View Full Version : Yasuda Kinen 2007
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Tuesday, May 8, 2007
HK quartet enter quarantine in bid to reach Japan
ALAN AITKEN
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Mark Player
Four of Hong Kong's top horses entered quarantine yesterday with connections hopeful of a tilt at the Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo next month following "some progress" in negotiations between the governments of Hong Kong and Japan.
The outbreak of equine herpes virus (EHV) at Sha Tin had brought a ban on horses travelling to Japan, which was expected to keep them out of the fourth and final leg of the Asian Mile Challenge on June 3.
But the Jockey Club's international racing manager, Mark Player, said yesterday three trainers had taken the option proposed by the club last week to place horses into quarantine while top-level negotiations continue over a compromise quarantine regime that would enable Hong Kong to participate in the race.
"Joyful Winner and Able One from John Moore's yard, Good Ba Ba from Andreas Schutz and The Duke from Caspar Fownes have entered quarantine and the signs have been slightly more encouraging from the negotiating table," Player said.
The compromise deal proposed last week was for the horses to undertake 14 days of quarantine here before leaving for Japan, ensuring that they leave clear of EHV.
When they arrive in Tokyo, there is another regulation quarantine to undertake as well.
If the travel ban is lifted, the four will comprise the strongest team ever to leave for a major event overseas in a race which has quite a history for Hong Kong horses.
Fairy King Prawn was Hong Kong's first Group One winner on foreign soil when he took the 2000 Yasuda Kinen. There had been Hong Kong runners most years since, with Bullish Luck able to win the challenge last year. The trip is especially important for Able One, who stands to win a US$1 million bonus if he can take out the Yasuda Kinen as he is already the winner of an earlier leg of the challenge, the Champions Mile at Sha Tin last month.
"The Golden Week national holidays in Japan have slowed things down but I'm hoping that we will get an official answer regarding the trip by Wednesday," Player said.
"We've had great support from the Hong Kong government, speaking on a government to government level with Japan's Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Japan Racing Association has been a huge help in ensuring that the situation is properly understood by the government on their side.
"Although it has been slow going, I would say this has probably gone better than past negotiations with Japan to alter something like quarantine schedules, so we're hopeful."
http://racing.scmp.com/freeservice/news/news20070508a.asp
http://www.jra.go.jp/topics/video/vg_g1bn/asx/06yasudakine_english_dsl.asx
replay ( video) 2006
http://japanracing.jp/yasuda/result/2006_Result.html
results page above ( 2006)
Able jockey tops the agenda for anxious Moore
Trainer has tough time finding replacement for Yasuda Kinen
MURRAY BELL
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Champions Mile hero Able One will not have his partner Mick Kinane in the Yasuda Kinen. Photo: Kenneth Chan
A worldwide search for a top jockey to replace Mick Kinane on the Champions Mile hero Able One for the Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo on June 3 remains unsatisfied.
Trainer John Moore said yesterday that the day of the Yasuda Kinen coincides with Group racing in Europe, Australia and Hong Kong, and he's now compiled a long list of negative replies from top jockeys.
Kinane, who won the Champions Mile on Able One on April 29, has a commitment to ride Viva Pataca for owner Stanley Ho Hung-sun in the Group One Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) at Sha Tin the same afternoon as the Yasuda Kinen.
"When Mick was here for the QE II and Champions Mile meeting, it was Dr Ho who brought him here and the ride on Able One was a bonus for him, so naturally he'll be sticking with Viva Pataca," Moore said.
"Gerald Mosse has agreed to go to Japan and ride Joyful Winner in the Yasuda Kinen, and that only leaves us to find a rider for Able One." Mosse was the winning jockey on Joyful Winner when they combined to win the Group One Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup at Sha Tin at his start prior to the Champions Mile, in which he ran second to Able One.
Top Australian jockeys Damien Oliver and Darren Beadman have both been approached to do the Tokyo run, but commitments in Brisbane the previous day do not allow the time to make the connecting flights.
And Douglas Whyte and Brett Prebble have chosen to stay at home to maximise their chance of winning the most thrilling battle in years for the riders' championship.
Trainer Andreas Schutz will give his Yasuda Kinen contender Good Ba Ba a gallop in the reverse direction on turf this morning.
The Jockey Club's manager of tracks, Pako Ip Pak-chung, said Good Ba Ba and Champions Gallery would feature in separate gallops in the reverse (anti-clockwise) direction on the course proper after the end of normal trackwork.
