Arima Kinen (Group 1)
IT’S been quite the season for the three-year-old crop in Japan and five weeks after finishing second to fellow three-year-old Masquerade Ball in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), the Japanese 2000 Guineas (Satsuki Sho) winner Museum Mile came late and fast to win the Group 1 Arima Kinen at Nakayama last Sunday.
Museum Mile had won the Group 1 Satsuki Sho from Croix Du Nord with Masquerade Ball in third and Croix Du Nord had then gone on to win the Japanese Derby by three quarters of a length from Masquerade Ball. Masquerade Ball had also just lost out by a head in the Japan Cup finish to Calandagan, so the three colts look top drawer. And the good news over the weekend was that Masquerade Ball’s owners are keen to come to Ascot in July for a rematch with Calandagan.
Sent off third favourite on Sunday, Museum Mile claimed his second Group 1 title by dominating the “All-Star” Grand Prix, the Arima Kinen.
A bit slow out of gate four, the Daisuke Takayanagi-trained Museum Mile settled toward the rear. The son of Leontes followed Danon Decile for most of the trip, and swung wide around the final two bends before he unleashed a powerful late charge.
The three-year-old passed his rivals one by one, catching the two front runners - Danon Decile and then Cosmo Kuranda - in the final strides to reach the line a half-length in front.
Really happy
Jockey Cristian Demuro had narrowly missed last year’s Arima Kinen with Shahryar, beaten by a nose by Regaleira, registered his seventh JRA-Group 1 victory.
“I’m really happy to win the race. It was a revenge from last year. I just followed Danon Decile all the way - he opened the way for us in the last stretch - and when we came outside, I knew we could beat him. The horse likes the Nakayama track, so it was a big advantage for us,” Demuro said.
Cosmo Kuranda chased the pace and took command at the top of the stretch. The colt was caught by the winner just before the post, finishing a half-length behind in second while holding off the rest of the field by a neck.
Second favourite again this year, Danon Decile broke smoothly and travelled wide. The four-year-old son of Epiphaneia produced an impressive burst of speed down the straight but was overtaken by the fast-closing Museum Mile in the last 50m and finished a neck behind Cosmo Kuranda in third.
Race favourite and last year’s winner Regaleira raced toward the rear after a poor break. Meeting traffic entering the straight, the defending champion found a narrow opening between horses in the last 100m but her the fastest last three furlongs were too late to catch the top three and finished half a length behind Danon Decile in fourth.
Hopeful Stakes (Group 1)
LOVCEN won this year’s Hopeful Stakes on his second start of the season for trainer Haruki Sugiyama and jockey Kohei Matsuyama who also won with Star Anise in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies just two weeks earlier. The colt was only seventh in the betting but gave his sire World Premiere (Deep Impact), the 2019 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) and 2021 Tenno Sho (Spring) winner his first Group 1 victory.
Lovcen settled on the rails in mid-division while T O Al Ain set the pace. From the rails, the son of World Premiere moved out sharply at the 200m pole and found an impressive closing kick to overtake the front in the final strides for a three-quarter-length victory.
“He had shown a remarkable turn of foot in training so I knew he would have the strength to catch the leaders. Since his first win was over yielding ground, he has proven his versatility today so we have a lot to look forward to in his future starts,” Kohei Matsuyama told media.
Forte Angelo travelled in fourth to fifth, in close pursuit of the race favourite up to the final bend. The Fierement colt switched to the outside and dug in furiously but was overtaken by the winner but headed Ask Edinburgh to secure second.