Talented Colts Wakea, Contrail Headline Japan's Hopeful

There's a lot to like in the Dec. 28 Hopeful Stakes (G1) at Nakayama Racecourse—the final grade 1 event on the Japanese racing calendar and a showcase for 2-year-olds with classic aspirations for the following season.

The 2019 edition of the Hopeful features some undefeated and expensive colts, most of them relatively inexperienced but, well, hopeful.

The race is run right-handed at 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles), making it a truer test of staying power than Japan's other late 2-year-old fixture, the 1,600-meter (about 1 mile) Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1), won by the Heart's Cry colt Salios Dec. 15 at Hanshin Racecourse.

Saturnalia won the 2018 Hopeful and went on to win the grade 1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese Two Thousand Guineas) this year and finish second in the Dec. 22 Arima Kinen Grand Prix (G1), behind only Lys Gracieux. Rey de Oro won in 2016, en route to victory in the following year's Japan Cup (G1).

Another Heart's Cry product, Wakea, is prominent for this year's Hopeful. The colt, bred by Northern Racing, sold to Yukihiro Ochiai for ¥115 million (US$1,008,550) at the 2017 Select Sale and is 2-for-2 with both wins at 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles) over the Tokyo turf.

Christophe Lemaire, who was aboard for Wakea's second race, said that race "was a comfortable win, and I think he'll be able to race over further. He'll improve more from now on."

Wakea's trainer, Takahisa Tezuka, noted the Hopeful will be the colt's first time turning right-handed.

"When he races left-handed, he can lean in a little," Tezuka said, "so going right-handed should be fine. I think he can handle the extra distance."

Contrail, a Deep Impact colt, also enters the Hopeful undefeated after two starts. He exits a five-length win, in stakes-record time, in the Nov. 16 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes (G3) at Tokyo.

Contrail's trainer, Yoshito Yahagi, looks for back-to-back grade 1 victories after saddling Lys Gracieux to win the Arima Kinen.

Another colt protecting a 2-for-2 mark is Weltreisende, a son of Dream Journey out of Mandela, who raced with limited success in Europe and America, ending her on-track career in the care of Bobby Frankel. Oisin Murphy is booked to ride for Yasutoshi Ikee, who also trained Dream Journey. Weltreisende is German for "world traveler".

Authority also looks for a third win without a loss. The Orfevre colt has the advantage of a win at the Hopeful distance—in the Sept. 22 Fuyo Stakes at Nakayama. He has not raced since that victory.

"One of the keys with him will be to keep him relaxed before the race," Authority's trainer Tetsuya Kimura said. "It'll be his first time at the track and to be in a race with a lot of runners, and he'll need to get experience with these things."

Diamant Minoru, another by Orfevre, and Galore Creek, by Kinshasa no Kiseki, are making their second start off a win.