Racing Roundup: 28th June

Angola Black - netkeiba.com

Welcome to the first edition of Racing Roundup!

Each week, I’ll highlight the standout performances from the weekend and flag a few eye-catching runners you’ll want to keep an eye on. Be sure to add them to your tracker - they could be winners waiting to happen!

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Saturday 28th June

Hakodate

Race 1 - 1,200m 3yo Maiden (Turf) - O K Dyna (オーケーダイナ)

3yo filly by Saxon Warrior x Lady Noorah (Nathaniel)

Ridden by Yutaka Take

Trained by Yutaka Okumura (Ritto)

Owned by Ken Ono

Bred by Aisling Japan LLC

Winning time - 1m 09.4s

Coolmore Stud's 2018 2000 Guineas hero Saxon Warrior has made somewhat of a comeback in the last couple of months after a quiet spell. His 3yo daughter continued that good run of form as she ran out a ready winner of Hakodate's opening race of the weekend under Yutaka Take as 3.7 second-favourite.

She sat in a handy position throughout the six-furlong contest and hit the line with her ears pricked to break her maiden tag at the seventh attempt.

Her 2yo half-sister by American Patriot, Lunar Drop, is in training with Jiro Ono at Miho.

Race 4 - 2,000m 3yo Maiden (Turf) - Alma de Oro (アルマデオロ)

3yo colt by Rey de Oro x Sugar Heart (Sakura Bakushin O)

Ridden by Yutaka Take

Trained by Hisashi Shimizu

Owned by Hidaka Breeders Union Co. Ltd.

Bred by Yanagawa Bokujo

Winning time - 2m 00.4s

Alma de Oro had a lot to live up to before even stepping foot on the track being a half-brother to Kitasan Black. He finished second at Hanshin earlier this month but made no mistake here. Coming in as the 2.1 favourite, he sat handy enough in about fifth position before drawing clear round the home turn for a comfy 2 1/2 length victory under Yutaka Take.

He is the 12th foal out of Sugar Heart, and her 8th winner from 9 runners. Sugar Heart has a 2yo colt by Contrail in-training with Hisashi Shimizu at Ritto and had a Contrail foal this year, born on 29th of March.

His sire, Rey de Oro, has produced 4 Group winners on the JRA circuit but hasn't yet got that elusive first Group 1 winner. Alma de Oro is from his second crop and all 4 of his Group winners have come this year - Sunrise Earth in the Group 2 Hanshin Daishoten, Admire Terra in the Group 2 Meguro Kinen, Trovatore in the Group 3 Lord Derby Challenge Trophy and most recently Excite Bio in Sunday's Group 3 Radio Nikkei Sho. Rey de Oro is a sire firmly on the up.

I wonder if this guy could keep improving and step up into Stakes company one day - I sure hope he can!

P.S. He loves to sleep!

Race 10 - 2,000m Toyako Tokubetsu (2 win allowance) (Turf) - Canela Fina (カネラフィーナ)

3yo filly by Frankel x Joy Canela (Fortify)

Ridden by Takeshi Yokoyama

Trained by Takahisa Tezuka

Owned by Silk Racing Co. Ltd.

Bred by Northern Farm

Winning time - 1m 59.4s

The Newmarket-based Frankel has already had his fair share of success on Japanese shores - Group 1 Yushun Himba winner Soul Stirring springs to mind, and he may have another good filly on his hands here in the form of Canela Fina.

She sat second for most of the 2,000m under Takeshi Yokoyama before pulling away entering the straight, not for catching and running out a 2 1/2 length winner.

She has now won 3 from 5 for Takahisa Tezuka and it doesn't look like we'll have to wait too long to see her in Stakes company.

She has a 2yo half-brother by Kizuna, a yearling half-brother by Contrail (sold for a whopping ¥209,000,000 (approx. $1,445,000 USD)) and Joy Canela has recently produced a foal by Contrail again this year.

I'm fascinated to see where she goes next.

Rate the dancing feet!

Fukushima

Race 1 - 1,200m 3yo Maiden (Turf) - Envy Me (エンヴィーミー)

2yo filly by Munnings x Seattle Slang (Tapit)

Ridden by Kousei Miura

Trained by Hideyuki Mori

Owned by Kodai Maeda

Bred by Phoenix Thoroughbreds (III) Ltd.

Winning time - 1m 08.8s

She made her debut on the 14th of July at Tokyo over 1,400m and finished 3rd, 4 1/2 lengths behind impressive winner Saint Antoine. This American-bred filly broke slowly that day but was much more streetwise on Saturday - rushed up to lead by Kousei Miura shortly after leaving the stalls and wasn't for catching for the rest of the contest. Envy Me dictated the pace and showed a nice turn of foot in the stretch, eventually winning by 2 1/2 lengths with her ears pricked as she crossed the line.

Bred in the US, she was sold to North Hills at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale last August for $275,000. Her Quality Road half-brother Seattle Road won a maiden at the Fair Grounds in December for Tom Amoss before being highly-tried in both the Grade 3 Lecomte and Grade 2 Risen Star.

