Cafe Pharoah Lands First Japanese Grade 1 Win for Sire
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Photo: Courtesy of Japan Racing Association
Café Pharoah wins the February Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse
Add the top level of Japanese racing to the list of American Pharoah 's conquests at stud.
Café Pharoah, a bit of an enigmatic disappointment earlier in his career, turned in a most professional performance in the February Stakes (G1) Feb. 21 at Tokyo Racecourse, earning his distinguished sire his first grade 1 win in Japan.
Bred in Kentucky by Paul Pompa Jr., Café Pharoah is out of the More Than Ready mare Mary's Follies . Noriyuki Hori trains the colt for owner Koichi Nishikawa.
Always promising, if only for his pedigree, Café Pharoah won his first three starts, including the 2020 Hyacinth Stakes, a leg of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. The undefeated run came to an abrupt end, however, when the colt was upped in class in the Japan Dirt Derby at Oi Racecourse July 8, where he reported seventh.
After another victory in the Sirius Stakes (G3) at Chukyo, Hori sent him to the Champions Cup (G1) Dec. 6, where he reported sixth behind Chuwa Wizard. Chuwa Wizard went on from that to finish a well-beaten ninth in the Saudi Cup Feb. 20.
Hori said at the barrier draw Café Pharoah's inability to produce a high-class win had left him on the bubble going forward.
Cafe Pharoah wins the February Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse
"He's been at the stable as we weren't sure where he might run next considering his prize money," the trainer said. "But he gets a run here in the February Stakes."
Hori added cheek pieces to Café Pharoah's equipment for the race and rider Christophe Lemaire said that change helped.
"His condition was super and I had confidence already at the paddock," Lemaire said. "We decided to use cheek pieces, hoping for a more aggressive performance. His start was good, we were positioned well, and he responded beautifully."
Lemaire positioned Café Pharoah third, saving ground down the backstretch. He came around the tiring leaders midway down the stretch and won by three-quarters of a length over a fast-closing Air Spinel. Wonder Lider was third.
Café Pharoah finished the 1,600 meters (about a mile) on a fast track in 1:34.4.
"The colt has such high potential," Lemaire said. "I had no doubt that he could land a grade 1 win if he gave his best."
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Café Pharoah joins Harvey's Lil Goil and Van Gogh on the list of grade or group 1 winners for the 2015 Triple Crown winner. Harvey's Lil Goil won the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Presented by Dixiana (G1T) at Keeneland Oct. 10. Van Gogh won the Criterium International (G1) at Saint-Cloud two weeks later.
The question now is what's next for Café Pharoah. The February Stakes and the Champions Cup are the only grade 1 events on dirt on the Japanese racing calendar. He has not been tried on the turf or beyond the 1,900 meters (about 1 3/16 miles) of the Sirius Stakes.
The February Stakes was a "Win and You're In" event offering a spot in the starting gate for the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) in November at Del Mar but Hori did not provide any clue whether that race would be within Café Pharoah's scope or planning.