Kawasaki Racecourse hosts the one-mile Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun on Wednesday, which is part of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve and is considered to be Japan's premier race for Juveniles. A field of 14 2-year-olds lines up, among them G1 Racing Co. Ltd's unbeaten Le Vent Se Leve (Jpn) (Symboli Kris S), who will be running to obtain enough points for a GI Kentucky Derby berth on the first Saturday in May. The Kiyoshi Hagiwara trainee saluted by seven lengths on debut going 1 1/8 miles at Niigata in August and followed up with a win in the Platanus Sho at Tokyo on Oct. 14 going a mile in 1:36.20, a juvenile track record.
The Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun is the second race on the Japan Road to the Derby, following the Cattleya Sho three weeks prior which saw Takashi Muraki's Ruggero (Jpn) (Kinshasa no Kiseki {Aus}) finish a half-length to the good of Mic Ben Hur (Jpn) (Smart Boy {Jpn}) for Kiratto One Co. Ltd. Meiner Yukitsubaki (Jpn) (I'll Have Another) was third, while Bronze Kay (Jpn) (Lohengrin {Jpn}) ran fourth. Just like the Cattleya Sho, the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun is worth 10-4-2-1 points for the top four finishers. The third leg is the Feb. 18 Hyacinth S., worth 30-12-6-3 to the first four past the post. Only one invitation will be extended to the KY Derby, with a preference given to the horses with the most points in the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby series. No invitation will be extended beyond the top four point earners. If there is a tie, lifetime earnings will be the tiebreaker.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
