Tag: Mad Cool (Ire)

Dark Angel’s Mad Cool Denies Namura Clair In Takamatsunomiya Kinen

Mad Cool (Jpn) (Dark Angel {Ire}–Mad About You {Ire}, by Indian Ridge {Ire}) climbed the Group 1 heights with a head victory in the 1200-metre ¥329,400,000 G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo on Sunday. Namura Clair (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}) was runner-up for the second consecutive year, with the duo three lengths ahead of Hong Kong raider and G1 Centenary Sprint Cup scorer Victor The Winner (Aus) (Toronado {Ire}) in third.

It was a dogfight for pacesetting duties between Mad Cool and Victor The Winner from the bell, with the former conceding the advantage to sit in third on the backstretch as Win Carnelian (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}) moved to second. Saving all the ground on the fence while drafting off of Victor The Winner, the 8-1 sixth choice charged through a gap along the inside with 400 metres to travel as the leader drifted toward the centre of the course. The exceedingly deep ground didn't phase the 5-year-old entire, who inched by the determined Hong Kong raider and set sail for the line at the 150-metre point. Gobbling up ground directly behind Mad Cool, Namura Clair was unleashing a furious rally, but she did not hit the front until a stride past the wire. Victor The Winner plugged on to be third. Favoured Lugal (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) raced near the pace, but could not mount a strong challenge at the end and faded to 10th.

“I am so glad to have won this race after our narrow defeat last fall [in the Sprinters S.],” said winning jockey Ryusei Sakai. “He broke well and we were in an ideal position, right behind the pace, throughout the trip. I've been riding this horse from early in his career and the connections had been eyeing this race from the beginning, but he still has room for improvement so I look forward to his future as well.”

A winner of four of his six starts at three, the bay was third to Namura Clair in the G3 Silk Road S. last January, before taking his first stake, the Listed Shunrai S., at Nakayama in April of 2023. Second by only a nose to Mama Cocha (Jpn) (Kurofune) in the G1 Sprinters S. last October, he signed off his 4-year-old campaign with an eighth in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint on Dec. 10. Sunday marked his 4-year-old bow.

Pedigree Notes

Mad Cool is the 16th Group 1 winner for his Yeomanstown Stud-based sire, who has 102 stakes winners (59 group winners) on an international scale. Dark Angel covered 166 mares in 2023, and he has three stakes winners out of Indian Ridge mares. G2 July S. hero Alhebayeb (Ire) is his other group/graded winner bred on this cross.

The late Indian Ridge has made quite a mark as a broodmare sire, as his daughters have foaled 114 stakes winners to date. A total of 68 group winners are sprinkled among them, with 19 top-level winners following Mad Cool's Takamatsunomiya Kinen tally.

The seventh foal and fifth winner for his G3 Gladness S.-winning dam, Mad Cool was purchased for €225,000 out of the Goffs November Foal Sale in 2019 by Katsumi Yoshida. He is a half-brother to G3 Silver Flash S. third A Ma Chere (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), the winning 4-year-old gelding Partisan Hero (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}) and the 3-year-old filly Campari Soda (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}), who has yet to race. Besides her Gladness win, Mad About You was placed four times at the highest level in Ireland and France.

Her dam Irresistible Jewel (Ire) (Danehill) won both the G2 Ribblesdale S. and G3 Blandford S. and was also placed in the G1 Prix de l'Opera. At stud, she foaled fellow G2 Ribblesdale S. heroine and G1 Irish Oaks third Princess Highway to the cover of Street Cry (Ire), as well as G1 Irish St. Leger winner Royal Diamond (Ire) (King's Best). Mad Cool is also kin to G1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Homeless Songs (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).

 

