1 of 2 | Forever Young wins Wednesday’s Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun at Kawasaki Racecourse, vaulting to the top of the “Japan Road to the Kentucky Dery leaderboard. Photo by and courtesy of Katsumi Saito
Dec. 15 (UPI) — It’s another big week in Kentucky Derby news, with a legitimate contender popping up in Japan and Saturday’s Los Alamitos Futurity promising to add to the mix as trainer Bob Baffert saddles half the field.
Remington Park also has a competitive field of promising 3-year-olds in Saturday’s Springboard Mile. Oaklawn Park, Turfway Park and Los Alamitos carry on with stakes events for older horses, while Gulfstream Park contributes a turf marathon.
Internationally, 2-year-old turf runners take on Sunday’s Group 1 Asahi Hai Futurity in Japan and, in Argentina, the Group 1 Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini Internacional is the first Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race of the 2023-24 season with the winner eligible for a spot in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
Let’s go shopping for some winners.
Juvenile
Wednesday’s Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun at Kawasaki Racecourse in Japan turned up what looks to be a really viable Kentucky Derby contender in Forever Young.
The race was the second leg of the “Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby,” and Forever Young, a great-grandson of Sunday Silence through Deep Impact, tops the leaderboard in that series after winning by 7 lengths, going away.
The Real Steel colt remains undefeated after three starts. Perhaps more important, his connections are committed to international competition. Trainer Yoshito Yahagi, “the man in the hat,” has won top races around the globe, including Japan’s first two Breeders’ Cup victories.
Yahagi had Continuar set to run in this year’s Kentucky Derby, but scratched him just before the race, saying he wasn’t satisfied with the colt’s fitness. He then said he’d be back, and Wednesday he indicated Forever Young might be his return ticket.
“Of course, the Kentucky Derby is my dream,” he said. “But we will make a decision after talking with the owner. Yes, I will continue to train this horse so that we would not disappoint the expectation of many people, which includes running him in the international circuits.”
Coming up this weekend:
Baffert saddles half the six-colt field entered for Saturday’s $200,000 Grade II Los Alamitos Futurity, but the usual feeling of dominance isn’t there — at least on paper.
Wine Me Up, second in the Grade I American Pharoah, comes off an eighth-place disappointment in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Coach Prime and Wynstock both arrive fresh from maiden-breakers.
The non-Bafferts include the Phil D’Amato-trained Stronghold, second in the Grade III Bob Hope at Del Mar in his last start, and two who need to show more in Ace of Clubs and Moonlit Sonata.
Friday’s $300,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park in Oklahoma drew from across the country.
Doug O’Neill has Raging Torrent, who was fourth in each of his last two starts, the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity and the Grade I American Pharoah.
Glengarry comes from Oaklawn Park with an undefeated record — two wins at Prairie Meadows and one at Keeneland.
Otto the Conquerer won his last two starts, both a Churchill Downs.
Brad Cox has shipped two from Louisville. Locals might play a role, too.
State-bred 2-year-olds go at it in Saturday’s $500,000 New York Stallion Series Great White Way Division and Sunday’s $100,000 King Glorious Stakes at Los Alamito,
Looking forward, the British Jockey Club and Ascot Racecourse have agreed to set aside spots in the 2024 Epsom Derby and Epsom Oaks for designated winners of races at Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby weekend. It’s a bit of a turnaround, as usually it’s the Louisville track that seeks runners from overseas.
Juvenile Fillies
Saturday’s $500,000 Fifth Avenue Division of the NYSS tops the roster for the young ladies. Also on tap is Friday’s $75,000 Trapeze Stakes at Los Alamitos.
Around the world, around the clock:
Japan
A December extravaganza of 2-year-old racing continues with Sunday’s Grade 1 Asahi Hai Futurity at Hanshin Racecourse.
The 1-mile turf affair is expected to attract a full field despite the competing attraction of the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at 2,000 meters just 11 days later. Several prospects in the Futurity put undefeated records on the line in what promises to be a test to determine priorities for 2024.
Argentina
Saturday’s Group 1 Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini Internacional at Hipodromo de San Isidro near Buenos Aires is heralded as South America’s most prestigious race and drew a strong field of 14. The winner gets an automatic starting position in the $4 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar.
The 1 1/2-mile Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini Internacional is the first Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race of the 2023-24 season.
In other action:
Gulfstream Park
Ten are in to tackle 2 miles on the turf in Saturday’s $100,000 H. Allen Jerkens Handicap. Last year’s winner and “horse for the course” Value Engineering and McLovin are the morning-line favorites.
There is a 4-year-old gelding in this race named Serifos, who should not be confused with the Grade 1 winner of the same name based in Japan. Another 4-year-old Serifos is unraced in England.
Serifos? It’s a small Greek island that, in legend, once was home to Medusa-slaying Perseus and the Cyclops.
Oaklawn Park
It’s a talented and well-matched seven-horse field for Saturday’s $200,000 Tinsel Stakes at 9 furlongs. Many are on the bubble beween high-level allowance races and stakes events. Strong Quality stays on the dirt after winning an off-the-turf allowance at Churchill Downs in his last start.
Turfway Park
Saturday’s $125,000 Prairie Bayou Stakes, 1 1/16 miles on the all-weather track, has an overflow field with Wolfie’s Dynaghost and Ocean Atlantique the morning-line picks.
News and Notes
Trainers Dale Romans, John Sadler and Shug McGaughey and racing and bloodstock manager Gavin Murphy have joined Horseracing Integrity and Safety Administration’s Horsemen’s Advisory Group.
HISA established that group last year to provide formal feedback on the implementation and evolution of its Racetrack Safety and Anti-Doping and Medication Control regulations.