Japanese Saint Legend
Nine three year olds line up in the mile and three quarters Japanese Saint Legend Stakes. The race comes with a Grade One tag and a $2,500,000 purse. None of the runners have won a grade one yet but several are graded winners or graded placed. Favoritism lies with the millionaire Poeta Sabina who is grade one placed this season and comes into the race looking very strong. Local-breds are represented by Animation, the second choice and only Japanese-bred horse in the race. Perhaps the most exciting entrant is third choice Lemondrop Mini Moo who has only six starts to date but is already a graded winner. Let’s take a look at the field.
#1 Tehuanaca 6/1 balogh stables L Fenner rides
Tehuanaca is a scratch-bred son of Trempolino x Rudimentary x Vaguely Noble. He didn’t break his maiden until his eighth start, his second at a mile and three eighths. Since then he has only competed at that distance or longer. He won an allowance in June at a mile and one half with a 98sp and another in July at two miles with a 94sp. He was second in the two mile Lock Edison Turf Stayer and off-the-board in two graded attempts and one listed run. In his most recent start he was second in a two mile allowance with a 98sp.
#2 Sup Cat 6/1 fortmarcy stables G Arnold rides
Sup Cat is a son of Mountain Cat out of the c-grade Galileo x Theatrical mare Tomato Magic. This is her only stakes winner from three foals to race (she also has an unraced five year old). The mare is available through open breeding, though perhaps will be picked up should this colt win here. On-the-board in nine of eleven starts, Sup Cat has gotten progressively better as distances increase, although he has never run as far as he will in this spot. He is a stakes winner at a mile and five sixteenths and graded placed in his last two starts at a mile and one half. His sps in those two starts were 108 and 104, respectively, his first efforts over the triple digit barrier.
#3 Jeu M’appel Kris 9/1 super21 stables W Lloyd rides
Jeu Ma’appel Kris is a scratch-bred son of Montjeu x Kris S. x Round Table. He began his career with two uninspiring races on the grass last year before switching to dirt for six starts, winning once. He did seem to improve with distance and in May switched back to the grass in a mile and three eighths allowance which he won going away. He hit the board in two allowance runs at a mile and three eighths and two miles before winning at today’s distance two races back with a 97sp. In his most recent start he was a well-beaten twelfth in the Grade Two Longdale Cup at two miles against his elders.
#4 For Yeats Sake 30/1 jdtrot37 stables A Hudson rides
For Yeats Sake is a son of Yeats out of the g-grade Black Sam Bellamy x Woodman mare Any Dream Will Do. The mare also has a six-time winning four year old. For Yeats Sake has gone back and forth from turf to dirt throughout his career. He began on the grass but broke his maiden on the dirt. He has three wins on the season, all coming on the grass at a mile and three sixteenths and a mile and three eighths. He has never started in a race as far as this one and he has never cracked the 90 mark in sps.
#5 Poeta Sabina 3/1 manndar stables B Van Hauten rides
Poeta Sabina is a son of Peintre Celebre based on the e-grade Storm Cat x Danzig horse Cadillac Solitario. Poeta Sabina is a three time graded winner on the season and has earned over a million dollars but seeks his first Grade One victory in this spot. He won the mile and one half Grade Three Queen Izzy Cap in his seasonal debut. He was third in the Grade One Sydney Derby and second in the Grade One Japanese Derby, both at a mile and one half before winning the two mile Grade Three Queen’s Flower Pot. In his most recent start he won the Grade Two Saint Legend Stakes by an amazing eight lengths with a 108sp at today’s distance.
#6 Gretna’s Tiara 12/1 breed2sell stables Me Spencer rides
Gretna’s Tiara is a daughter of Daylami out of the c-grade Generous x Machiavellian mare Gretna. A stakes winning sprinter/miler on the grass, Gretna’s first foal followed in her dam’s footsteps winning stakes on the grass at short distances. The third foal for the mare, Gretna’s Tiara has proven to relish longer distances than both her stakes winning dam and half sibling but in this spot she’s hoping to do one better than them by becoming a graded winner. It is a tall task for the mare who has never run this far before nor has she tried a stakes. She has faced males several times, including winning against them two starts back in an allowance at a mile and five eighths. She has paired up 96sps in her last two starts.
#7 Dalakhani Dancer 6/1 musse2 stables V Gray rides
Dalakhani Dancer is a son of Dalakhani x Green Dancer x Sharpen up. Another making his stakes debut, Dalakhani Dancer was available for a $50,000 claim tag earlier this year. He’s turned things around recently as he comes in off back-to-back allowance victories at two miles, earning a 100sp in the last. He has only been off-the-board twice this year, the last time in February on the dirt so the consistency Is there. The question becomes how will he handle the step up in class.
#8 Lemondrop Mini Moo 9/2 gr8white stables K Ledwith rides
Lemondrop Mini Moo is a son of Lemon Drop Kid out of the e-grade Ela-Mana-Mou x Troy mare Ela Mini Moo. In the money an astounding fifty five times, mostly in grass routes, this is the first foal for Ela Mini Moo. Lemondrop Mini Moo has won three straight races, a mile and one half allowance on the grass, a two mile allowance on the dirt with a 100sp and most recently the Grade Two Hanging Chad stakes at today’s distance with a 114sp. He’s won those three starts by a combined eighteen and three quarter lengths. He’s the lightest raced horse in field with only six starts which makes this an exciting young colt to follow into next year.
#9 Animation 7/2 tulloch1 stables C Roser rides
Animation is a son of Delta Blues out of the g-grade Dubai Millenium x Nureyev mare Gone. The mare produced a nine year old son and then nothing until this colt but her two year old by Fantastic Light is already stakes placed from four starts. A two time Grade Three winner on the season, Animation won the Vase of Chester at a mile and five eighths and the mile and one quarter Furstenberg Stakes. Most recently he was third in the Grade Three Dutch St. Leger at today’s distance with a 104sp.
Good luck to all!