After Dubai all eyes are on the Osaka Hai
Forget Dubai – at least for a moment – the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (Gr 1, 1200m) at Chukyo was last weekend’s standout race. Danon Smash (Lord Kanaloa) edged the crack filly Resistencia (Daiwa Major) in Japan’s springtime sprint showpiece, with top-class miler Indy Champ (Stay Gold) enjoying his new beat in third.
As the trio flashed across the line, JRA race caller Murray Johnson announced, with knowing nuance to his tone, “A Group 1 in Japan for Danon Smash!” That fact stressed a point or two: that a Hong Kong Sprint (Gr 1, 1200m) win is all well and good but having a big Japan win on the CV is of greater significance to owner Danox Co. LTD. and the six-year-old’s stud value.
To be fair to Dubai, it was a close call. Chrono Genesis (Bago) and Loves Only You (Deep Impact) fought a no holds-barred duel in the home run for the Dubai Sheema Classic (Gr 1, 2400m) on Saturday evening. Japan’s two Group 1 heroines were in the UAE chasing international spoils along with ten compatriots, but as the mares bumped and scrapped, the British galloper Mishriff (Make Believe) nipped past to nab the victory and the media’s fulsome praise.
Japan ended the night winless. Chrono Genesis had been the nation’s big hope; disappointment was inevitable, but that blank return across the card, should not be seen as a slight on the strength of Japan’s horses.
Chuwa Wizard (King Kamehameha) belied his big odds to snare the US$2.4 million runner-up cheque in the Dubai World Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) and he might not even be the best dirt horse in Japan; Group 2-winning galloper Vin De Garde (Deep Impact) took second in the Dubai Turf (Gr 1, 1800m); while Group 3 winner Red Le Zele (Lord Kanaloa) was second in the Dubai Golden Shaheen (Gr 1, 1200m). And there is a solid argument to be made that Chrono Genesis was attempting a softer option in the Sheema than she’d have faced at home.
Mishriff is obviously a good Group 1 performer, that much is proven, but the next seven months will tell us whether or not he has enough about him to become a genuine champion. His defeat of the Japanese mares is strong form – Chrono Genesis won the Arima Kinen (Gr 1, 2500m) in December and Loves Only You won the 2019 Japanese Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) – but though they are elite talents, others at home are believed to be as good and better, and they will face-off in this Sunday’s Osaka Hai (Gr 1, 2000m).
Since its upgrade in 2017 the race has emerged as a serious championship contest. This weekend will draw together the likes of last year’s Triple Crown hero Contrail (Deep Impact) and Japan’s latest sensational mare Gran Alegria (Deep Impact), who last year defeated Almond Eye (Lord Kanaloa) in the Yasuda Kinen (Gr 1, 1600m), Danon Smash in the Sprinters Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and Indy Champ in the Mile Championship (Gr 1, 1600m).
Six Group 1 winners are slated to line up, as well as the unbeaten class riser Lei Papale (Deep Impact). It makes the Dubai features, all in all, look a little lightweight.
Yoshito Yahagi, trainer of Contrail and Loves Only You, has enjoyed major overseas wins in recent times with Real Steel (Deep Impact) and Lys Gracieux (Heart’s Cry). But he told ANZ Bloodstock News that the focus for Contrail is entirely domestic at this juncture.
“I have not been thinking of sending Contrail to any overseas races so far, we’ve only looked at targeting the domestic races,” he said.
Jockey Mirco Demuro, winner of the 2011 Dubai World Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) on Victoire Pisa (Neo Universe), won the Osaka Hai in 2018 and 2020. He understands as well as any the competing attractions of domestic contests versus overseas pursuits.
“To win in Japan is something special, so sometimes it doesn’t make sense to go around the world. Sometimes, they prefer to run in Japan first,” he said. “But with Almond Eye and horses like that you can go and show the world how strong you are.”
Almond Eye was Japan’s international darling until her retirement at the end of last year. The great mare won eight Group 1 races on Japan’s soil, and earned global gloss in the Silk Racing colours with her imperious 2019 Dubai Turf success. Those who saw her in the flesh that night at Meydan witnessed the embodiment of the Japanese thoroughbred: sleek, powerful and gleaming.