Sunday, Chukyo, Japan
TAKAMATSUNOMIYA KINEN-G1, ¥329,400,000, Chukyo, 3-24, 4yo/up, 1200mT, 1:08.90, sf.
1–MAD COOL (IRE), 128, h, 5, Dark Angel (Ire)
                1st Dam: Mad About You (Ire) (GSW & MG1SP-Ire,
                                G1SP-Fr, $495,023), by Indian Ridge (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Irresistible Jewel (Ire), by Danehill
                3rd Dam: In Anticipation (Ire), by Sadler's Wells
1ST GROUP WIN. 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (€225,000 Wlg '19
GOFNOV). O-Sunday Racing; B-Moyglare Stud Farm Ltd (Ire);
T-Manabu Ikezoe; J-Ryusei Sakai; ¥173,780,000. Lifetime
Record: 12-6-1-3, ¥333,466,000. *1/2 to A Ma Chere (Ire)
(Kodiac {GB}), GSP-Ire. Click for the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Namura Clair (Jpn), 123, m, 5, Mikki Isle (Jpn)–Sun Queen, by
Storm Cat. O-Mutsuhiro Namura; B-Tanikawa Farm (Jpn);
¥69,080,000.
3–Victor The Winner (Aus), 128, h, 8, Toronado (Ire)–Noetic
(Aus), by Cape Cross (Ire). (A$180,000 Ylg '20 INGMAR). O-Yun
Lau Chu; B-Mr. A Sangster (Aus); ¥43,540,000.
Margins: HD, 3, 1HF. Odds: 8.60, 4.40, 8.60.
Also ran: Win Caernelian (Jpn), Lotus Land, Toshin Macau (Jpn), Big Caesar (Jpn), Mama Cocha (Jpn), Meikei Yell (Jpn), Lugal (Jpn), Divina (Jpn), Win Marvel (Jpn), Schwarz Kaiser (Ire), So Dazzling (Jpn), Mozu Meimei (Jpn), Matenro Orion (Jpn), Champagne Color (Jpn), T M Spada (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video.

 

 

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Duramente’s Lugal Aiming For Takamatsunomiya Kinen Glory

The consistent Lugal (Jpn), by the much lamented reigning Japanese Champion Sire Duramente (Jpn), has never contested a Group 1 race, but that is all about to change in Sunday's G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo over 1200 metres.

Bearing the burden of favouritism in this fully subscribed 18-strong affair, the 4-year-old will leave from stall six. Never worse than fourth in his past 10 trips to the post, Lugal ran second in the G3 Keihan Hai to Toshin Macau (Jpn) (Big Arthur {Jpn}) in his sophomore finale in November, with that rival returning to add the G3 Ocean S. to his ledger at Nakayama, defeating Big Caesar (Jpn) (Big Arthur {Jpn}) on Mar. 2. The favourite, too, made a winning 2024 bow, taking the G3 Silk Road S. going this trip at Kyoto on Jan. 28.

Trainer Haruki Sugiyama said of Lugal, “He was in great shape for the Silk Road S. and he started well. Two weeks ago, his fast work up the hill was very impressive. Last week, even with the bad ground, his footwork was almost too good. He's still a bit heavy, but I think with one more workout he'll be ready.”

Mama Cocha (Jpn) (Kurofune), winner of the G1 Sprinters S. in October defeating Mad Cool (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in the process, finished her year with a fifth-place effort to Win Marvel (Jpn) (I'll Have Another) in the 1400-metre G2 Hanshin Cup in December. That rival, meanwhile, made a winning 2024 start in the G3 Hankyu Hai over the 1400-metre trip and will be cutting back to that distance for the first time since finishing sixth to Mama Cocha in the Sprinters.

Yasutoshi Ikee, trainer of the Mama Cocha, said, “She's heading into the race without a prep mainly due to the fact that I didn't see a race that suited her regarding such things as the weight she'd have to carry or the distance. However, she is a horse that does well with a sharpener, so I brought her back to Ritto early and the work she has been getting should be enough to cover for the lack. I think she's in the same condition as she was for the Sprinters S. As for the race strategy, I'm leaving all the details up to Yuga Kawada. I think she can handle the distance. I'm just hoping the weather will hold.”

The Takamatsunomiya Kinen also features Hong Kong raider Victor The Winner (Aus) (Toronado {Ire}) (Friday's gallop), who leaves from stall 10 under Derek Leung for trainer Danny Shum. Hong Kong's Aerovelocity (NZ) (Pins {Aus}) first scooped the prize in 2015. The 5-year-old, who will be racing left-handed for the first time, claimed the G1 Centenary Sprint Cup at Sha Tin going this trip on Jan. 28.

“He arrived late on Monday after quarantine,” Leung told the Hong Kong Jockey Club notes team. “There was a traffic jam, so he was spent a lot of time on the truck. At first, he was a little bit tired but after that, he was fine. The first time he galloped, he had a look around–same as at Sha Tin, he always looks around. It was a bit exciting for him because it was quite new.

“In the gallop, when I asked him for a little effort, he did it for me. The last 200 [metres], he gave me a good finish–not too tough for him. It was good.”

The G3 Kyoto Himba S. one-two of So Dazzling (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) and Namura Clair (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}), who ran second in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen and third in Mama Cocha's Sprinters S. both in 2023, will leave from gates eight and three, respectively. Last year's G1 NHK Mile Cup heroine Champagne Color (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) will be trying the shortest trip of her career on Sunday, and is to the immediate outside of So Dazzling.

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