Milers to Compete in Japan's Yasuda Kinen

Japan's top milers, plus a Hong Kong invader, mix things up June 3 in the Yasuda Kinen (G1) at Tokyo Racecourse, an event usually key to determining the top miler of the year.

The outcome could be especially important as there has been no dominant force in the division the past year and the field includes winners of two of last year's premier mile events. The race also is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" series, corresponding to the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) in November at Churchill Downs.

Persian Knight jumped up to win the Mile Championship (G1) at Kyoto in his final start of 2017 and ran well to finish second in the April 1 Osaka Hai (G1) at 2,000 meters (1 1/4 miles) in his most recent effort.

Red Falx captured the Sprinters Stakes (G1) in October at Nakayama, but was eighth behind Persian Knight in the Mile Championship the following month. The gray son of Swept Overboard has been successful at Tokyo and continues to earn his way at age 7.

Grade 2 winner Sungrazer, third in the Mile Championship, also returns for the Yasuda Kinen.

Real Steel won the 2016 Dubai Turf Sponsored By DP World (G1) on the World Cup program at Meydan, then returned to finish 11th in that year's Yasuda Kinen. This season, he dead-heated for third in the Dubai race and trainer Yoshito Yahagi reports the 6-year-old son of Deep Impact appears ready for a better showing back home.

Moonquake, a 5-year-old Admire Moon gelding, has won six of 12 career starts and four of his last five, but steps up significantly in class. He won the May 12 Keio Hai Spring Cup (G2) over 1,400 meters in his most recent effort.

Three 4-year-old fillies are among the entries. Of them, Lys Gracieux attracts the most attention, returning after a close second in the Victoria Mile (G1) May 13. Aerolithe, winner of the 2017 NHK Mile Cup (G1), makes her first start in three months. The third is 4-year-old Reine Minoru, who won the 2017 Oka Sho (Japanese One Thousand Guineas, G1), but has not shown the same form this year. The last female winner of the Yasuda Kinen was Vodka, in 2008.

The lack of a consistent winner among the milers opens the door to Suave Richard, the 2017 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1) runner-up. The 4-year-old son of Heart's Cry has been contesting more ground, but trainer Yashushi Shono has taken that into consideration in preparation for his first try at the Yasuda Kinen distance.

"He's not the fastest out of the gate, so we've been schooling him so he won't get left behind," Shono said. "He covered the first 1,000 meters in some :56 (in his trial) and I think his time shows he can handle it."

Suave Richard at least will be familiar with one of his opponents. He was the winner in the 2,000-meter Osaka Hai in April in which Persian Knight was a fast-closing second.

The only foreign runner is Hong Kong-based Western Express, a 6-year-old Encosta de Lago gelding who finished second to Beauty Generation in both the April 29 Champions Mile (G1) and the Longines Hong Kong Mile (G1) over the same course in December.

As the Sha Tin season draws to an end, Hong Kong horses have been regular participants in the Yasuda Kinen, making 37 starts in the race. They have not, however, met with much success. Silent Witness and Bullish Luck finished third and fourth in 2005 and Bullish Luck returned to win in 2006—only the second victory for a Hong Kong invader.

Western Express will be the 10th Yasuda Kinen runner for trainer John Size, whose best result was a second by Armada in 2008. "I now have lots of experience, but maybe not more knowledge," Size quipped to Hong Kong Jockey Club's David Morgan. "He showed me in December that he was good enough for this race and when he repeated that performance in his last start he confirmed the impression."