Oval Ace Takes Hyacinth at Tokyo

The third leg of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby produced a third winner, and no clear candidate for Louisville, as Oval Ace methodically worked past Weitblick in the final 200 meters of the Feb. 17 Hyacinth Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse to win by three-quarters of a length.

Derma Louvre finished a non-threatening third in the Hyacinth. Make Happy, a California-bred Square Eddie  filly who won the first race in the series, the Cattleya Sho, finished a fading ninth and beat only one rival.

Oval Ace, a Henny Hughes colt, had a wide trip through the 1,600-meter (about one-mile) Hyacinth, and midway down the backstretch jockey Masayoshi Ebina appeared to be in tight quarters and briefly lost momentum.

As the field hit the stretch and started the uphill climb, Weitblick took over the lead, with Oval Ace beginning to gain ground to his outside. With a steady effort, Oval Ace got the better of the duel and was getting clear at the finish. He hit the wire in 1:38.60 to win for the third time in as many starts. All three of his races have been on the dirt.

Oval Ace is out of the Grass Wonder mare Abbracio. Noboru Takagi trains for owner Tsuru Nishimori.

Oval Ace earned 30 points, assuming top position on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. Nova Lenda earned 20 points with a win in the second leg of the series, the Zen Nippon Nisai Yushun at Kawasaki, and holds second place despite not contesting the Hyacinth. Make Happy, despite being blanked in the Hyacinth, has 12 points.

Derma Louvre's connections reportedly would be interested in sending the Pyro colt to Louisville. He has 14 points—eight for finishing second at Kawasaki and six for the third in the Hyacinth.

The series concludes with the Fukuryu Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse March 31. That race offers points on a scale of 40-16-8-4, so going in, the winner will have first claim on the spot held for Japan in the Churchill Downs starting gate.

Make Happy, after a fourth-place finish in the second leg of the series, the Zen Nippon Nisai Yushun at Kawasaki, was a candidate to travel to Louisville for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), according to members of the owning Yoshida family. That, however, was contingent on her continuing to perform as well as she did in the Cattleya Sho Nov. 24—a promise so far unfulfilled.