Takashi Saito | Horse Racing Free Tips

Japan: Deep Impact Colts Go 1-2 In Year-End Hopeful Stakes

Second favorite Killer Ability romped to a convincing victory in record breaking time to capture this year's Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes on Tuesday at Nakayama, stamping his name on the list of most prominent candidates for next season's Triple Crown classics. Both the winner and the runner-up, Justin Palace, are sired by Deep Impact (Sunday Silence).

The race got underway with Grand Line setting the pace, Born This Way sitting a few lengths behind in second, and Killer Ability on the rails another length behind that in third. As the field made their bids entering the straight, Killer Ability had switched to an outer path avoiding the frontrunners turning the last corner. As the pacesetter weakening near the rails, the brown colt stole the lead from Born This Way after the furlong marker with a second gear and crossed the line a 1-1/2-length winner.

“Sitting in the saddle in his workouts two weeks in a row convinced me that he was going to run and run fast,” commented jockey Takeshi Yokoyama. “We sat in a good position and when the colt was able to relax in the backstretch, I had all the confidence I needed that he was going to win. I'm sure he will go on to improve further and become stronger. Personally, my goal for this season was to capture a G1 title and land 100 seasonal wins—winning five G1 titles is just unbelievable and I cannot thank all the connections and the horses enough for such a wonderful season.”

After turning in a fifth in his debut start (1,800m, or nine furlongs) in June, Killer Ability displayed a strong seven-length win in his following start (2,000m, or 1 1/4 miles) in August. In his latest Hagi Stakes (Listed, 1,800m) start, Killer Ability was a neck short in second to subsequent Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes third-place finisher Danon Scorpion.

Following his latest G1 win with Chrono Genesis in the Takarazuka Kinen in June, trainer Takashi Saito has now six overall JRA-G1 titles under his belt while jockey Takeshi Yokoyama collected his fifth JRA-G1 title, his most recent being in the Arima Kinen with Efforia just two days before.

Fourth pick Justin Palace was settled in around fifth, three to four lengths behind the eventual winner. After making steady headway after the third corner, the colt picked off the runners in front one by one up to the last half furlong but proved no match to the winner while holding off the rest of the field by 1-1/4 lengths.

Eighth choice Lagulf sat behind the winner along the rails in fourth and after struggling for room in early stretch, made an inside bid alongside the runner-up but was unable to keep up while snatching third place from Born This Way in the final strides.

Race favorite and this year's Saudi Arabia Royal Cup winner Command Line was reserved on the rails in lower mid-pack and switched to an outer path entering the straight but failed to fire, never reaching contention to finish 12th.

Other Horses:
4th: (13) Fidele—traveled in 12th, improved position with 2nd fastest late speed, belatedly
5th: (9) Born This Way—tracked leader in 2nd, inherited lead at early stretch, weakened in last 200m
6th: (10) Matenro Leo—settled around 10th, angled out, passed tired rivals
7th: (2) Achernar Star—sat 2nd from rear, showed fastest late charge, failed to threaten
8th: (1) Shelby's Eye—hugged rails around 9th, even paced
9th: (4) Grand Line—set pace, surrendered lead at early stretch, showed tenacity until 100m out
10th: (15) Ask Wild More—unhurried in 13th, unable to reach contention
11th: (12) Onyankopon—ran outside winner around 4th, outrun after final corner
13th: (7) Satono Helios—raced around 8th, driven after 3rd corner, circled wide, showed little
14th: (11) Crowned Magic—trailed in far rear, no factor
15th: (14) Tyler Tesoro—traveled 3-wide around 5th, faded after 3rd corner

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Deep Impact Exacta in Hopeful as ‘Ability’ Prevails

Killer Ability (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) showed plenty of talent to take the G1 Hopeful S. at Nakayama on Tuesday. The 2000-metre affair featured 15 colts in the final Japan Racing Association Group 1 of 2021. It was an exacta for the deceased Shadai kingpin Deep Impact, as Justin Palace (Jpn) was 1 1/2 lengths behind.

