saratoga this summer, returned to the work tab on Wednesday morning for trainer Wayne Catalano, recording a half-mile move in 49.40 over the Fair Grounds Race Course main track.
“We wanted to put the Cigar Mile in play, which is why we breezed Wednesday, but we're monitoring him closely ahead of the race,” Wellman said. “That workout was designed to try to get a gauge on if we should pursue the race or not.”
A victory would make Aloha West the first horse to capture both the Breeders' Cup Sprint and Cigar Mile. Prior to his last out coup, which saw a 100 Beyer, the Maryland-bred son of Hard Spun was second beaten a neck in the Grade 2 Phoenix on October 8 at Keeneland.
In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Hanshin and Tokyo Racecourses. Click here for a preview of Sunday's G1 Longines Japan Cup at Tokyo, which has drawn four of the last six winners of the course-and-distance G1 Tokyo Yushun. Last year's Triple Crown hero Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) will start a warm favorite over this year's Derby winner Shahryar (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}):
Saturday, November 27, 2021 5th-HSN, ¥13,400,000 ($118k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1600mT HYPER STORM (f, 2, Stormy Atlantic–Queen's Turf {Jpn}, by Deep Impact {Jpn}) is the first produce for her dam, purchased for nearly $490K as a foal at the 2012 JRHA Select Sales who made a successful career debut as the favorite in a 1400-meter newcomers event on the dirt at this track nearly seven years ago. The May foal's second dam is a full-sister to Furioso (Jpn) (Brian's Time), a nine-time stakes winner and runner-up in the G1 February S. on the dirt in Japan. B-Winchester Farm (KY)
6th-TOK, ¥13,400,000 ($118k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1600m SUCCESS LAUREL (JPN) (c, 2, Mastery–Courtesan, by Street Sense) is the first Japanese-foaled produce out of her dam, a two-time stakes winner and twice Grade III-placed on the turf for Ramona Bass and Christophe Clement. Purchased in utero for $250K at KEENOV in 2018, the bay was knocked down for better than $426K as a yearling at the 2020 Hokkaido Summer Yearling Sale, the third-priciest of his freshman sire (by Candy Ride {Arg})'s first-crop yearlings reported as sold. Pretty Discreet (Private Account), the dam of GISW sire and 'TDN Rising Star' Discreet Cat (Forestry), GISW Discreetly Mine (Mineshaft) and SW & MGISP Pretty Wild (Wild Again) serves as the colt's third dam. B-Oshima Bokujo
6th-HSN, ¥13,400,000 ($118k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1800m SHAILENE (f, 2, Arrogate–Amen Hallelujah, by Montbrook), a $150K KEESEP yearling acquisition, was knocked down to Katsumi Yoshida for an even $1 million at this year's OBS April sale–second in price only to likely champion 'TDN Rising Star' and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile hero Corniche (Quality Road)–after breezing an eighth of a mile in :10 flat. MGSW and four-time Grade I-placed Amen Hallelujah was purchased by the Courtelis's Town & Country for $950K in foal to Distorted Humor at KEENOV in 2013. She changed hands for $80K pregnant to Union Rags at the same auction last year and was RNAd for $135K at this year's KEENOV sale. B-Town & Country Horse Farms LLC (KY)
FOOLISH HOBBY (f, 2, Arrogate–Flatter Up, by Flatter) gives her sire a second crack at a third Japanese winner in this same heat. A daughter of the Grade III-placed Flatter Up, the gray was sold for $260K at last year's Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase and made $450K at the auction house's Gulfstream Sale after covering two furlongs in a slick :21 1/5 (see below). The filly's granddam, Tenacious Tina (Benchmark), who is responsible for MGSP Tina Tina (Paddy O'Prado), is a half-sister to young sire and GISW Midnight Storm (Pioneerof the Nile). Three Chimneys purchased Flatter Up with this foal in utero for $300K at KEENOV in 2018. B-Three Chimneys Farm LLC (KY)
Saturday, November 28, 2021 5th-TOK, ¥14,360,000 ($127k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 1600m ISHTAR (JPN) (f, 3, American Pharoah–Mohini {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) is a full-sister to U.S.-bred Pista, a Group 3 winner in England and Group 1-placed in France, whose dam was covered once again by American Pharoah before her export to Japan in 2017. The bay filly is out of a daughter of champion Denebola (Storm Cat), granddam of G1 Prix de Diane heroine Senga (Blame) and SW Bolting (War Front), while her champion third dam Coup de Genie (Mr. Prospector)–a full-sister to Machiavellian–was responsible for the dam of Japanese-based sire Bago (Fr) (Nashwan), G1SW Maxios (GB) (Monsun {Ger}) and SW/MGSP Beta (GB) (Selkirk). B-Northern Farm
