Kitasan Black Leads Local Sweep in Japan Cup

Kitasan Black led from the first jump and was never challenged in a dominating victory Nov. 27 in the 36th running of the Japan Cup (Jpn-I) in association with Longines at Tokyo Racecourse.

The 4-year-old colt, by Black Tide, broke cleanly from the inside stall and immediately opened a clear lead under jockey Yutaka Take. At no time during the 2,400 meters was Kitasan Black ever challenged, and he came home in an easy 2:25.8 over turf rated firm as threatened rain failed to materialize.



Sounds of Earth, Cheval Grand, Gold Actor, Real Steel  and Rainbow Line finished in that order behind the winner, sweeping the top six spots for Japanese horses.

 

None of the three foreign runners made an impression as the Cup stayed in Japanese hands for the 11th straight year. Iquitos, representing Germany, put in a late bid on the rail but lost a placing in the final yards, finishing seventh.

 

The second German, Nightflower, was not involved early and passed tired rivals to finish 12th. Erupt, the French entrant, hopped at the start, raced in mid-pack and faded through the long, uphill stretch run to get home 14th.

 

Erupt, winner of the Pattison Canadian International (Can-I) in his previous start, is scheduled to contest the Longines Hong Kong Vase (HK-I) at Sha Tin on Dec. 11, but his connections said before the Japan Cup that trip would depend on his performance in Tokyo. 

 

Kitasan Black, trained by Hisashi Shimizu, posted his third win of the season, following the Tenno Sho Spring (Jpn-I) and the Kyoto Saishoten (Jpn-II). The victory was a bit of redemption for the only bad performance of his career, in his only other stakes race in Tokyo—a 14th placing in last year's Tokyo Yushun (Jpn-I), the Japanese Derby.

 

Shimizu said he left the race tactics up to Take and the jockey said his decision was dictated by the other horses.

 

"It would depend on how the other horses ran," he said. "Today we had a very good start. Since none of the others were going, I was going for the lead."

 

He said the first 1,200 meters, or about 6 furlongs, in 1:01.7 was easy for Kitasan Black and at that point, "He was in very good rhythm." Turning into the stretch, which features an uphill climb, he said, "I knew I had a lot of horse left. Coming up the hill, I thought, 'Just be patient and don't move too early.'"

 

He said Kitasan Black seemed "perhaps the strongest I've ever experienced." It was his fourth ride on the colt.

 

Shimizu said he was comfortable with Take's decision to take the lead. "Coming into the stretch, I was saying to myself, 'He's going to be all right.' And he actually was."

 

Shimizu said he hopes to run Kitasan Black back Dec. 25 in the Arima Kinen (Jpn-I), one of two Japanese races for which fans vote on the prospective starters.

 

Beyond that, he said, "There is no talk of retiring the horse. If so, overseas travel is not off the agenda."

 

Kitasan Black was bred by Yanagawa Bokujo and is owned by a famous Japanese singer, Saburo Kitajima. It was Kitajima's first starter in the Japan Cup.

 

Cheval Grand is owned by Kakuhiro Sasaki, who pitched for several years for the Seattle Mariners after a successful Japanese baseball career. 

 

The Japan Cup, which normally draws well over 100,000 enthusiastic fans, played to relatively light crowd of 88,865. The threat of rain and the lack of an established star in the field may have contributed to the attendance setback.

 

Turnover on the race was 20.657 billion Yen, or about US$182 million.