The first Japanese Group 1 of 2017 was a Breeders' Cup Win And You're In race with the victor gaining an automatic berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar later this year. Kafuji Take (Jpn) (Precise End) went off favourite for the race over a mile on the Tokyo dirt and despite running on strongly in the last two furlongs from a hopeless position he could not get to grips with the winner Gold Dream (Jpn) and the runner up Best Warrior (Majestic Warrior). Gold Dream, the punters' second choice, was delivered with a perfectly timed challenge by jockey Mirco Demuro who grabbed the lead a furlong out and was always just doing enough to see off the determined challenge of the runner up to win by a neck with Kafuji Take another three parts back in third. Demuro was obviously thrilled with the result, allowing himself some brief 'wings' showboating after the line and he commented, “In the Champions Cup, he broke poorly and was keen—he didn't stretch at all. But today he was relaxed even after entering the track. His start was good, he was positioned well and responded beautifully in the straight. He still had a lot left at the end.”
In an eight race career prior to Sunday Gold Dream had always looked capable of a performance like this and he bounced back from his only sub-par effort when down the field in the G1 Champions Cup at Chukyo last December to claim his first top level success. Unbeaten in his first three outings he claimed his initial stakes win on his third run when winning the Listed Hyacinth S. on the same Tokyo card last year before being turned over at short odds by K T Brave (Jpn) (Admire Max {Jpn}) in a similar race at Sonoda in May. He coped well with a rise in class to win the G3 Unicorn S. at Tokyo in June before a further two placings in a pair of Listed and Group 3 races. He seemed to find the competition too hot when running 12th behind Sound True (Jpn) (French Deputy) in the Champions Cup but erased the memory of that display with a stylish performance on Sunday for trainer Osamu Hirata and owner Katsumi Yoshida.
Pedigree notes…
Bred by Northern Farm, Gold Dream is a first stakes winner for the four-time winner Mon Vert (Jpn) (French Deputy) who achieved 'small black type' with a third place in the Listed Kanto Oaks. Mon Vert has maintained a 100% breeding record with four winners from four foals and is a half-sister to Australian stakes winner Tucanchoo (NZ) (Pentire {GB}).
FEBRUARY STAKES-G1, ¥189,740,000, Tokyo, 2-19, 4yo/up, 1600m, 1:35.10, gd.
1–GOLD DREAM (JPN), 126, c, 4 by Gold Allure (Jpn)
1st Dam: Mon Vert (Jpn) (SP-Jpn), by French Deputy
2nd Dam: Special Jade, by Cox's Ridge
3rd Dam: Statistic, by Mr Prospector
O-Katsumi Yoshida; B-Northern Farm; T-Osamu Hirata; J-Mirco Demuro; ¥100,528,000. Lifetime Record: 9-5-2-1. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Best Warrior, 126, h, 7, by Majestic Warrior-Flirtatious Miss,by Mr Greeley. O-Yukio Baba; B-Buck Pond Farm, Inc; ¥40,008,000. ($47,000 Wlg '10 KEENOV; $34,000 RNA Ylg '11FTKJUL; $400,000 2yo '12 OBSAPR).
3–Kafuji Take (Jpn), 126, h, 5, Precise End-Take the Cake (Jpn), by Scan. O-Mamoru Kato; B-Hidaka Farm; ¥24,504,000.
Margins: Neck, 3/4, 1.1/4; Odds: 4.00, 6.60, 3.50.
Also Ran: A Shin Bakken (Jpn), Nishiken Mononofu (Jpn), K T Brve (Jpn), Nonkono Yume (Jpn), Sound True (Jpn), White Fugue (Jpn), Brightline (Jpn), King's Guard (Jpn), Moanin, Incantation (Jpn), Copano Rickey (Jpn), Asukano Roman (Jpn), Denim And Ruby (Jpn).Click for the JRA chart and video, for the Racing Post result and the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
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