Race favorite Danon the Kid claimed this year's Hopeful Stakes at Nakayama in Japan, giving his sire Just a Way (by Heart's Cry) his first G1 title. The bay colt has emulated this year's Triple Crown victor Contrail in capping off his debut campaign undefeated with three consecutive wins—after claiming his debut start in June, he scored a graded win in the Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes (G3) on Nov. 23.
Trainer Takayuki Yasuda captured his 12th JRA-G1 title, his first since the 2013 Sprinters Stakes with Lord Kanaloa, while jockey Yuga Kawada claimed his 15th, celebrating his latest victory just a week earlier with Grenadier Guards in the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes.
The 15 runners broke smoothly with Land of Liberty grabbing the lead, pressed by Titleholder in second and Orthoclase in third by the first turn. Danon the Kid, along with Vanishing Point on his outside, advanced to third and fourth, respectively, as the field cruised down the backstretch. As the pacesetter swerved way off course and tossed his rider while the field approached the final corner, Danon the Kid made a wide move entering the straight first and turned up an extra gear in the last 100 meters to cross the wire by a good 1-1/4 length margin.
“I'm just so happy that I have at last been able to win on one of my mentor and teacher Mr. Yasuda's runners. The stable staff did a great job in tuning up the colt and he ran much better than he did in his previous start but still, he couldn't find a good rhythm and was not steady in the last two corners today. There is still a lot of room for improvement and we intend to work hard so he can kick off a good three-year-old campaign,” commented Yuga Kawada after the race.
Breaking from the most inner stall, third favorite Orthoclase steadily saved ground in third to fourth up to the last corner, advanced smoothly to second by the furlong pole and threatened the eventual winner briefly but lacked the final kick, while holding off Yoho Lake by 1/2 length to finish second.
Sent off fourth favorite, Yoho Lake was unhurried traveling in mid-field and three-wide before making rapid headway rounding the last turn and chased the eventual winner in the straight with the tied fastest late drive but succumbed to third.
Other Horses:
4th: (11) Titleholder—broke sharply, pressed pace, fought briefly with winner in early stretch, gave up 3rd in last 50m
5th: (13) Chevalier Rose—wide trip in 10th to 11th, advanced while chasing Yoho Lake in straight, no match
6th: (5) Tenkaharu—settled in 10th to 11th, rounded last corner economically, showed effort
7th: (9) Aoi Sho—4th from rear, shifted out wide for bid, tied with fastest last 3-furlong drive, unable to threaten
8th: (7) Machaon d'Or—saved ground around 13th, made headway along the rails and rallied for the lead, weakened in last 50m
9th: (4) Vigore—took economic trip around 6th, met traffic at early stretch, lacked needed kick
10th: (12) Admire Sage—settled around 7th, took wide route to enter lane, unable to reach contention
11th: (6) Whole Shebang—sat around 6th, dropped position in last corners, showed little at stretch
12th: (8) Vanishing Point—traveled wide in midfield, advanced to 2nd in backstretch, fell back turning last corner
13th: (15) Say Hello to You—traveled 2nd from last, no factor
14th: (14) Moriden Arrow—trailed in very rear, never a threat
Fail to Finish: (3) Land of Liberty—set pace, drifted outside at 4th corner and lost rider
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