Trailblazing Japanese Trainer Mori Hoping France Go De Ina Is Next International Conquest

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.”

The post Trailblazing Japanese Trainer Mori Hoping France Go De Ina Is Next International Conquest appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Curlin Reminds Asmussen Stable Preakness Much More Than A ‘Consolation Prize’

Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC's Midnight Bourbon, sixth in the Kentucky Derby (G1), had another routine gallop Saturday morning shortly after the Churchill Downs track opened for training in preparation for a scheduled start in next Saturday's Preakness Stakes (G1). The Steve Asmussen-trained colt is scheduled to have an easy half-mile work on Monday before shipping to Pimlico Tuesday. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount.

The Asmussen stable has a special fondness for the Preakness, the first Triple Crown race that the Hall of Fame trainer won when Derby third-place finisher Curlin wore down Derby winner Street Sense by a head in 2007. Two years later, the filly Rachel Alexandra led all the way to defeat the late-running Derby winner Mine That Bird by a length in the Preakness. Rachel Alexandra, who in her prior start won the Kentucky Oaks (G1) by 20 lengths, was the first filly to capture Preakness since 1924 and came mere days after going to Asmussen upon her sale to the late wine mogul Jess Jackson.

Curlin became the 2007-2008 Horse of the Year, followed by Rachel Alexandra in 2010.

Scott Blasi, Asmussen's chief lieutenant at Churchill Downs, said the Preakness is a tremendous race in its own right.

“It's by no means a consolation prize. It's a stallion-maker, a champion-maker,” said Blasi. “Classic example is Curlin. He drew the inside at the Derby, wasn't where we wanted him. He closed to be third and the Preakness was the stepping stone for who he became. That's when everybody started taking him seriously, and you see what kind of stallion he's turned into. It was a big deal for us. Rachel's Preakness was probably one of the most stressful races, just because we hadn't had her that long. There was so much pressure. I was actually happy when she drew the 13 hole (staying clear of traffic), and she was good enough to overcome it.”

The post Curlin Reminds Asmussen Stable Preakness Much More Than A ‘Consolation Prize’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Lukas Looking To Even Score With Baffert In Preakness 146

Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas will attempt to win a record-tying seventh Preakness Stakes (G1) as he runs Christina Baker and Bill Mack's 3-year-old Ram in the 146th running of the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown next Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

A victory would pull the 85-year-old Lukas even with Bob Baffert and 19th century Mid-Atlantic training icon Robert Wyndham Walden as the winningest Preakness trainers. Lukas' first Preakness came in 1980 with his first Triple Crown starter, Codex. His last came in 2013 with Oxbow, whose Preakness victory gave Lukas the lead in Triple Crown races-won with 14, a number his pal Baffert blew by in 2015 with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, who coincidentally is Ram's sire. (Medina Spirit's victory in the 2021 Derby upped Baffert's Triple Crown total to 17 wins.)

Lukas said he and Mack made the decision to run Ram in the Preakness during a phone conversation Friday evening. Ram won his second-straight race while taking the mile allowance race that kicked off the May 1 Kentucky Derby (G1) card at Churchill Downs. Ricardo Santana Jr. picks up the mount.

“We realize he has to step forward to be effective,” Lukas said Saturday morning after Ram trained at Churchill Downs. “But when these horses are doing well, sometimes they'll step up and do what you want them to do. I always thought this horse had potential. He was immature; he's a May 13 foal. I bought him as a yearling. I liked him then. He was a little bit feminine, which I like. I gave him plenty of time, waiting for him to come around.”

If Ram should pull off the shocker in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, it would be Lukas' biggest upset in a long career where he's made some champions by taking chances. Ram, a $375,000 yearling, won on his eighth attempt, coming in a $50,000 maiden-claiming race at Oaklawn Park.

Still, consider that Charismatic, Lukas' 1999 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, twice ran in $62,500 claiming races, including when the horse broke his maiden on his sixth attempt, before blossoming into a dual-classic winner. Charismatic was running in stakes races, including taking Keeneland's Lexington (G2), before his Derby triumph at 31-1 odds. The Preakness will be Ram's first start in a stakes.

Lukas long has been an ambassador for the Preakness, extolling the atmosphere and Maryland Jockey Club's hospitality.

“I don't know if it's the camaraderie of all being in same barn, it just seems that people loosen up a little bit,” he said. “Take a little off their fastball for that one. They don't get so caught up like the Derby. It seems like everybody exhales after the Derby. It's just fun.

“… I don't have any grandiose ideas, but I think I could surprise some people how well this horse runs,” Lukas added. “I think the horses that ran in the Derby had a hard race. Ram had the most perfect prep for the Preakness you could have. He rated kindly behind those horses, circled them five, six wide and went off and won. Now whether that equates to a big Preakness, I don't know. But I wouldn't change a thing about his prep. I know it moved him forward. He's a better horse after that race. That entered my thinking big time…. And Santana is a strong finisher, and I think that will help me.”

Lukas said he plans to van Ram and his pony Riff to Baltimore on Monday. As usual, Lukas will be riding shotgun and keeping the satellite radio tuned to Willie's Roadhouse. Speaking of On the Road Again …

“I don't know how many more of these I'll have,” Lukas said, adding with a big smile, “But I do have a good 2-year-old.”

The post Lukas Looking To Even Score With Baffert In Preakness 146 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

McCarthy ‘Couldn’t Be Happier’ With Rombauer’s Five-Furlong Breeze

John and Diane Fradkin's homebred colt Rombauer had his final timed workout in preparation for the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1) Saturday morning, covering five furlongs in :59.80 under jockey Flavien Prat at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

Trainer Michael McCarthy said, “I couldn't be happier” with the breeze, which was the fourth-fastest of 56 recorded at the distance.

“He worked in company, settled in a length behind the other horse, passed him coming to the eighth pole and went on about his business,” McCarthy said.

Prat will ride the son of Twirling Candy for the first time in a race while making his Preakness debut. Prat entered Saturday tied with Luis Saez for third nationally in races-won at 99 and fourth in purse earnings.

Rombauer, who is scheduled to ship from California to Baltimore on Tuesday, most recently finished third in the April 3 Blue Grass Stakes (G2) at Keeneland. The Kentucky-bred colt previously captured the El Camino Real Derby, a Preakness 'Win & In' stakes at Golden Gate Fields.

The post McCarthy ‘Couldn’t Be Happier’ With Rombauer’s Five-Furlong Breeze appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights