“Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby” makes its usual detour to Kawasaki Racecourse on December 15 for the second leg of a four-race series, providing the winner with a guaranteed spot in the race. Churchill Downs The gate begins on the first Saturday in May.
Halfway through, however, “Japan Road” is a title-only series with no 2-year-olds competing in the first leg, Cattleya Stakes at Tokyo Circuit on November 27, finishing second. . foot, Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun.
The Kawasaki Circuit, located in the greater Tokyo area, is part of the National Racing Association – a structure separate from the major tournament Japan Racing Association tracks. It is included every year in a series of events organized by Churchill Downs because NAR facilities are credited with conducting dirt races.
In particular, Kawasaki is popular as a family-friendly destination and for night races, run by the Kanagawa Prefectural Kawasaki Racing Association.
Five of the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun participants are JRA-based horses with the others representing six different NAR tracks.
Sekifu, One Henny Hughes colt, looking for his fourth straight win. His last attempt was a listed race at Sondoa Racecourse on November 25. Burn, via Discreet cat , came second in that race after starting his career with wins at the Tokyo and Chukyo racecourses and returning for another shot.
Sekifu was trained by Koshiro Take and Mirco Demuro was booked for the trip. Demiro has hot hands after riding Life cycle won on December 12 at Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1).
Ice Giant and Dry beer both entered undefeated after two starts. Ice Giant, by Dunkirk get out Captain Steve mare Ice doll, is 2 to 2 with the latest score in the listed race over the sloppy Monbetsu track. Dry Stout, of Sinister Ministry, won at the Chukyo and Toyko racecourses, both times going off track.
Kaikano Kiseki is the only scumbag in the field. Via Kinshasa no Kiseki , she finished second in a high school crush at the Hakodate circuit after winning her debut but then finished fifth in her latest attempt after four months of being fired.
Among the types of NARs, Nine Viper got two wins and two seconds after five starts, all of which went to Kawasaki. Both Hokko Tarumae The victories of colt come in a sloppy way. Move, the son of Fenomeno , won four of their nine starts and finished second behind the Ice Giants in their final race.
S’il Te Plait, Sea sky and Ryan, all with four previous wins. Ryan is the sole representative of the deceased Deep impact.
The winner of the 1,600 meters (about 1 mile) Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun is awarded 20 points on the “Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby” leaderboard and will take the top spot. The runner-up gets 8 points with 4 and 2 points for the third and fourth place.
Consigliere earn 10 points for winning Cattleya Stakes.
The outcome of the series probably won’t be determined until it’s over as the number of points offered increases at each stop along the way.
Churchill Downs begins the series after Lani won the 2015 Cattleya and then finished third in the 2016 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets (G1). It hasn’t had much of an impact on Run for the Roses so far.
Master Fencer (JPN) placed fourth in the series and accepted an invitation to the 2019 Derby as the top three earners declined the honor. The Just a road colt ranked seventh but ranked sixth after being eliminated Maximum security .
