Ushba Tesoro Wins Tokyo Daishoten on the Oi Dirt

Ushba Tesoro rallied through the stretch to win the Tokyo Daishoten Dec. 29 at Oi Racecourse by a convincing 1 3/4 lengths as horses from the Japan Racing Association dominated one of the country's top dirt events.

The first four finishers in the 2,000-meter Daishoten were JRA horses. The best showing by a horse based at a National Association of Racing track was Light Warrior, who reported fifth. The NAR administers tracks governed by local jurisdictions as opposed to the centrally organized JRA and specializes in dirt racing.

As Japan has had huge success in recent years in dirt events around the globe, both organizations are putting new emphasis on that surface.

Racing with a distinctive yellow hood, Ushba Tesoro and jockey Kazuo Yokoyama broke cleanly from the No. 6 gate and took back to mid-field through the first run down the stretch at the in-town Tokyo track. They held that position around the first turn and down the backstretch.

Spinning into the stretch the second time, Yokoyama steered Ushba Tesoro outside rivals, gamely worked to the front with 100 meters left and wasn't challenged as the field strung out to make an easy time of it for the placing judge. The final time was 2:05.

"The horse has been running very well since the course was switched from turf to dirt," Yokoyama said. "Therefore I was hopeful he would be having a good race. The pace was a kind of slow and the position I took was a little different from those of previous races. When turning home, I felt very good as I felt the same momentum when he was winning the races."

Ushba Tesoro, trained by Noboru Takagi, a 5-year-old by Orfevre  out of the King Kamehameha  mare Millefeui Attach, made his first 21 starts on turf and was switched to the brown course April 30. In five starts on dirt, he has produced four wins and a third.

The Dishoten, rated a grade 1 event on the NAR circuit, is by far his best showing.

"I thought it is worth trying running in this big race as he has been having good races on dirt," Takagi said. "The pace was a little bit slow and I was worried at one time, but the pace kept going on. The jockey has known the horse in many previous races. Therefore, I left everything to the jockey.

"As for the plan for future, I will make decision after I see how he comes out of the race because we had a series of races already."

Notturno  was second in the Daishoten, followed by Meisho Hario and Sunrise Hope.

Notturno, a 3-year-old by Heart's Cry , won the Japan Dirt Derby in July but disappointed in the Champions Cup (G1) in his most recent start. He also finished second in the Fukuryu Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse March 26—a "Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby" event.