Second choice at 2-1, the blinkered colt rated in an ideal position perched in third while saving ground against the rails as Grand Line (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) carved out even splits of :23.90, :48.10 and 1:12.10 while followed by Born This Way (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}). Grand Line's lead shrank and he came back to the field at the 600-metre mark, as Killer Ability appeared poised to capitalize on his dream trip. Born This Way took up the baton with a furlong to cover and Grand Line soon packed it in, but Killer Ability was already at the new leader's throatlatch and soon stormed clear to win going away. Justin Palace rallied for second, with Lagulf (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) third another 1 1/4 lengths behind.

Favoured 'TDN Rising Star' and last out Group 3 winner Command Line (Jpn) went off at 9-5, but was restless in the stalls, broke in the air at the bell and was soon relegated to 11th for much of the journey. He improved on the far turn, but a needed gap did not materialise in the straight and he lost his unbeaten record to be 12th.

“Sitting in the saddle in his workouts two weeks in a row convinced me that he was going to run and run fast,” said jockey Takeshi Yokoyama. “We sat in a good position and when the colt was able to relax in the backstretch, I had all the confidence I needed that he was going to win. I'm sure he will go on to improve further and become stronger. Personally, my goal for this season was to capture a Group 1 title and land 100 seasonal

wins—winning five Group 1 titles is just unbelievable and I cannot thank all the connections and the horses enough for such a wonderful season.”

Fifth at first asking at Hanshin over 1800 metres on June 27, the Carrot Farm runner won a maiden at Kokura upped to this trip on Aug. 28 and was second in the Listed Hagi S. on Oct. 30.
Pedigree Notes
The Hopeful S. winner is Deep Impact's 181st black-type scorer, 145th group winner and 54th winner at the highest level. Killer Ability is the former Shadai resident's second winner of the race, and he is in good company, as his first was 2020 Japan Triple Crown hero Contrail (Jpn). Broodmare sire Congaree, who was a dual winner of the GI Cigar Mile H. in addition to Grade I wins in the Hollywood Gold Cup, Swaps S., and Carter H. and third in the 2001 Kentucky Derby, celebrated his first top-flight winner in this sphere on Tuesday and now has a baker's dozen of stakes winners to date. Now with four grade/group winners to his credit, they have struck in Ireland, Stateside and Peru besides Japan.

Already the dam of the SP Killer Presence (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), 2011 GI Starlet S. heroine Killer Graces produced a yearling colt by Just a Way (Jpn) in 2020 and a mating with Bricks and Mortar did not yield a foal this spring. Originally knocked down for $850,000 to Katsumi Yoshida at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton November Sale, the half-sister to MGSW Chocolate Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) was bred back to Duramente (Jpn). The fourth dam Middlefork Rapids (Wild Again) landed her biggest victory in the GIII Monrovia H., while her best offspring, the Grade III-winning Michigan Bluff (Skywalker) is the dam of Turkey's Champion Imported 2-Year-Old and 3-Year-old Colt Hakeem (Harlan's Holiday), who was also named the Champion Imported Stayer.

Tuesday, Nakayama, Japan
HOPEFUL S.-G1, ¥135,500,000, Nakayama, 12-28, 2yo, 2000mT, 2:00.60, fm.
1–KILLER ABILITY(JPN), 121, c, 2, by Deep Impact (Jpn)
          1st Dam: Killer Graces (GISW-US, $451,097), by Congaree
          2nd Dam: Heatherdoesntbluff, by Old Trieste
          3rd Dam: Michigan Bluff, by Skywalker
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. 1ST GROUP WIN. 1ST GROUP 1 WIN.
O-Carrot Farm; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Takashi Saito;
J-Takeshi Yokoyama. ¥71,050,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-0.
*1/2 to Killer Presence (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), SP-Jpn,
$197,667. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Justin Palace (Jpn), 121, c, 2, Deep Impact (Jpn)–Palace
Rumor, by Royal Anthem. 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP BLACK
   TYPE. 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (¥190,000,000 Ylg '20
JRHAJUL). O-Masahiro Miki; B-Northern Farm (Jpn);
¥28,300,000.
3–Lagulf (Jpn), 121, c, 2, Maurice (Jpn)–Abandonne (Jpn), by
Falbrav (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. 1ST
   GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (¥18,700,000 Ylg '20 JBBAAUG).
O-Takashi Muraki; B-Smile Farm (Jpn); ¥18,150,000.
Margins: 1HF, 1 1/4, 3/4. Odds: 2.10, 7.80, 28.80.
Also Ran: Fidele (Jpn), Born This Way (Jpn), Matenro Leo (Jpn), Achernar Star (Jpn), Shelby's Eye (Jpn), Grand Line (Jpn), Ask Wild More (Jpn), Onyankopon (Jpn), Command Line (Jpn), Satono Helios (Jpn), Crowned Magic (Jpn), Tyler Tesoro (Jpn).
Click for the JRA chart & video or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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Chrono Genesis Wins Her Second Takarazuka Kinen, Earns Spot In Breeders’ Cup Turf

