February Stakes First Breeders' Cup Classic Qualifier

The grade 1 racing season kicks off on the Tokyo Racecourse dirt Feb. 17 with the February Stakes (G1) at 1,600 meters (about one mile). The race is also the first Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" event for the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).

The field includes Gold Dream—winner of both of Japan's 2017 grade 1 one-mile races, the February Stakes and the Champions Cup—and last year's February Stakes winner, Nonkono Yume.

A lot of the attention, however, will be on Inti, a 5-year-old son of Came Home. Since a career-opening loss, Inti has reeled off six straight wins, most recently the Jan. 20 Tokai TV Hai Tokai Stakes (G2) at Chukyo.

"It was a real test for him last time," said Inti's trainer, Kenji Nonaka, who seeks his first top-level win. "But he got to the front and put in a strong run to win the race. There's a slight concern with him racing left-handed and how he corners out of the backstretch, but I was satisfied enough last time." 

Inti's cause is not hurt, at least with the public, by the presence in the irons of four-time February Stakes winner Yutaka Take.

Gold Dream, a 6-year-old by Gold Allure, finished second in the 2018 February Stakes and retains Japan's leading rider, Christophe Lemaire. Gold Dream used his 2017 February Cup win as a springboard to the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) at 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles) a month later, when he finished 14th behind Arrogate . The Northern Farm-bred won two races in 2018, the one-mile Kashiwa Kinen at Funabashi and the 1 1/4-mile Teio Sho at Ohi. He comes into this year's February Stakes off a second-place finish to Omega Perfume in the 1 1/4-mile Tokyo Daishoten Stakes (G1) at Ohi Dec. 29 as the 6-5 favorite.

"He's a powerful horse on dirt and is able to run on from behind and go after the horses in front of him," Lemaire said. "He's especially good running on in the final 300 meters."

Nonkono Yume, a 7-year-old gelded son of Twining trained by Yukihiro Kato, will be starting in his fourth consecutive February Stakes but the first for owner Chizu Yoshida. In addition to last year's victory, he was second behind Moanin in the 2016 edition as the 7-5 favorite and was seventh, beaten 3 3/4 lengths, in 2017. He has not won in four starts since last year's score and finished seventh in the Champions Cup in his most recent outing. Jockey Hiroyuki Uchida said his tactics might resemble Lemaire's.

"He's flexible in a race," Uchida said of Nonkono Yume, "whether it's racing in a group or following other horses. It would be good to produce him in the same way as last year, when he picked up so strongly down the home straight."

Yukio Baba's 7-year-old Moanin was the first horse from Japan to gain a "Win and You're In" position into the Classic when he captured the 2016 February Stakes in a stakes-record 1:34.00. Trained by Sei Ishizaka, Moanin comes into this year's race following a fourth-place finish behind Copano Kicking in the seven-furlong Negishi Stakes (G3) at Tokyo Jan. 27. Moanin, who will be ridden by Ryuji Wada from post 8 Sunday, won the six-furlong Keeneland Korea Sprint (G1) in Seoul Sept. 9. The son of Henny Hughes was bred in New York by Empire Equines.

The 4-year-old Copano Kicking also enters the February Stakes off a winning streak. Bred in Kentucky by Reiley McDonald, Copano Kicking is a dark bay gelding by Spring At Last out of Celadon, by Gold Halo. The gelding owned by Sachiaki Kobayashi and trained by Akira Murayama has won his past four starts, all sprints, including his recent score in the Negishi. Before that, he won the six-furlong Capella Stakes (G3) at Nakayama Dec. 9. Nanako Fujita will ride from post 11.

The race starts on a grass chute leading onto the backstretch of the dirt oval. One turn leads into the uphill climb through the early part of the Toyko Racecourse stretch.

The February Stakes is the first automatic qualifier for this year's $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic to be awarded through the international Breeders' Cup Challenge series, whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race in the World Championships to be held Nov. 1-2 at Santa Anita Park. The Breeders' Cup will pay the pre-entry and entry fees for the winner of Sunday's race to start in the 1 1/4-mile Classic and will also provide a US$40,000 travel allowance for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. If not Breeders' Cup-eligible, the Challenge winner must be nominated to the program by the pre-entry deadline of Oct. 21 to receive the rewards.