Meanwhile, the situation regarding Japan's acceptance of Hong Kong horses for their premier mile race remained unresolved last night, as government officials seek to ensure there is no risk of infection of Japan's horse population with Equine Influence Virus (EHV).
Jockey Club international racing manager Mark Player said the decision now rests with the appropriate minister in the Japanese government. "My understanding is that a full briefing and the appropriate documents were delivered to the minister on Monday, and that he had a meeting with JRA [Japan Racing Association] officials on Wednesday. At this stage, it's steady as she goes, and we hope to hear something positive [today, Friday]," he said.
The four horses that are intended to contest the Yasuda Kinen - Able One, Joyful Winner, The Duke and Good Ba Ba - have been under quarantine conditions at Sha Tin since Monday.
http://racing.scmp.com/freeservice/news/news20070511.asp
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Fradd picks up surprise ride
JOHN BELL
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A social visit to Hong Kong last weekend provided jockey Robbie Fradd with the surprise of being offered the ride on the Caspar Fownes-trained The Duke in the HK$13.9 million Yasuda Kinen in Japan on June 3.
The former premier jockey took time out from his riding contract in Singapore to catch up with friends and came away with the opportunity to emulate his success on the great Fairy King Prawn in Tokyo in 2000.
"I was shocked to be offered the ride," Fradd said at Kranji trackwork yesterday morning. "But what a great opportunity to be able to go back to Japan and try to win the Yasuda Kinen again.
"It was very kind of Caspar and the connections of The Duke to give me this chance and he's not without a chance on the way he has been going of late."
Fradd (pictured) is no stranger to The Duke, having ridden the Danehill gelding on four occasions for a win and two placings, including a victory in the 2004 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile trial, followed by a third in the Mile itself behind Godolphin's Firebreak.
"He's a terrific old horse and you know he will go over to Japan and give his best, as always," Fradd said.
Fradd has wasted little time in establishing himself in the top echelon of riders in Singapore with 25 winners from only 130 rides. He sits in second place on the premiership ladder behind Australian Noel Callow, who will also make the trip to Japan to ride the John Moore-trained Able One.
"It took a little time to get some momentum going, but I am delighted with the way things have progressed and I'm very happy I made the move," Fradd, 42, said. "I'm hungry again, the warmer climate has improved my fitness and I haven't felt physically this good in five years.
"It was a learning curve coming to a new racing centre, but I've thoroughly enjoyed my first six months and I have just applied for another six."
Before Japan, Fradd has another big assignment when he partners Brazilian entire Setembro Chove in Sunday's S$3 million (HK$15.5 million) Singapore Airlines International Cup over 2,000 metres at Kranji.
Setembro Chove, prepared by Fradd's long-time friend and South African compatriot Patrick Shaw, was successful at Group One level in his homeland, before arriving in Singapore via a brief stint in Dubai early last year.
He made an immediate impact with two Group One placings, including a third to the Fradd-ridden Our Falstaff in the Singapore Derby, before spending eight months on the sidelines due to injury.
There will be 13 runners in Sunday's feature, seven locally-trained horses, along with two from Japan and one each from New Zealand, South Africa, England and France.
http://racing.scmp.com/freeservice/news/news20070516c.asp
Im strong on the Kongo today ( around 8-1) ...looks to be one of the main hopes. Other main chances I have are Daiwa Major ( first up after his campaign overseas) and Suzuka Phoenix ( quite keen also).
All are more or less in the market.
One of the HK horses is sure to run well, ( Joyful winner goes OK in Tokyo) they always do..which one to go for though is hard...but I think the Duke can be safely left out ( shame as he is a nice horse)
for value I would be throwing in 11( Meiner S) 13 ( Air Shady) / 16 ( Symboli Escape) /18 ( Jolly Dance+)
Daiwa Major edges out the Kong...Jolly Dance got up for third ( 70-1 NSW)
Ando rebounds aboard Daiwa Major, wins Yasuda Kinen
Shintaro Kano / Daily Yomiuri Sportswriter
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Daiwa Major, left, crosses the finish line, edging out Kongo Rikishi O to triumph at the 57th Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday afternoon. KYODO PHOTO
Another Grade 1 race, another Grade 1 victory for Katsumi Ando.