Sunday Racing's 5-year-old mare Chrono Genesis (JPN) took the lead in deep stretch and won Sunday's $3 million, 1 3/8-mile Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse in Takarazuka, Japan by 2 ¾ lengths and earned an automatic berth and fees paid into the $4 million Grade 1 Longines Breeders' Cup Turf through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 84 stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which will be held at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California, on Nov. 5-6.

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for Chrono Genesis, to start in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, which will be run at 1 ½ miles on the Del Mar turf course. Breeders' Cup also will provide a travel allowance of $40,000 for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships.

The odds-on favorite in the 62nd Takarazuka Kinen, Chrono Genesis, a bay daughter of Bago (FR) out of the Kurofune mare Chronologist (JPN), covered the 1 3/8 miles in 2:10.9 over a course listed as good to firm. Trained by Takashi Saito and ridden for the first time by Christophe Lemaire, Chrono Genesis improved her record to eight wins in 15 starts. She also became the third horse this year to earn a “Win and You're In” berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, joining Cool Day (ARG), who won the Gran Premio International Carlos Pellegrini (G1) at Palermo in Argentina, and Love (IRE), who captured Prince of Wales's Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot.

Facing 12 rivals, Chrono Genesis broke well from post seven and settled around fifth while eyeing the 7-2 second choice Lei Papale (JPN), a 4-year-old filly who came into the race unbeaten in six starts. Though surrounded by horses entering the lane, Chrono Genesis waited until finding an open space 300 meters out and exerted a powerful burst of speed with the fastest last 3-furlong drive. She overtook 27-1 Unicorn Lion (IRE) and Lei Papale before reaching the wire with a comfortable 2-1/2-length margin.

“The mare was in very good condition and looked great at the paddock,” said winning rider Lemaire, who replaced the injured Yuichi Kitamura, Chrono Genesis's regular rider, for this race. “We were able to race in good position behind Lei Papale. She stretched really well and was able to run the last 200 meters easily.”

Seventh-pick Unicorn Lion and Lei Papale broke smoothly from the first two stalls and immediately surged out to take the front. Continuing to lead the field with Unicorn Lion setting the pace and Lei Papale pressing the pace in second, the two dueled strongly entering the lane. Though overtaken by Chrono Genesis 100 meters out, Unicorn Lion and Lei Papale held off the rest of the field by two lengths to finish second and third, respectively.

In winning back-to-back Takarazuka Kinen titles, Chrono Genesis became the first horse to do so since Gold Ship (JPN) in 2013 and 2014. Coming off a close runner-up effort in the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) in March, this win marked her fourth Group 1 and sixth group-stakes victory. Along with her Takarazuka Kinen and Grade 1 Arima Kinen titles last year, she became the fifth horse and the first mare to win three Grand Prix races. Her career earnings surpassed a billion yen to become the fifth mare to do so after Vodka (JPN), Buena Vista (JPN), Gentildonna (JPN), and Almond Eye (JPN).

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Chrono Genesis Defends Takarazuka Kinen Title

Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}) justified 4-5 favouritism and took her second consecutive G1 Takarazuka Kinen title at Hanshin on Sunday. The 2200-metre contest is a “Win and You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar in November, as well as the Oct. 23 G1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley Down Under.

