FIVE straight weekends of Group 1 race days at Tokyo racecourse culminated two weeks ago in the 66th renewal of the Yasuda Kinen, which is contested over a mile for three-year-olds and upwards.

A 12-strong field of runners was headlined by overwhelming fan favourite Maurice. He was fresh from his second successful outing to Hong Kong where he won the Group 1 Champions Cup in imperious fashion. However, it was the six-year-old Logotype who was to outrun his odds of 36/1 as eighth choice in the betting and claim his third title at the highest level.

In the hands of Hironobu Tanabe, Logotype was sent straight to the lead from the gates to set an even gallop throughout.

Quickening going into the last bend, Logotype soon had all his 11 pursuers evidently under pressure and unable to challenge as they stretched into the final two furlongs. Logotype galloped on relentlessly, crossing the line a length and a quarter to the good over Maurice in second with the fast-finishing Fiero in third.

CHAMPION

Logotype was crowned champion two-year-old in 2012 when winning the Group 1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes and followed this by winning the 2013 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) in a record time. However, since then, despite having run with merit on many occasions, he had not managed a return to the winner’s enclosure for over three years. Nevertheless, the son of Lohengrin has now amassed more than €4,200,000 in career earnings.

Maurice, last year’s champion older horse, was uncharacteristically very fractious in the preliminaries and sweated-up considerably at the start.

Australian jockey Tommy Berry was riding Maurice for the first time in public but was unable to settle him at any point during the race with the pair almost running away along the back stretch. He was unable to produce his customary finishing kick, which has made him such a force to be reckoned with domestically and further afield over the last 18 months.

Recent Dubai Turf winner in Meydan, Real Steel, dropped back in distance to a mile for the first time but was never on terms throughout and finished a very disappointing eleventh.