Ando rebounded from his Japan Derby flop by winning his third G1 title of the spring on Sunday, pipping Kongo Rikishio by a neck aboard Daiwa Major to capture the 57th Yasuda Kinen.
The 6-year-old Daiwa Major became the first Sunday Silence progeny to win the Yasuda, one of only three top-level races from Japan's 20 that offspring of the late American champion, keystone of recent Japanese racing, have failed to capture.
The 47-year-old jockey finished seventh in the Derby a week ago with prohibitive favorite Fusaichi Ho O, but Ando came through on this afternoon, steering second favorite Major to the horse's fourth G1 honor with a time of 1 minute 32.3 seconds over the mile.
"I'm relieved," Ando said at Tokyo Racecourse. "I wasn't the least bit worried about the form of the horse, but I was worried about having drawn inside. I had to think about not getting boxed in, finding my space.
"I didn't want to push him out too early, so the pace [Shinji] Fujita's Kongo Rikishio was perfect. But I have to admit I thought for a second there, we weren't going to catch him."
Taking third was ninth choice Jolly Dance, who crossed the finish line two-and-a-half lengths behind Rikishio.
Jolly was followed by Admire Kiss and Yutaka Take's Suzuka Phoenix, the favorite, finished fifth.
The much-hyped four horses from Hong Kong did not place higher than seventh, which was occupied by Good Ba Ba. Trainer John Moore's Joyful Winner and Able One came in ninth and 12th, respectively, and The Duke ended up 15th among the maximum field of 18.
Champions Mile winner Able One was eligible for a bonus to any horse that wins two legs of the Asian Mile Challenge but finished a non-threatening 12th. Neither Futurity winner Aqua D’Amore nor Dubai Duty Free victor Admire Moon contested the Yasuda Kinen.
Japan's Jolly Dance and Admire Kiss followed Kongo Rikishi O over the line in third and fourth, respectively.
Major's win Sunday--his fifth in eight races with Ando, all of them graded--turned out to be the first Yasuda Kinen victory for an offspring of the late Sunday Silence. The Japan Cup Dirt and the NHK Mile Cup remain the only two G1 races Sunday-bred horses have not won.
The Hiroyuki Uehara-trained Major had an outstanding autumn season in 2006, when he won the Emperor's Cup and the Mile Championship and was third in the 2,500-meter Arima Kinen, a race thought to be well out of his range.
Despite his proven class, Major was not even the top pick Sunday, his third-place finish in the Dubai Duty Free likely devaluing his stock.
Major came home in the Duty Free almost five lengths behind the winner, Japan's Admire Moon ridden by Take.
Daiwa Major broke handily from the No. 2 gate and stayed just off the rail in fourth position, as Kongo Rikishi O led the field of 18 over the first 1,600 meters at a slow pace.
"I didn't want to take the lead too soon," Ando explained.
Ando rode Major to near perfection out of gate No. 2 on Sunday, keeping him along the railing just a few lengths behind Rikishio until the time came to make his move.
Major came off the railing around the final turn, snaking through the pack toward the front.
The 47-year-old veteran looked for an opening just before the top of the stretch slope and moved out and forward with 400 meters to go. With only the front-running Kongo Rikishi O ahead, Ando moved Daiwa Major over to run side by side and the race was his.
When Ando unleashed him, Rikishio still owned a sizeable lead, appearing well on his way to the winner's check of 100 million yen.
"He's incredibly competitive when he goes neck and neck," Ando said. "I knew we'd have it if we could line up."
But Major switched into another gear with 200 meters to go and caught up to Fujita's 5-year-old pacesetter on his outside. Major overtook Rikishio with 50 meters left before going under the wire with the lead intact.
"He knows how to race and to a certain degree, can cover a variety of distances so he still has a lot to look forward to in the future," said Ando, who won his second Yasuda Kinen, his first in three years. "He went out there and proved today that he is a first-class horse."
The Hiroyuki Uehara-trained Daiwa Major was bred in Hokkaido at Shadai Farm. The chestnut out of Scarlet Bouquet is owned by Keizo Oshiro and is now 8 for 23, with close to 897 million yen in earnings. He has won seven graded racesWinning time was 1 minute 32.3 seconds. Daiwa Major returned 440 yen on a 100 yen wager. The trifecta 2-5-18 returned 63,140 yen.
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Daiwa Major last year
(Jun. 4, 2007)
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last years Yasuda Kinen 2006 replay above
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