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Another ‘Sun’-ny Prospect For Kitasan Black In Keisei Hai

Just days after his son Equinox (Jpn) was named both champion of his generation and Horse of the Year in Japan, Kitasan Black (Jpn) could well have another player on this year's Classics trail in the form of Sol Oriens (Jpn), who took his record to two-from-two with a convincing victory in Sunday's G3 Keisei Hai at Nakayama.

The slight second choice in the wagering behind Seven Magician (Jpn) (Just a Way {Jpn}), the Shadai homebred was void of early speed and raced with about three rivals behind into the backstretch behind a modest tempo. Held together into the final half-mile by Takehsi Yokoyama, Sol Oriens was asked for an effort approaching the exit to the second turn, but drifted out several paths off the home corner. Rebalanced in upper stretch, he focused on the task at hand and ran out an easy winner while racing greenly and on his incorrect lead through the final furlong. Omega Rich Man (Jpn) (Isla Bonita {Jpn}), easily the roughest chance in the field of nine, ran home for second ahead of Seven Magician in third.

Pedigree Notes:

A bit of a later-bloomer in his own right, Kitasan Black won the G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) at three, but is throwing runners more precocious than he. Sol Oriens is the fourth black-type winner–each at group level–for Kitasan Black, two each from his first two crops.

Patrick Barbe acquired the French stakes-winning Skia for €320,000 in foal to Leroidesanimaux (Brz) at the 2014 Arqana December Sale and her second Japanese-bred foal is the gifted Vin de Garde, a Group 2 winner at home and placed in the last two renewals of the G1 Dubai Turf. A half-sister to Tropaios (GB) (Excellent Art {GB}), also a stakes winner in France before becoming a star in Singapore for the China Horse Club, is also the dam of a 2-year–old colt by Kizuna (Jpn) and is due to Epiphaneia (Jpn) this season. Dam-sire Motivator is now responsible for 14 black-type winners (six group winners), a number that also includes treble Japanese Group 1 scorer Titleholder (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}).

Sunday, Nakayama, Japan
KEISEI HAI-G3, ¥76,450,000, Nakayama, 1-15, 3yo, 2000mT, 2:02.20, fm.
1–SOL ORIENS (JPN), 123, c, 3, by Kitasan Black (Jpn)
1st Dam: Skia (Fr) (GSW-Fr, $163,904), by Motivator (GB)
2nd Dam: Light Quest, by Quest For Fame (GB)
3rd Dam: Gleam of Light (Ire), by Danehill
1ST GROUP WIN. 1ST STAKES WIN. O-Shadai Race Horse; B-Shadai Farm; T-Takahisa Tezuka; J-Takeshi Yokoyama; ¥40,315,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, ¥47,315,000. *1/2 to Vin de Garde (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), GSW-Jpn, MG1SP-UAE, $2,792,422. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Omega Rich Man (Jpn), 123, c, 3, Isla Bonita (Jpn)–El Calafate (Jpn), by Deep Impact (Jpn). (¥16,000,000 Wlg '20 JRHAJUL). O-Reiko Hara; B-Shadai Farm; ¥16,090,000.
3–Seven Magician (Jpn), 123, c, 3, Just a Way (Jpn)–Happiness Dancer (Jpn), by Meisho Samson (Jpn). O-Yoshiyuki Maesako; B-Northern Farm; ¥ 10,045,000.
Margins: 2HF, 1 1/4, HF. Odds: 1.70, 117.00, 1.70. Click for the JRA Chart.

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Real World Still Possible For World Cup

Although he beat just three home in the G1 Saudi Cup a fortnight ago, trainer Saeed bin Suroor said Real World (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) could still stay on the dirt for the G1 Dubai World Cup on Mar. 26.

Godolphin's 5-year-old came alive in Britain last summer, winning the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot followed by three straight black-type races culminating in the G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein in October, and he kicked off his campaign with victory in the G2 Zabeel Mile at Meydan on Jan. 28. Real World ran on the dirt four times during last year's carnival and while he didn't win, he was placed three times, and bin Suroor said his Saudi Cup performance wasn't about an inability to handle dirt.

“He missed the break and from the start it did not look like he was going to win,” the trainer said. “That was clear to me and everyone else who saw it. He has come back after the race very good and he has exercised well. He is happy and healthy.

“He looks good, we will keep options open for him now. He will either go to the Dubai World Cup or the [G1] Dubai Turf, the nine-furlong race. I think we will make that decision a week before the race. I have to talk to Sheikh Mohammed about that.