“When Almond Eye won the Japan Cup as a three-year-old, the decision was made early that the next step would be challenging the world and Dubai was the first target we identified,” said Masashi Yonemoto, owner representative of Silk Racing Co. LTD.
“She was arguably the top horse in Japan and in order to validate that, it was always in our minds to challenge to be regarded not only as the top horse in Japan but also the number one horse in the world. That was a motivation.”
But that is not the case for all. Some Japanese owners are reluctant to travel, especially smaller owners who might not have had a Group 1 horse before. For them, the strongest draw is seeing their horse race at home in the races they know and love.
“A lot of them still don’t want to travel,” observed broadcaster Johnson. “A lot of the horse (connections) are choosing to stay – Contrail this year decided to stay and not go overseas, and it’s probably the best field we’ve had for the Osaka Hai for quite some time. So, yes, there is interest in going overseas and I think it is still growing but I don’t think it’s become the be-all and end-all, they want to win the Classics here and the Group 1s here because the money is so good.”
Total JRA prize money in 2020 was ¥119,538,485,110 (AU$1.4 billion), at an average of ¥415,064,219 (AU$4.1 million) per day. The Dubai Sheema Classic was worth US$5 million (AU$6.5million), more than double the Osaka Hai’s value, but the latter is still a lucrative ¥256,500,000 (AU$3 million) event, minus the unknown factors travelling brings. Both Yonemoto and Yahagi noted that a big factor in travelling is how much of the travel expenses inviting racing authorities will pay.
“It’s got to suit the horse first of all,” Yonemoto said. “Some horses might not travel well; the stress of travel might be too much. Then the race must suit, the time of year, style of racing, weather and track condition, these things are all put into the equation to determine if the challenge is suitable for the horse, and if that is the best fit, we move forward. We then look at remuneration. Prize-money is a big factor and, if all looks good, we need to get the support from all members of our syndication club before we go ahead and travel.”
Danon Smash did his value as a stallion prospect no end of good with his Takamatsunomiya Kinen win, having beaten a rare weak bunch of Hong Kong sprinters at Sha Tin in December. His sire, Lord Kanaloa (King Kamehameha) did things the other way around, adding sparkle to his domestic wins with two exceptional performances in the Hong Kong Sprint. Maurice (Screen Hero), too, earned international kudos in Hong Kong having proven his Group 1 status in Japan, which opened up the Australasian market through an Arrowfield Stud tie-in.
“If we do travel, the biggest prestige comes from winning on the biggest stage, like the Dubai World Cup, the Australian Carnivals, the Hong Kong International Races, Breeders’ Cup and British Champions Day. When you are successful on those really big days, you have the ability to increase the appeal of Japanese horses to the world,” Yonemoto added.
It has to be noted that Covid-19 travel restrictions and quarantine requirements have affected horse travel in the past 12 months.
“Due to the pandemic, our options for races have been limited to the domestic sometimes. Like Mozu Ascot, I had to change the horse’s target from overseas plans to domestic races,” Yahagi said.
But the need to duck out of the strong Japanese Group 1 pool to earn success, or avoid horses in connected ownership means travel, ordinarily, is always on the map for those just below the ‘champion’ level.
Twenty-five Japanese horses are entered for Hong Kong’s Champions Day at Sha Tin at the end of April and the expectation is that inbound jockeys and stable connections will avoid the government’s stringent three-week hotel quarantine.
At the Hong Kong International Races in December, the Hong Kong Jockey Club was allowed to create quarantine ‘bubbles’, with jockeys and connections transported by dedicated ‘quarantined’ drivers and accommodated together in ‘bubble’ hotels, ostensibly enabling them to work and compete without contact with the local population.
Danon Smash is being pointed there, as is last year’s fillies’ Triple Crown winner Daring Tact (Epiphaneia). Chrono Genesis and Loves Only You hold entries, but again, Japan’s current bill-toppers, Contrail and Gran Alegria do not. The Osaka Hai will doubtless confirm where they go next, but for now at least, the biggest names are staying home.