Gran Alegria Defends Title In Yasuda Kinen

Gran Alegria (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) should jump a warm favourite to become the first repeat winner of the G1 Yasuda Kinen since two-time Horse of the Year Vodka (Jpn) (Tanino Gimlet {Jpn}) when she squares off against 13 males in Japan's premier spring mile. The Yasuda Kinen serves as a 'Win and You're In' qualifying race for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in early November.

The 5-year-old, a daughter of Breeders' Cup winner Tapitsfly (Tapit), has won six of eight over the metric mile, having easily accounted for another two-time Horse of the Year in Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in this event last season. She overcame late traffic trouble to add the G1 Mile Championship at Hanshin in November and resumed with a fourth in ground easier than she prefers in the Apr. 4 G1 Osaka Hai (2000m). She most recently decimated her peers in the G1 Victoria Mile over Sunday's course and distance May 16, but reportedly missed a bit of work thereafter and atypically did her final piece of work on the uphill gallop this past Wednesday.

“This is the first time she'll have only two full weeks between races, so her fast work this week was on the hill course and just fast enough to keep her tuned up,” said trainer Kazuo Fujisawa. “I didn't need her to go too fast so, with a horse in front, I told the rider it was fine if she caught him or not. She always tries hard and I think it was a good workout.”

 

Indy Champ (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) took this event in 2019 and ran well to be third last year before being outfinished by the favorite in defence of his title in the Mile Championship. Last seen finishing a good third to Danon Smash (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen over an insufficient six-furlong trip, he gets back out to his pet distance Sunday.

“It won't be easy to beat the Victoria Mile winner,” trainer Hidetaka Otonashi admitted. “I'm hoping he'll rise to the challenge. I've tried many different things, many distances and find ourselves back at the mile. I want him to go out there and win.”

Salios (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), winner of the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity (1600m) at two, was runner-up to Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G1 Satsuki Sho (2000m) and G1 Toyko Yushun (2400m) last season and was a sneaky good fifth from the widest berth in the Mile Championship. Impossibly wide on the turn, he leveled out beautifully in the stretch, sprinting his final 600 metres in a race-fastest :33.1. He also may not have cared for the soft in the Osaka Hai last time.

It has been 10 years since 3-year-old Real Impact (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) stepped up to beat the older milers in the Yasuda Kinen, but Schnell Meister (Ger) (Kingman {GB}) will have support to do so this weekend. Each of his three wins have come over this specialist trip, including a narrow success from barrier 15 in the G1 NHK Mile Cup at headquarters May 9. Incidentally, Lauda Sion (Jpn) became the first Group 1 winner for Real Impact when taking out the 2020 NHK Mile Cup and lines up here on the heels of a victory in the G2 Keio Hai Spring Cup (1400m) at this venue three weeks ago.

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Frankel’s Grenadier Guards Looks to Bounce Back in NHK Mile Cup

Sunday Racing Co. Ltd.'s Grenadier Guards (Jpn) (Frankel {GB}), a son of GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Wavell Avenue (Harlington), will look to return to winning ways as one of the top couple of betting choices in Sunday's G1 NHK Mile Cup at Toyko Racecourse.

The bay colt graduated at third asking over 1400 metres at Hanshin last November, then belied odds of 16-1 to upset future G1 Satsuki Sho third Stella Veloce (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}) in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity going this distance in mid-December. He has one run under his belt this year, a runner-up effort to pacesetting Rooks Nest (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) in the G3 Falcon S. at the metric seven furlongs Mar. 20 for which he may have had a bit of an excuse.

“It was rough ground in the Falcon S. and I had the feeling he was very tensed,” trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida commented. “That surely affected the finish, but he did give it his all. That race sharpened him up and he's much improved from last year.

Rooks Nest had the benefit of race fitness over Grenadier Guards in the Falcon, having finished second to Pixie Knight (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) from well off the speed in the G3 Shinzan Kinen at Chukyo Jan. 10. A return to patient tactics could be in the offing given what is expected to be a cracking pace.

Schnell Meister (Ger) (Kingman {GB}) will be well-backed to become his successful young sire's second winner at group level in Japan (Elizabeth Tower {GB}, G2 Tulip Sho). A debut winner going 1500 metres at Sapporo last September, this first foal out of 2016 G1 Preis der Diana (German Oaks) winner Serienholde (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}) showed a devastating turn of foot when taking out a one-mile conditions test at Nakayama in December. The bay was a latest on-pace second in the G2 Yayoi Sho (2000mT) Mar. 7, the form of which was franked when the victorious Titleholder (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) filled the second spot in the Satsuki Sho.

Bathrat Leon (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), third in the Shinzan Kinen, has won his last two in wire-to-wire fashion, a Hanshin conditions Mar. 13 ahead of a five-length success in the Apr. 10 G2 New Zealand Trophy in which the runner-up Time to Heaven (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) raced brutally wide throughout.

Rickenbacker (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) required six tries to break his maiden, but was held up at a crucial stage of the Apr. 17 G3 Arlington Cup and charged home once into the clear to finish a very good second to Ho O Amazon (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) at odds of 42-1. A similar price is expected Sunday, but he could appeal to each-way bettors.

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