Potager Springs Upset Over Efforia in Osaka Hai

For the second straight week, a heavy favorite fell to a first-time graded stakes winner in top-class Japanese racing as regally bred but underperforming Potager got home first in the Osaka Hai (G1) at Hanshin Racecourse April 3.

The victim this time was none other than Japan's reigning Horse of the Year, Efforia, who suffered only his second career loss while reporting a dull ninth with no apparent excuse.

While Efforia was laboring, Potager was traveling well throughout the 2,000-meters (about 1 1/4 miles) Osaka Hai, running comfortably behind a brisk pace set by Jack d'Or. As the field hit the stretch run, last year's winner, Lei Papale , took her shot, holding a brief lead inside the 200-meter mark before succumbing to a relentless push by Potager.

At the line, Potager won by a neck from Lei Papale with another long shot, Arrivo, arriving just in time to finish a nose farther back in third. After chasing a hot early pace, Potager finished in 1:58.4, 0.2 second off the race record made by Suave Richard  in 2018.

"We had a good draw (8) so I was hoping to secure a good position today," said jockey Hayato Yoshida. "Potager adapts well to various race developments and he was terrific in that he was able to keep up with the pace of the other really strong horses in front.

"He really gave his all in the end and all I could do was keep urging him on so I'm happy that we were able to win," Yoshida added.

Efforia's rider, Takeshi Yokoyama, offered no explanation for his mount's performance.

"Efforia was not himself," Yokoyama said. "We made an early move but he just didn't have anything to give at the straight. He was a bit heavy and wasn't as sharp in his movement during training last week which may have affected his performance today." 

Efforia's only previous loss was a close second in the 2021 Tokyo Yushun Japanese Derby (G1) to recent Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) hero Shahryar . His six wins included three at the grade 1 level with two against older horses to finish 2021.

By contrast, it was Potager's first entry in a group 1 event. He did indicate progress with a fourth-place showing in the Kinko Sho (G2) at Chukyo Racecourse March 13—a race won by Jack d'Or.

Potager's pedigree also provided ample clues to potential success on the track. Bred by Northern Farm, the 5-year-old is by the late Deep Impact  and out of the U.S. champion older mare Ginger Punch .

Ginger Punch, a daughter of Awesome Again , was an awesome force in the filly-mare ranks in North America from 2006 through 2008, finishing in the money in 20 of 22 starts. Her 12 wins included six at the grade 1 level and among those was the 2007 Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Monmouth Park. The Bobby Frankel trainee was the Eclipse Award champion older female for 2007.

Potager becomes the first grade 1 winner for Ginger Punch. Her previous best foal was Rouge Buck, by Manhattan Café, who finished second in the 2015 Yushun Himba Japanese Oaks (G1) and won twice at the group 2 level.

Northern Farm's Katsumi Yoshida purchased the eclipse-winning mare for $1.6 million at the 2009 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Sale from owner Adena Springs.

As they look forward to the Oka Sho Japanese One Thousand Guineas (G1) April 10 at Hanshin, Japanese fans will be wondering about two straight massive feature race upsets.

A week earlier at Chukyo Racecourse, Naran Huleg, rolled home first in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1), scoring his first graded stakes win while the favorite, Resistencia, was relegated to sixth in that race.