Unicorn Lion (Ire) (No Nay Never) led the charge into the first turn while shadowed by Lei Papale (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Chrono Genesis sat third a few lengths back. A touch keen, pilot Christophe Lemaire found a bit of cover for the grey who had drifted to fourth. Primed to take off after the leaders rounding the final bend, Chrono Genesis immediately scythed in between horses when given the opportunity 1 ½ furlongs from home, as Lei Papale engaged Unicorn Lion on the front end. She employed her superior turn of foot-covering her final three furlongs in a race-best :34.40–and dashed past the pacesetting duo to win by 2 ½ lengths with her ears pricked.

“The mare was in very good condition and looked great at the paddock,” said Christophe Lemaire, who was deputising for the injured Yuichi Kitamura. “We were able to race in good position behind Lei Papale. She stretched really well and was able to run the last 200 meters easily. She can race really well in soft track, so I think she will perform well especially in France.”

The Oct. 3 G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a potential long-term target for Chrono Genesis.

Third in the first two legs of the 2019 Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown, Chrono Genesis delivered in the third leg, the G1 Shuka Sho at Kyoto in October of that year, her first top-level triumph. Her next win did not arrive until last February's G2 Kyoto Kinen, and, after a second-place showing in the G1 Osaka Hai that April, she captured her first Takarazuka Kinen at the end of June. Benched until Nov. 1, she ran third in the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) to Japanese Horse of the Year Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), and claimed the G1 Arima Kinen (The Grand Prix) on Dec. 27. Her only prior 2021 start was a good second in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic on Mar. 27.

Pedigree Notes

Chrono Genesis is French champion Bago's most decorated progeny. One of two Group 1 winners for the 2004 G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner, the grey is joined by G1 Kikuka Sho victor Big Week (Jpn). The pair lead seven group winners and 11 black-type winners overall.

The eighth foal, and one of eight winners out of her winning dam who captured a 1700-metre maiden in two starts, Chrono Genesis is also one of two black-type winners, alongside her year-older half-sister Normcore (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}). The latter, also grey, was first past the post in both the G1 Victoria Mile in her native land and also a winner of the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup. Chronologist's 2017 filly, Clotho Nona (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) is followed by 2018 colt Klug (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}). Covered by Drefong later that year, Chronologist did not produce a foal in 2019, but has since produced fillies of 2020 and 2021 by Maurice (Jpn) and Rey de Oro (Jpn), respectively.

Her second dam is an unraced full-sister to Fusaichi Airedale (Jpn) (Sunday Silence), a MSW in Japan and the dam of Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Fusaichi Richard (Jpn) (Kurofune), MSW Lailaps (Jpn) (French Deputy) and the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies third Beach Samba (Jpn) (Kurofune).

Sunday, Hanshin, Japan
TAKARAZUKA KINEN-G1, ¥290,020,000, Hanshin, 6-27, 3yo/up, 2200mT, 2:10.90, fm.
1–CHRONO GENESIS (JPN), 123, m, 5, Bago (Fr)
                1st Dam: Chronologist (Jpn), by Kurofune
                2nd Dam: In This Unison (Jpn), by Sunday Silence
                3rd Dam: Rustic Belle, by Mr. Prospector
O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Takashi Saito;
J-Christophe Lemaire. ¥152,814,000. Lifetime Record:
15-8-3-3. *1/2 to Normcore (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}), G1SW-Jpn
& HK, $5,619,785. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Unicorn Lion (Ire), 128, h, 5, No Nay Never–Muravka (Ire), by
High Chaparral (Ire). (850,000gns Ylg '17 TATOCT). O-Lion Race
Horse; B-Desert Star Phoenix Jvc (Ire); ¥60,804,000.
3–Lei Papale (Jpn), 123, m, 4, Deep Impact (Jpn)–Shells Lei
(Jpn), by Kurofune. O-Carrot Farm; B-Northern Farm (Jpn);
¥38,402,000.
Margins: 2HF, NK, 2. Odds: 0.80, 26.80, 2.50.
Also Ran: Curren Bouquetd'or (Jpn), Kiseki (Jpn), Miss Mamma Mia (Jpn), Cadenas (Jpn), Mozu Bello (Jpn), Aristoteles (Jpn), Wipe Tears (Jpn), Melody Lane (Jpn), Admire Alba (Jpn), Shironii (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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