Hideyuki Mori does well with his two-year-olds and this filly could reach quite a high-level.

Race 5 - 1,200m 2yo Debut (Turf) - Mese (メーゼ)

2yo filly by Disco Partner x Marquet Legacy (Gio Ponti)

Ridden by Kazuki Kikuzawa

Trained by Takanori Kikuzawa

Owned by Yoshihiko Koga

Bred by Hamamoto Bokujo

Winning time - 1m 09.7s

A great story with this filly. She was purchased for just ¥7,370,000 (approx. $45.7k USD) as a yearling at the Hokkaido Summer Sale and by winning on debut, she has already earned ¥7,500,000 (approx. $46.6k USD), roughly $900 more than her yearling sale price - shrewd purchase!

Mese sat in third for most of the way round and stayed on powerfully to nab long-time leader Iikuni Passion on the line. She did well to win in a field full of colts.

Her dam Marquet Legacy, won a Belmont Maiden for Christophe Clement back in 2019 and now sits with a record of 1 runner - 1 winner, courtesy of Mese.

Race 10 - 1,700m Iwaki Tokubetsu (2 win allowance) (Dirt) - Narukami (ナルカミ)

3yo colt by Thunder Snow x Omnipresence (Deep Impact)

Ridden by Keita Tosaki

Trained by Hiroyasu Tanaka

Owned by Godolphin

Bred by Darley Japan

Winning time - 1m 44.2s

Narukami was the only 3yo runner in this field and received a 3kg weight allowance from his elders but he used that to his advantage with a front-running demolition job under Keita Tosaki. He went off as the 1.2 favourite and certainly ran like it, making all and barely seeing another rival to win by a 5 length margin. Runner-up Crown Sienta has been ever so consistent, finishing 2nd in 3 of his 5 starts in the 2 win allowance class - he'll get his day in the sun soon enough.

The Thunder Snow colt took his record to 3 wins from 4 starts and he's certainly one I'd add to your tracker.

His dam, Omnipresence, has a 2yo colt by 2013 Group 1 Juddmonte International and Group 1 Queen Anne winner Declaration Of War in-training with Toru Hayashi at Miho. She also has a yearling by Thunder Snow too.

Thunder Snow hasn't produced a Group winner yet but I wouldn't be surprised if Narukami gets him off the mark in the near future.

Race 11- 2,000m Baden-Baden Cup (3 win allowance) (Turf) - Angola Black (アンゴラブラック)

4yo filly by Kizuna x Black Morion (Rulership)

Ridden by Keita Tosaki

Trained by Tomohito Ozeki

Owned by Sunday Racing

Bred by Northern Farm

Winning time - 1m 59.3s

A highly-progressive filly, rising through the ranks at a rate of knots. Her racing journey started in January of last year where she finished 2nd at Nakayama. She went back there for a maiden, which she duly won, before a lengthy absence - reappearing in the Noel Sho on December 21st, where she finished a close 4th. Angola Black's winning run started in February at Tokyo where she won a 1 win allowance before taking the 2 win Nojimazaki Tokubetsu in April. She extended that run on Saturday, just getting up in the aforementioned Baden-Baden Cup. Breaking from stall 1, she travelled smoothly throughout on the rail and looked stuck in a pocket, but as they turned for home the gaps opened up and Keita Tosaki got her up in the nick of time, edging out Ask Nice Show by a nose with just a neck back to Satono Cloak in 3rd.

Kizuna has produced the likes of Group 1 Yasuda Kinen winner Songline, Group 1 Tokyo Yushun winner Justin Milano, Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner Akai Ito and Jpn1 Tokyo Derby winner Natural Rise.

Angola Black's dam, Black Morion, was modest on the track but it looks as though she's produced a nice one here and I can't wait to see her in Open company.

Kokura

Race 11 - 1,800m Yanagawa Tokubetsu (2 win allowance) (Turf) - Theresa (テレサ)

3yo f by Admire Mars x Tamniah (Nathaniel)

Ridden by Kohei Matsuyama

Trained by Haruki Sugiyama

Owned by Hideko Kondo

Bred by Northern Farm

Winning time - 1m 46.8s

Admire Mars filly Theresa downed the hot 1.7 favourite Mikki Gold by a neck in this exciting contest. She broke alertly and led going round the first bend away from the Kokura grandstand and maintained a narrow advantage to La Reine des Lys in second. Challengers pressed to her outside as they rounded the home bend but she stuck on gamey to fend them all off. I would say that Carrot Farm's 3rd placed finisher Barrel Turn was very unlucky, his gap closed as he went to make his challenge, keep an eye out for him when he returns to the track.

Theresa won the 1 win Armeria Sho in March at Hanshin before finishing 6th in the Listed Sweetpea Stakes in May. Her dam, Tamniah, won a Group 3 for Andre Fabre in France and was purchased at the Tattersalls December mares sale in 2020 by Katsumi Yoshida for 260,000Gns.

After Theresa's win on Saturday, her record now sits at 3 wins from 5 starts and I'd imagine a 2 win allowance race in the near-future awaits this promising filly.

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