Bin Suroor's Storm Damage (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) was the winner of the only non black-type race on Meydan's Super Saturday card last weekend, and the 4-year-old gelding looks ready to step up to pattern level.

“He is a nice horse,” said bin Suroor. “Last time Frankie [Dettori] rode him, he won over seven furlongs at Meydan on Super Saturday. He is a horse who could go over sprint trips or over a mile and could go for the Dubai Turf. The options are open for him.”

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Pletcher Talks Life Is Good, Colonel Liam, Top 3YOs On Writers’ Room

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday fresh off of a pair of seven-figure wins at Gulfstream and amid one of the hottest streaks of his training life. Sitting down with Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and Jon Green as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Pletcher talked about Life Is Good's dazzling win in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. and what's next for the superstar son of Into Mischief, a planned Dubai trip for MGISW turfer Colonel Liam (Liam's Map), what he thinks of his ample stable of Triple Crown nominees and more.

Asked about the plan for Life Is Good going into the Pegasus relative to how the race played out, Pletcher said, “When you're coming up with a strategy for a race, you know what you want to do, but you don't always know what your opponent wants to do. I thought when Knicks Go drew the rail, their hands were cuffed and they were going to have to come out running. And we wanted to come out running and play to our horse's strength, which is his speed. It surprised me a little bit that he cleared off as easily as he did. But if you look back to the Allen Jerkens at Saratoga, he's super fast. He was a couple of lengths in front of Jackie's Warrior down the backside. He didn't break great [in the Pegasus], but his second, third and fourth steps were really good, and he got [to the lead] the right way. I was pretty confident turning up the backside, but he still had some running to do. And we were just delighted with his performance. It was everything we hoped for.”

Pletcher added that Life Is Good's first post-Pegasus breeze would likely come this Friday, with his next start expected to come in the Mar. 26 G1 Dubai World Cup, and GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. would likely be on that plane with him.

“If everything stays on course [with Life Is Good] and we go to Dubai, we're going to take him as well for the [G1] Dubai Turf,” he said. “It's the same timing as with Life Is Good, so we feel the timing's good. I feel like he came out of the Pegasus Turf even better than he went into it, so taking a shot at a race like that is worthwhile.”

The conversation turned to a potential third, synthetic surface potentially being installed at Belmont Park as has been done at Gulfstream and whether or not that would help keep some turf horses in New York who would normally ship south during the winter months.

“To be honest with you, I I don't know what the synthetic would do there, and one of the things that we're sort of learning during this [Gulfstream] meet is which horses handle the Tapeta and which ones don't,” Pletcher said. “And I haven't been able to do it without actually running them on it. We've had several horses that have won Tapeta races that were off the turf who were coming off turf wins and they handled it fine. We had a couple other ones that were coming off good turf races that we ran on the Tapeta, and you can tell in the first 100 yards that they hated it. So that was one of the things that was difficult for us before [with synthetic tracks]. I can think of an example at Keeneland. Years ago, we had a filly named Wait A While who was a top class turf mare. She worked at Keeneland on the synthetic, going a ridiculous :46 flat [half-mile], with her neck bowed, in hand the whole way. We were running in the [GI] First Lady. It rained, it came off the turf and I was like, off that breeze, I have no reservation running her at all. But that afternoon, she never tightened the bridle. She hated it. So it's a little bit tricky to get a line on [the track] without running on it. So could it keep some turf horses in New York? Possibly, yeah I think it could, and then it would just be a matter of seeing if they actually took to it.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, West Point Thoroughbreds, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers discussed the ongoing silence over hearings to adjudicate to the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby, Jonathon Kinchen's suspension from the NHC Tour and Thursday night's Eclipse Awards. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Gosden Readying Mishriff For ‘Another Crack’ At Saudi Cup

Surprise winner of the $20 million Saudi Cup last February, the John and Thady Gosden-trained Mishriff is being readied for a repeat in 2022, according to racingpost.com. The 5-year-old son of Make Believe posted wins in last year's Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic and G1 Juddmonte International at York, finishing the season with a fourth-place finish in the G1 Champion Stakes at Ascot.

“Mishriff has done well over winter as you would expect as he's a 5-year-old and he's thickened out again,” Gosden told racingpost.com. “He's been back out cantering on Warren Hill for the past few days and we are slowly building him up for another crack at the Saudi Cup.”

The Saudi Cup will hold Group 1 status for the first time in 2022.

Joining Mishriff on the trip to Saudi Arabia may be his Group 1-winning stablemate Lord North, who could target the G3 Neom Cup on the turf. The 6-year-old Dubawi horse won the G1 Dubai Turf last March, but missed the rest of the season.