After emerging in good form from his GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. victory, MGSW Skelly (Practical Joke) will look to climb the class ladder with future targets including the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. and the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, announced trainer Steve Asmussen Sunday morning.
Having posted the meet's best time for six furlongs at 1:08.82 in that Count Fleet effort, beating the prior mark of 1:09.38, which he also set in his 2024 debut, the Oaklawn star will be setting his sights on bigger prizes this summer and autumn.
“I think that the two main targets for the rest of the year are the Vanderbilt at Saratoga and Breeders' Cup,” Asmussen said. “I do know I want to keep him at three-quarters of a mile.”
The Count Fleet was Skelly's first race back in the States since having his seven-race winning streak snapped by Remake (Jpn) (Lani) in the G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint.
“Very fortunate to have him,” Asmussen said. “Believe it or not, [Skelly] went to Saudi [Arabia] and came back faster. Speaks volumes about who he is.”
The Vanderbilt runs July 27 at Saratoga and the Breeders' Cup Sprint will go Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
The Japan contingent went two-for-two in the major races early on Saudi Cup Day as Koichi Shintani's REMAKE (JPN) (h, 5, Lani–Sariel {Jpn}, by King Kamehameha {Jpn}) rallied powerfully in the $1.5-million G3 Sports Boulevard Riyadh Dirt Sprint to run down Steve Asmussen's Skelly (Practical Joke), while Bill Mott's Bold Journey (Hard Spun) got up late for third. In a notable twist, the same trio of conditioners also finished in the top three in the race in 2023, albeit in a very different order. The victory by a Japan-based horse was the third in five editions of the Riyadh Dirt Sprint, with Dancing Prince (Jpn) (Pas De Trois {Jpn}) taking the 2022 renewal and Copano Kicking (Spring At Last) winning in 2021.
“If Remake showed his performance, I was pretty sure he was going to get there,” said Shintani. “But as he got beaten last year it was so disappointing, so we spoke with the staff and tried to better that performance. I think he is at an advantage that he can race from anywhere and that is his strength.”
A bit of roughhousing shook up the outside horses as the gates flew, but Remake broke cleanly to their inside and was unbothered. The chestnut angled over to the rail behind the second flight as the first 400 metres registered in :23.44 and a trio up front showed the way. Japan's well-traveled Jasper Krone (Frosted) held a narrow lead between horses 800 metres on (:46.05) as Skelly threatened only briefly before safely taking the controls. At the same time, Remake floated out wide off the turn for a clear run from behind and relentlessly closed down the lane, full of run, as Skelly shortened stride. Rider Yuga Kawada put away his right-handed stick and kept his mount under a hand ride for the final strides, waving his hand to acknowledge the victory at the wire. Skelly held second while Bold Journey rallied late to best Jasper Krone, making his first start on dirt, for third. The final time for the 1200 metres was a sharp 1:10.42.
“I have won three Japan Derbies but this is even more,” said winning owner Koji Maeda. “When he came into the final bend he was travelling so well and I was pretty sure he was going to win.
“Physically he has improved since last year. The trainer and all his staff put everything together and brought the horse here for a brilliant result which makes it really special. I came from no background in racing and now I have 30 Group 1 winners as an owner-breeder. It means a lot. I will bring the trophy back to [the] hotel and sleep with it tonight.”
Third in this race behind Mott's Elite Power (Curlin) and Asmussen's Gunite (Gun Runner) last year, Remake turned the tables on the Americans with the win. Last year, Remake shipped to Dubai for the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen after the Dirt Sprint and finished fifth before returning to Japan for a listed stakes win and a second in the G3 Procyon S. He closed out the year with a G3 Korea Sprint score in Seoul and a runner-up finish in Japan's JBC Sprint. The Dirt Sprint was his first start since Nov. 3.
Pedigree Notes
A member of his sire's first crop, Remake is currently the sole black-type winner for Arrow Stud's Lani. The young stallion was bred in the U.S., won his biggest career race in Dubai, and stands in Japan. Although also trained in Japan, he did ship back to his native country to finish third in the 2016 GI Belmont S. after winning the G2 UAE Derby. King Kamehameha (Jpn), Japan's champion 3-year-old two decades ago, has 44 stakes winners, including Remake, out of his daughters. He hails from the Kingmambo branch of the Mr. Prospector line.
North Hills Co. Limited bred not only Remake, but also Lani and Lani's dam. The operation picked up Sariel, Remake's dam, for ¥21,000,000 at the 2007 Japan Racing Horse Association Select Sale. Her granddam is a half-sister to both the wonderful 1997 English Broodmare of the Year Slightly Dangerous (Roberto), whose four group winners included champions Commander In Chief (GB) (Dancing Brave) and Warning (GB) (Known Fact), and to group winner I Will Follow (Herbager {Fr}), dam of champion and excellent sire Rainbow Quest (Blushing Groom {Fr}).
Saturday, King Abdulaziz (Riyadh), Saudi Arabia SPORTS BOULEVARD RIYADH DIRT SPRINT-G3, $1,500,000, King Abdulaziz, 2-24, NH/SH3yo/up, 1200m, 1:10.42, ft.
