hanshin | Horse Racing Free Tips

Shuka Sho Offers Level Playing Field

Sunday's final leg of the Japanese Filly Triple Crown, the G1 Shuka Sho, looms a championship event and serves as a rubber match between the winners of the first two races in the series–Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune), the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) victress and Uberleben (Jpn) (Gold Ship {Jpn}), who took out the G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks)–over a 2000-metre distance that is a quarter-mile longer than the Guineas and two furlongs shorter than the Oaks.

Sodashi, a white filly just like her extremely popular dam Buchiko (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}), ran the table in four starts at two, locking up a championship in the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (1600mT) before resuming with a gut-busting success in course-record time in Apr. 11 Oka Sho. With questions to answer in the Oaks, Sodashi didn't quite see out the trip, weakening to eighth behind the fast-finishing Uberleben, but she bounced back to defeat 2019 Oaks winner and GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf-bound Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G2 Sapporo Kinen going the 2000 metres Aug. 22.

“She was very strong in Sapporo,” said jockey Hayato Yoshida. “The course suited her and we had only 52 kg. From two weeks ago, however, compared to Hokkaido, her mood starting returning more to what it was in the spring when she'd been tense and nervous. But she also showed strength I hadn't seen in the spring Group 1s and the way she took the bit. Everything about her felt more powerful.”

Uberleben, third in the Juvenile Fillies last December, filled the same position in a pair of lead-up events in early spring but came good in the Oaks, sitting a bit of a wide trip beneath Mirco Demuro before weaving through late to account for Akaitorino Musume (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) by a tight length (see below). Uberleben has overcome an interrupted preparation to make the Shuka Sho, but she has the full confidence of her trainer.

“After the Japanese Oaks, she had inflammation in the tendon of her left foreleg,” Takahisa Tezuka explained. “The swelling itself soon subsided and, in short, she was able to start training at the farm sooner than I'd thought she would. When her hard training started, her lungs were still weak and I did question whether she'd be ready in time. But, with each bit of work, she improved and faster than I thought. This week's fast week saw her the most on her game.”

Third and beaten under a length in the Guineas, Fine Rouge (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) was only 11th in the Oaks, but bounced back to win the Sept. 11 G3 Shion S. with some authority, besting Through Seven Seas (Jpn) (Dream Journey {Jpn}) by 1 3/4 lengths, with Miss Figaro (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) another nose back in third. It will be up to Christophe Lemaire to work out a trip from an awkward gate.

Andvaranaut (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) has worked her way through the grades, with three wins from four starts this term, including a cosy defeat of A Shin Hiten (Jpn) (A Shin Hikari {Jpn}) and Art de Vivre (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) in the 2000-metre G2 Rose S. at Chukyo Sept. 19.

WATCH: Uberleben outlasts her rivals in the Yushun Himba

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Notable US-Bred Runners in Japan: Oct. 16 & 17, 2021

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 Niigata, Tokyo and Hanshin Racecourses. The last mentioned is the site of Sunday's G1 Shuka Sho, featuring G1 Oka Sho (1600mT) heroine Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune) against Uberleben (Jpn) (Gold Ship {Jpn}), the G1 Yushun Himba (2400mT) winner, squaring off over the metric 10 furlongs:

Saturday, October 16, 2021
5th-NII, ¥13,400,000 ($118k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1800m
TOSEN EL DORADO (c, 2, Candy Ride {Arg}–Almudena {Per}, by Silver Planet {Arg}) is out of a winner of the G1 Polla de Potrancas (Peruvian 1000 Guineas) who produced US-bred Peruvian champion grass horse More Than Words (More Than Ready) and champion 3-year-old filly and fellow Potrancas victress Cascanueces (Smart Strike). Almudena, the broodmare of the year in Peru for 2017, was acquired privately by this breeder in 2018 and foaled this colt in April 2019 before being exported to Japan. B-Mr Takaya Shimakawa (KY)

Sunday, October 17, 2021
4th-TOK, ¥13,400,000 ($118k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1300m
MOODY NILE (f, 2, American Pharoah–Henny Jenney, by Henny Hughes) realized $200K as a Keeneland September yearling last fall, but breezed a quarter-mile in the bullet time of :20 4/5 at OBS March over the winter and was knocked down for $600K, the priciest of her Triple Crown-winning sire's 20 juveniles to sell (22 ring) this year and second most-expensive purchase out of the sale. The Apr. 1 foal is the second from her MSW/GSP dam, a half-sister to MSW & GISP Zeewat (Harlan's Holiday) and SP I'm Wanted (Posse), who is also responsible for Moody Nile's year-older full-brother Primary Colors, a debut third at Belmont this past June. B-Camas Park Stud (KY)

