3 minute read
Named for Mr Izaemon Yasuda whose statue overlooks the Parade Ring.
The Yasuda Kinen is a G1 1600m race which is open to overseas horses. None will race this year although the race contains 10 horses who have won at G1 level.
It is a very open race this year so we will start with the horses in single figures in the market which is led by everyone's favourite white horse, Sodashi. Her last outing in the Victoria Mile under Damian Lane was the best she's run for a long time and we hope that augurs well for Sunday's race. Kawada returns to her saddle and they are on 4.7 and have a good draw.
We would have put last year's winner Songline in front of her after her win in the Victoria Mile but she's drawn the carpark. So she is out to 8.5.
Damian Lane rode Serifos at his last outing in Dubai where he was 5th in the Dubai Turf. This will be a drop in trip for him as he's raced over the 2000m trip for most of his career.
He's well drawn too – in fact Jack d'Or, Sodashi and Serifos will come out of gates 3,4, and 5. Serifos has firmed in the market and come in as third favourite on 6.8.
Jack d'Or has been at the front for most of his races and it will be interesting to see if Yutaka Take wants to lead again. His draw would assist with this. We all fell in love with him last December in Hong Kong as he seems to have a great personality although he didn't do so well in the race – was very nervous before something we used to see with his sire Maurice.
However he was on his best behaviour last outing and duly collected his first G1. He's on 7.2.
And Schnell Meister – he placed in this race in two earlier editions of this race and just recently has shown renewed enthusiasm for racing. His draw is not the best but he will have Christophe Lemaire doing the steering so he will find a good spot for him. He's currently the second pick on 6.0 coming out of gate 14.
We have two roughies here – Gaia Force and Champagne Color who have both been racing well lately and are on around the 20.0 mark.
It was raining in Tokyo on Friday but Sunday is supposed to be fine so the track may not have been affected.
We have been to many Yasuda Kinens over the years and JRA we like the race and like to see the Japanese horses – we don't come just to see the foreign horses as chances are we see them in other jurisdictions.