1–REMAKE (JPN), 126, h, 5, by Lani 1st Dam: Sariel (Jpn) (GSP-Jpn, $888,410), by King Kamehameha (Jpn) 2nd Dam: Shinko Nobby, by Nashwan 3rd Dam: Christabelle, by Northern Dancer
O-Koji Maeda; B-North Hills Co Ltd; T-Koichi Shintani; J-Yuga Kawada; $900,000. Lifetime Record: GSW-Jpn & Kor, 16-8-3-2, $2,978,544. Werk Nick Rating: D+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Skelly, 126, g, 5, Practical Joke–Adande, by Bwana Charlie. ($250,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEP; $350,000 RNA 2yo '21 FTFMAR). O-Red Lane Thoroughbreds LLC; B-H Allen Poindexter (KY); T-Steve Asmussen; J-Ricardo Santana Jr; $300,000.
3–Bold Journey, 126, h, 5, Hard Spun–Polly Freeze, by Super Saver. ($75,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP; $80,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR). O-Pantofel Stable, Wachtel Stable & Gary Barber; B-Fred W Hertrich III & John D Fielding (NY); T-Bill Mott; J-Joel Rosario; $150,000.
Margins: 1HF, 1HF, 1.
Also Ran: Jasper Krone, Cairama, Keiai Dorie (Jpn), Power of Beauty (Ire), Sunset Flash (Ire), Rebellious Stage, Tuz, Alfaisaleyah (GB). Click for the JCSA chart (R5).
Kazumi Yoshida's Consigliere (JPN) was able to hold off the late charge of Cafe Karma (JPN) and Geraldo Barows (JPN) to win Saturday's Cattleya Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse in Tokyo, Japan, the kickoff of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve.
Trained by Yukio Inagaki and ridden by Christophe Lemaire, Consigliere earned 10 points on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. Cafe Karma and Geraldo Barows earned four and two points, respectively while World Connector earned one point for his fourth-place effort.
First staged in 2017, the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby is a stand-alone series of races that is separate from the traditional Road to the Kentucky Derby. Only one invitation to compete in the Kentucky Derby will be extended in the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, with preference given to the horses with the most points earned in the series.
Three horses based in Japan have run in the Kentucky Derby: Ski Captain (14th, 1995), Lani (9th, 2016), and Master Fencer (JPN) (6th, 2019).
Yuji Inaida's France Go de Ina is unusually well traveled for a 3-year-old colt with a four-race career for a trainer who has never hesitated to venture away from Japan for major international stakes.
France Go de Ina, who arrived at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., on Saturday evening for a scheduled start in Saturday's 146th Preakness Stakes (G1), will be the second horse saddled by trainer Hideyuki Mori for a start in a U.S. Triple Crown race. Sky Captain, who finished 14th in the 1995 Kentucky Derby (G1), was the first of six horses that Mori has brought to the U.S. to compete in Grade 1 stakes.
The 62-year-old Mori, who most recently saddled Jasper Prince for a 14th-place finish in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Keeneland, hasn't broken through with a Grade 1 victory in the U.S., but he has made history throughout the world.
“He's been traveling since he first launched his stable,” said Kate Hunter, the Preakness field representative for the Japan Racing Association, Sunday morning at Pimlico. “He was the first Japanese trainer to win a Hong Kong International race, and now [the Japanese horses] win that every year. He was the first to win an international Group 1 abroad, it was in France.”
Mori made history in France in 1998 when he saddled Seeking the Pearl for a victory in the Prix Maurice de Gheest (G1) at Deauville.
“He's quite the pioneer and continues to prove that year after year sending these horses abroad. He likes to travel and give his owners a unique experience,” said Hunter, who reported Mori will arrive at Pimlico Monday. “It's a great honor in Japan to say, 'I raced in Saudi Arabia, I raced in America, I raced in the Preakness.' It's something special and a unique opportunity to provide his clients.”
France Go de Ina, who won two of his first three races in Japan, shipped to Dubai, where he finished a troubled sixth in the UAE Derby (G2) March 27 before returning to Japan. The son of Will Take Charge shipped from Japan May 5 to Los Angeles, where he was in quarantine for two days before shipping to Newark, N.J. and vanning to Pimlico.
“You're looking at a horse who can deal with a lot. American horses in general are probably more used to traveling than most of the Japanese horses. They're pretty good at long van rides but they don't fly very much in Japan so to have a horse who can handle, not only flying to America, but flying to Dubai and back and then over here,” Hunter said. “If he can give us a solid performance, it will be pretty amazing because that's real tough on the horse.”
Hunter reported that France Go de Ina settled nicely in his stall at Pimlico. The Kentucky-bred colt, who was purchased for $100,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September sale, is scheduled to breeze at Pimlico Wednesday.
“He'll walk the opposite way around the track one lap, then gallop around two laps. We'll decide how far he'll breeze on how he shipped in and how far they want to push him, but he's traveled well,” said Hunter, noting that France Go de Ina will go to the track alone at 10:15 a.m. each day due to quarantine regulations. “He settled good and he's eating really well. Apparently, he remembers his American oats and is quite happy to have them back.”
France Go de Ina, who will be the first Japan-based horse to run in the Preakness since Lani (fifth in 2016), is likely to school in the starting gate at Pimlico in the hope that he will break more sharply in the Preakness under Joel Rosario than he did in the UAE Derby.
“He didn't break very well or quickly out of the gate. In Japan, it's not so much of a big thing because the racing is slower there over the dirt, so he's been good at regaining ground or taking the lead even in some of those races,” Hunter said. “We'll probably leave a lot of it up to Rosario at the end of the day, but getting him out of the gate quickly will be a priority. We're going to work him in the gate and make sure he gets used to having an assistant starter in there, because he's never had one and we didn't use one in Dubai and probably should have. But hindsight is 20-20.”
