Takeshi Yokoyama | Horse Racing Free Tips

Team Rest Of The World Looking Forward To Shergar Cup

A few days out from the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup, five jockeys, including the entire Rest of the World Team, were on hand to answer questions from the media at Ascot Racecourse. Held on Aug. 6, four teams (GB & Ire, Rest of the World, Europe, and Ladies) will compete across eight races gathering points, with awards handed out for the top team and top rider. Rest of the World Team Captain Christophe Lemaire was joined by the Australian-based pair of Kerrin McEvoy and Jason Collett, as well as Japan's Takeshi Yokoyama. Ladies team member Emma-Jayne Wilson (Canada), was also on hand.

Lemaire, a five-time champion jockey in Japan, said, “I think it has been 10 years since I last had a ride at Ascot. I have had a month off and there is no better place to get back in the saddle than here. Every time you race here, there is an excitement because you know it is an important occasion–you are competing against the best horses and the best jockeys in front of a great atmosphere.

“I am really looking forward to the Shergar Cup. We have a strong team made up of experience, with myself and Kerrin, and then the two young guns in Jason and Takeshi. I think it will be a nice combination as we try to win the title, and Kerrin's experience will be very important. He is a top-class jockey and has enjoyed a lot of success in England.”

Formerly Godolphin's number two rider back in the early 2000s, McEvoy is competing in his third Shergar Cup, and said, “It is exciting to be back. I haven't ridden here since 2019, when I did a little stint while William [Buick] was injured. This is a great part of the world to visit, let alone ride horses.”

New Zealander Jason Collett is competing in his first Shergar Cup, and was also experience Ascot Racecourse for the first time. The 31-year-old said, “This is my first time at Ascot and, I have to say, it is something else with the grandstand and everything. This place obviously has a bit of history, so it is pretty awesome to be here.”

Takeshi Yokoyama, who comes from a family of Group 1-winning jockeys, earned five Group 1 victories last year headed by Japanese Classic success on Efforia (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) and Titleholder (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}).

Yokoyama said via translator, “This is my first time at Ascot and my first time in the UK. I am really excited to be here and am appreciative of the invitation. Riding in the Shergar Cup will be a new experience for me. It is a big honour to represent Japan and hopefully I can learn a lot.”

Wilson, the most successful female jockey of all time in Canada, said, “I was supposed to come back for the Shergar Cup in 2020 but obviously the pandemic shut everything down. I think it must be five years since I last rode here, so it feels great to be back.

“I love this event and the novelty of it all. The international element is amazing and it is something you don't find unless you are in a competition like this. The team aspect creates a special camaraderie.”

The post Team Rest Of The World Looking Forward To Shergar Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

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

The post Japan: Deep Impact Colts Go 1-2 In Year-End Hopeful Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

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.

The post Deep Impact Exacta in Hopeful as ‘Ability’ Prevails appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Favored Efforia Proves Best In Japan’s Season-Ending Arima Kinen

Carrot Farm Co. Ltd's once-beaten 3-year-old colt Efforia rallied from mid-pack under Takeshi Yokoyama to score a three-quarter-length victory over Deep Bond in Sunday's season-ending Arima Kinen, a Group 1 fixture for 3-year-olds and up run for the 66th time at Nakayama Racecourse in Tokyo, Japan. Total prize money was almost $6.2 million.

The son of Epiphaneia (by the Kris S. stallion Symboli Kris S) was bred in Japan by Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm and trained by Yuichi Shikato. He covered 2,500 meters (about 12 1/2 furlongs) in 2:32 on good to firm turf and paid 210 yen on a 100 yen bet. Longshot Deep Bond tried to keep up with Efforia in the final furlong of the Arima Kinen but the winner was just too good. Chrono Genesis, second choice in the betting and winner of this race in 2020, was third in the field of 16 runners.

The Arima Kinen field is determined by a combination of top earners and a popular vote among Japanese racing fans.

The win was the sixth in seven starts for Efforia, who was produced from Katies Heart, a daughter of the Sunday Silence stallion Heart's Cry. Two of his previous wins came in G1 races, the Satsuki-sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) in spring and the Tenno-sho in autumn. Efforia's only career defeat came when second to Shahryar in the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) on May 30.

Jockey Takeshi Yokoyama is the son of active rider Norihiro Yokoyama, who won the 1996 Arima Kinen, making them the second father and son duo to be victorious in the race. The first was Kunihiko Take and his son Yutaka.

Panthalassa went to the front to set a quick pace and opened a lengthy early lead, with Efforia tracking prime rival Chrono Genesis – the 2020 Arima Kinen winner – for much of the way while racing to the outside in mid-pack on the clockwise-running course. He moved up to loom a threat on the stretch turn as the front-runner began to tire and took a narrow lead inside the furlong pole. Deep Bond gave a valiant effort to be second best.

“He wasn't in the same perfect condition today as in the Tenno Sho in which he was 120%, but his potential proved he still could give a remarkable performance even with the added distance – 2,500 meters is the longest he's ever run,” said Yokoyama. “Unlike in the Derby, he was relaxed and positioned well and was able to show his true strength.”

Attendance was limited because of COVID-19, with a crowd of 6,140 reported on a day that historically would see more than 100,000 fans on-track. A total of $549,500,188 was wagered throughout Japan on the 12-race Nakayama program that is traditionally the biggest betting day of the year for the Japan Racing Association. A total of $429,077,971 was wagered on the Arima Kinen itself.

The post Favored Efforia Proves Best In Japan’s Season-Ending Arima Kinen appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post