Titleholder Set to Defend His Title in Tenno Sho

Newly refurbished Kyoto Racecourse hosts its first big race day April 30 with Titleholder  well-positioned to defend his title in the Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1).

The 3,200-meter (about two miles) marathon is a highlight of the Japanese spring racing schedule and has attracted plenty of competition for Titleholder, a three-time grade 1 winner. Several are graduates of the 2022 running of the country's premier marathon for 3-year-olds, the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1).

Titleholder won that race in 2021 and meets the first three finishers from last year's edition — Ask Victor More, Boldog Hos, and Justin Palace.

He also will eyeball five returnees from last spring's Tenno Sho, including runner-up Deep Bond .

Titleholder, by Duramente  out of the Motivator mare Mowen , followed last year's Tenno Sho victory with another in the Takarazuka Kinen (G1) before continuing the Japanese hoodoo in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1), finishing 11th. 

He closed out his 4-year-old season finishing ninth in the Arima Kinen (G1) and trainer Toru Kurita confesses he was "worried he was done for" after that bust. But his return March 25 with a victory in the Nikkei Sho (G2) on heavy turf at Nakayama Racecourse showed improvement and Kurita now says he doesn't know how good the horse could be.

"In the Arima Kinen last year, his acceleration to the first turn was quite different, taking the lead then fading to a ninth-place finish. I had been worried he was done for," Kurita said. "In the Nikkei Sho, however, he was displaying his best once again and I was quite relieved.

"He has matured and where he was still quite soft, he's gotten more solid. I'm not really sure what he would look like to be at peak, and that is meant in a good way as I'm not sure just what he's capable of."

Deep Bond would seem to be the main threat off his second-place finish in 2022. A closer inspection might alter that view as he was seven lengths behind Titleholder at the finish that day. And while he has contested 10 grade 1's in his career, he has yet to win at the top level. In two tries in the Arc, the Kizuna  6-year-old reported 14th and 18th.

"In his most recent start, the Hanshin Daishoten (G2), he was sent forward from the start and traveled in second position," said Deep Bond's trainer, Ryuji Okubo. "He finished fifth but the race was, after all, a preliminary. This is the main objective."

The best of the 2022 Kikuka Sho squad arguably is Boldog Hos, a son of Screen Hero . He followed that runner-up showing by finishing second in the Arima Kinen, behind only the highly acclaimed Equinox , and made his 2023 debut with another second in the Hanshin Daishoten (G2), won by Justin Palace.

"His start in the Hanshin Daishoten was his best yet," said trainer Hiroshi Miyamoto. "Even considering how a 3,000-meter race tends to unfold, he got a good position and raced from there. He made a good effort in the straight, but the winner had more acceleration."

Miyamoto said jockey Yuga Kawada rode Boldog Hos in his most recent trackwork and reported "the horse felt better than he had the last time he'd ridden."

Ask Victor More, by Deep Impact, did not race again in 2022 after winning the Oct. 23 Kikuka Sho. He also returned in the Nikkei Sho, finishing ninth. 

The renovation of the Kyoto facility took nearly two and a half years and included the demolition of the grandstand and the construction of a six-story replacement. The configuration of the outer turf track was smoothed slightly and the parade ring was modified and graced with a new statue of 2020 Japanese Triple Crown winner Contrail.

The project reportedly cost ¥76 billion (about US$568 million).