Japan Road to the Derby | Horse Racing Free Tips

Henny Hughes Colt Runs To Favoritism In Hyacinth S.

With soon-to-be-retired jockey Yuichi Fukunaga at the controls, Perriere (Jpn) (Henny Hughes) came to life entering the final furlong of Sunday's Listed Hyacinth S. at Tokyo Racecourse and proved far too strong for his rivals in picking up 30 points on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Winner of his first two trips to the races, Perriere was made the 11-10 favorite for the Hyacinth in his first start since a third to G3 Saudi Derby hopeful Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) in the second leg of the series, the Listed Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun at Kawasaki Dec. 14. Alertly away from gate three, the blinkered bay colt hugged the fence in the second flight of horses and was patiently handled for the run into the final 600 meters. Steered out into the four path, Perriere had aim on the front-runners at the furlong grounds and came away in the final sixteenth of a mile to score by 1 1/2 lengths (see below, SC 3). Z Lien (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) rallied for second at 51-1, while 45-1 chance Eclogite (Jpn) (Henny Hughes) nosed out second wagering choice Great Sand Sea (Into Mischief) for third. The final time for the one-turn mile on fast dirt was 1:37.2. With 36 points, Perriere is the leader in the series, with the Fukuryu S. (allowance) over nine furlongs at Nakayama Mar. 25 the final race.

Perriere is campaigned by Yuji Hasegawa, whose name has graced American bloodstock sales for the last several years. He purchased Vanishing Point (Tapit)–a full-brother to two-time Eclipse Award winner Unique Bella–for $1.5 million at KEESEP in 2019 and paid $750,000 for the Arrogate colt Poison Arrow at the same event in 2020. Hasegawa also races Open Fire (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}–Go Maggie Go), recent runner-up in the G3 Kisaragi Sho and a candidate for this year's Japanese Classics.

Purchased for ¥11 million at the 2021 Hokkaido Summer Yearling Sale, Perriere is the 43rd worldwide stakes winner for Henny Hughes and his 16th in Japan. The colt's third dam is two-time European champion Ski Paradise (Lyphard), winner in France of the G1 Prix du Moulin over a mile and runner-up to Lure in the 1993 GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita.

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Into Mischief Colts Shoot For Derby Points in Hyacinth

Tokyo Racecourse is the site of the third leg of this year's Japan Road to the Triple Crown, the $273,301 Listed Hyacinth S. going the one turn mile. A field of 14, including a pair of expensive American-bred sons of Into Mischief, look to capitalize on the fact that the winners of the first two legs of the four-race series–Continuar (Jpn) (Drefong) and Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits), have hit the road for a significantly more valuable test in next Saturday's G3 Saudi Derby in Riyadh.

Great Sand Sea (Into Mischief) is the least-experience of those signed on, having made just one previous appearance, but the $385,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $825,000 OBS April breezer made the most of it. The bay colt sat a three-wide, no-cover trip before fighting on gamely to score a narrow victory over Holonic Path (Jpn) (Just a Way {Jpn}) in a 1400-meter maiden over this surface Nov. 19 (see below, SC 8) and the latter franked the form of the race when graduating by nearly 10 lengths in his next start. Joao Moreira, who rides Shirl's Speight (Speightstown) in the G1 February S. two races later, takes the call.

The other Into Mischief colt is Meta Max, a $180,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad who fetched $1.1 million at OBS March and broke his maiden when trying the dirt for the first time over five furlongs Jan. 21.

Perriere (Jpn) (Henny Hughes) is the overnight favorite, having defeated next-out romper Yuttitham (Jpn) (Justify–Zipessa) on Sapporo debut in August and adding a Tokyo allowance before finishing third to to the aforementioned Derma Sotogake and Omatsuri Otoko (Jpn) (Vittorio d'Oro) in the Listed Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun Dec. 14.

The Hyacinth offers Kentucky Derby points on a 30-12-6-3 scale for the top four finishers. The final race on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby is the Fukuryu S. (allowance) going nine furlongs at Nakayama Mar. 25.

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Japan Road to the Derby Kicks Off at Tokyo

The first of four legs of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, the $220,717 Cattleya S. (allowance), was staged Saturday afternoon over Tokyo's one-turn mile and for the second year in a row, a son of successful young stallion and former U.S. Eclipse Award winner Drefong drew first blood in the series.

Drawn one from the outside in afield of 10, Continuar (Jpn) broke alertly, but was ultimately beaten for speed and settled in the second flight of horses while racing three off the inside and with cover down the back straight. Waited with on the turn, the 29-10 second choice was produced wide into the stretch by the visiting Damian Lane, was asked to quicken inside the final furlong and kicked on nicely to best third favorite Mirror of Mind (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) by a half-length (see below). Last year's Cattleya S. was won by Consigliere (Jpn), who went on to be third to Pinehurst (Twirling Candy) in the G3 Saudi Derby.

Purchased for ¥70 million ($635,432) at last year's JRHA Select Sales, Continuar overcame a double-digit draw to land his Oct. 8 debut over nine furlongs at Hanshin Oct. 8 and nearly made it two straight, missing narrowly in his first start against winners back at Hanshin 20 days ago. He is trained by Yoshito Yahagi, who conditioned Loves Only You (Jpn) and Marche Lorraine (Jpn) to famous wins at the Breeders' Cup in 2021.

“I think I want to take him to Saudi, then Dubai and then maybe Kentucky,” Yahagi said.

Continuar is out of a daughte rof MSW & G1SP Fusaichi Pandora (Jpn) (Sunday Silence), best known as the dam of two-time Japanese Horse of the Year and dual G1 Japan Cup heroine Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}). This is also the female family of champion El Gran Senor.

Continuar was awarded 10 points for his victory, while Mirror of Mind earned 4 points. The next race in the series is the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun at Kawasaki Dec. 14.

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