Young Men (And A Lady) Go A Mile At Japan
This Saturday’s feature race at Japan Race Course is the 1.7 million-dollar, Grade II Young Men’s Mile. This is a contest for 3yo’s over Japan’s firm turf course; nine colts and one filly have showed up to vie for the big money.
This is only the fourth running of this race, and it’s still trying to acquire that “big race” reputation. Maybe this year, somebody will pop out of the pack and go on to future greatness… Will any of these threaten the stakes record (1:34.1), set in the first running (2009) by Pass The Mic? Will any use this race as a springboard to multiple Graded wins and a run at post-season glory?
Let’s have a look at the field:
From the rail goes FIELD COMMAND. This kjracing trainee has marvelous bloodlines (Scratch-bred Unbridled’s Song x Seattle Slew x Nijinsky II, 5 generation outcross), but has yet to show that he is capable of living up to those fancy names from the past. He has been unable to finish ahead of anyone in a stakes race so far in his short career; the good news is that his speed numbers have been close to those he has earned in other races. Unfortunately, they’ll need a big bump upward. His best hope is that he has landed a veteran rider who appears to be having his best season ever.
ROMAN BANK, also a 21/1 shot, goes from the #2 stall. The Holy Roman Emperor colt has moved forward quite a bit since being stretched out to 2 turns, but he will need a good bit more improvement to compete with this bunch. Trainer paton was highly encouraged by his colt’s blowout allowance win last out, and takes the plunge here.
AITKENVALE went into the Grade 3 Irish 2000 Guineas Trail on a super-hot streak with 4 wins in a row starting with a maiden win, but that’s where the hot streak went to die. Maybe the gunsynd trainee can make amends in his 2nd Graded try, at 9/1. The Pivotal colt is bred for success and has a solid rider aboard.
DAIWA EXPRESS is ranked #17 in the division, but most of his stakes points were earned in his strong 2yo season. The Daiwa Major colt did run a solid 2nd in the Grade 2 Golden Rose Stakes, and his two bad runs this year were in much longer races, probably tosses. Trainer socko sends this guy out just two weeks after a Grade 1 Sydney Derby in which he hardly ran a step over those 12 furlongs. He gets 12/1 odds, and might surprise though his top speeds are below what should be needed to get the job done here.
Going off as the 2/1 favorite, GIFT OF JEWELS has been the model of consistency with only one off-the-board finish in his nine career starts. The Monsun colt, trained by given, seems to get better with each start… Or is it that he’s getting better with each furlong? Shortens up in distance here; can the #20-ranked colt get the job done?
FRANSESCO is a Hussonet filly going off at 18/1. She hasn’t done well in her two stakes tries against fillies, so deyoto3 tries her against the boys, possibly with the idea of providing a rabbit for his other entry. She will need to run the race of her life to contend against these, even though this doesn’t appear to be the strongest of Graded fields.
EXBOURNE’S HELIOS gets an 8/1 price for futurefarm. The Duke Of Marmalade colt is 5 for 7, with a pair of 3rd’s. He won impressively in the Grade 3 Far Lap at a sixteenth shorter last time out, and should be right in the thick of things here. The rider doesn’t inspire confidence, though.
YEAH THAT’S RIGHT is the only stakes-winner by the lightly-used Irish sire Vettori, and goes off here at 9/2. The ttstable35 trainee has been 2nd in a pair of Graded stakes in addition to his minor-stakes win, and almost always seems to give his best. He failed rather badly as the favorite last time out, but he has a strong performance at this course. Should be dangerous.
LUCKY’S VAMPIRE was claimed for $25k a few starts back, and has run well in allowances for horizons3 since. The Rock Of Gibraltar colt’s single stakes try was a distant 3rd, and he’ll need to be stronger here at 6/1.
On the outside is RO DONO, a Lonhro colt who ran a strong 2nd in the Grade 2 Irish 2000 Guineas Trial last time out. Trainer deyoto may be looking to drop this guy at least slightly off the pace… His filly FRANSESCO is also a speedburner, and may be a “rabbit” looking to heat up the pace with all these quick starters in here.
Okay, time to try to handicap this…
As I said above, there is quite a bit of early speed in here, which could set things up for… Who?
Maybe if RO DONO adapts well to being off the pace (if he does lay off, anyway…), he could benefit… Or maybe it could help out deep-closer DAIWA EXPRESS. Or maybe, I’m just nuts…
Anyway… My gut instinct tells me to go with the fave, GIFT OF JEWELS. 2/1. That’s sticking my neck out there…
I’ll take RO DONO for 2nd… Though I think he will not follow the filly/rabbit. He’s just plain quicker and should battle with longshot ROMAN BANK for the early lead instead.
DAIWA EXPRESS will be charging late… Too late, but should grab 3rd.
Good luck at the races!