5th-TOK, ¥13,400,000 ($118k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400mT
CANDY DRIVE (c, 2, Candy Ride {Arg}–Supreme, by Empire Maker), a half-brother to GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. hero and future Claiborne stallion Silver State (Hard Spun), was led out unsold on a bid of $95,000 at KEESEP last fall, but improved dramatically and realized a final bid of $500K at OBSMAR after working an eighth of a mile in a smooth :10 flat. Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings went to $800K for the SW & GSP Supreme in foal to Giant's Causeway at KEEJAN in 2013. The mare is out of Mon Belle (Maria's Mon), whose full-brother Monarchos won the 2001 GI Kentucky Derby. B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings (KY)

9th-HSN, ¥30,400,000 ($268k), Allowance, 2yo, 1400mT
JASPER KRONE (c, 2, Frosted–Fancy Kitten, by Kitten's Joy), a $25K KEESEP yearling turned $90K OBS March breezer, opened his account with a 1 3/4-length victory at Niigata Aug. 21 (see below, gate 14) and gave a good account of himself when a close third facing winners for the first time at Nakayama Sept. 25. Jasper Krone is the first produce for his stakes-placed dam, a $10K purchase by Machmer Hall out of the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed sale. B-Machmer Hall & Godolphin (KY)

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Chrono Genesis Defends Title In Takarazuka Kinen

Japan stages a pair of 'all-star' races each season, the G1 Takarazuka Kinen in early summer and the G1 Arima Kinen at year's end, giving fans a chance to vote for their favourite runners. The last four runnings of these events have been won by females–Lys Gracieux (Jpn) completed the double in 2019, while Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}) repeated the feat last year. The latter, who scored by six lengths last June, is back to defend her title in the final top-level test of the first half of the season, which offers the winner a fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar in November.

Winner of half of her 14 career trips to the post, the gray mare was a sound third to Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) over 2000 metres last November before taking the 12 1/2-furlong Arima Kinen by a neck Dec. 27. She was most recently beaten a neck into second by Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) in the Mar. 27 G1 Dubai Sheema Classic (2410m), the form of which was franked when Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) returned to take the G1 FWD QE II Cup in Hong Kong.

“She got bumped quite badly last time in the Dubai Sheema Classic and it was an unlucky race for her, but she still ran well,” her trainer Takashi Saito said. “She came back to the stable on June 2, and in her first piece of work after that, she seemed a little heavy, but soon got switched on in her usual way of doing things.”

Further female power comes in the form of Lei Papale (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who has yet to taste defeat in her six career trips to the post to date. Winner in Group 3 company at the tail end of her 3-year-old season, the bay got the litmus test in the G1 Osaka Hai over a rain-affected turf course at Hanshin Apr. 4, but she proved more than equal to the task in scoring by four lengths from Mozu Bello (Jpn) (Deep Brillante {Jpn}), with the likes of Triple Crown hero Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and champion Gran Alegria (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) left further back in her wake.

Aristoteles (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) finished first or second in his first seven starts, then put a real scare into Contrail in the G1 Kikuka Sho (3000m), going down to a narrow defeat in that final leg of the Triple Crown last October. A Group 2 winner to begin this season, he exits a fourth in the May 2 G1 Tenno Sho (Spring) over two miles of this course. Kiseki (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}), winless since the 2017 Kikuka Sho, was runner-up in this event in each of the last two seasons.

Unicorn Lion (Ire) (No Nay Never) cost 850,000gns at Tattersalls October in 2017 and enters the Takarazuka Kinen on a two-race winning streak, including a 19-1 upset of the G3 Naruo Kinen at Chukyo June 5.

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Notable US-Bred & -Sired Runners in Japan: June 26, 2021

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. The final Group 1 event of the spring/early summer, the Takarazuka Kinen, is slated for Sunday at Hanshin and is led by its defending champion Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}):

Saturday, June 26, 2021
1st-HSN, ¥9,680,000 ($87k), Maiden, 2yo, 1600mT
CONCH PEARL (f, 2, American Pharoah–A Z Warrior, by Bernardini) makes her second start, having had the misfortune of running into a potential monster when clearly runner-up to 'TDN Rising Star' Command Line (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) on Tokyo debut June 5 (see below, gate 3). A daughter of the 2010 GI Frizette S. heroine, the half-sister to SW Key To My Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and SP Cole Porter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is out of a half-sister to MGSW/GISP Jojo Warrior–a daughter of American Pharoah's sire Pioneerof the Nile–as well as MSW & GSP J Z Warrior (Harlan's Holiday) and GSW & GISP E Z Warrior (Exploit). Conch Pearl cost $340K at KEESEP last fall. B-Triemore Stud (KY)

10th-TOK, ¥28,600,000 ($258k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 1600m
VALKYRJA (JPN) (f, 4, Tapit–Peace and War, by War Front) is perfect in just two previous appearances, a debut victory at Kyoto in February 2020 before returning from a 13-month absence to add a first-level Chukyo allowance over a very sloppy strip this past Mar. 13 (see below, gate 9). Peace and War, upset winner of the 2014 GI Darley Alcibiades S., was sold for $1.45 million with this filly in utero at Keeneland November in 2016. B-Northern Racing

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