Yasuda Kinen (Group 1)

ONLY the eighth in the pre-race betting the five-year-old horse Sixpence grabbed a much-awaited first Group 1 title in this year’s 18-runner Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo Racecourse last Sunday.

The son of Kizuna had disappointed finishing ninth in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) at three and and while adding two graded wins in 2024 and 2025, he was winless since last March 2025, including three starts on dirt in which he managed one runner-up effort.

Hiroyasu Tanaka took over as his trainer upon Kunieda’s retirement, and back on turf again, Tanaka scored his fourth JRA-Group 1 title, his first since the 2024 Champions Cup with Lemon Pop, while his famed jockey Yutaka Take registered his 85th Group 1 victory following last year’s Takarazuka Kinen with Meisho Tabaru and fourth Yasuda Kinen win and became the oldest Group 1-winning jockey at over 57 years.

Forward position

Sixpence made use of an inside draw to secure a forward position along the rails behind a moderate pace set by World’s End. As the field closed in rounding the final turn, Yutaka Take went to the inside but decided to shift to the outside of the leader just before the uphill stretch as Seiun Hades came on his outside.

Catching up to the leader 50 metres out, it was a neck-to-neck between four runners to the post in which, the son of Kizuna bested by a narrow margin.

“I did my homework, the trainer told me that he was capable to maintain good speed to the wire, so my plan was to have him up front, even lead if necessary, and although the front runners were pretty tenacious in the final stretch, Sixpence was very responsive. He has shown his true strength with a lot to look forward to in his coming races,” Yutaka Take said to media afterwards.

World’s End had led and opened the gap to about four lengths along the backstretch while allowed to cruise at a moderate pace. Although as the rest of the field closed in rounding the final turn, the son of Lord Kanaloa still had plenty left to maintain his lead and rallied gamely with the winner to the finish line, just missing by a neck, tying second with the grey was race favourite Gaia Force who made ground quickly on his outside.