Fierement (Jpn)

Four-time Group 1 winner Fierement (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}-Lune d'Or {Fr}, by Green Tune) has been retired due to a suspensory ligament injury in his right foreleg. The bay sustained the injury when running third in the Dec. 27 G1 Arima Kinen Grand Prix. Named the 2020 Japanese Champion Older Horse, the 5-year-old will stand at Breeders Stallion Station this year. Bred by Northern Racing and raced by Sunday Racing, the son of G1 Premio Lydia Tesio winner Lune d'Oro won three of his four starts at three including the...

Fan favorite Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}), who will attempt to add a victory in Sunday's G1 Arima Kinen at Nakayama after a win in the G1 Takarazuka Kinen earlier this season, aims to follow in the illustrious hoofprints of Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), who completed the double in 2019. The 2019 G1 Shuka Sho winner, Chrono Genesis kicked off 2020 with a score in the G2 Kyoto Kinen in February before finishing second to Lucky Lilac (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) in the 2,000-meter G1 Osaka Hai at Hanshin...

A win in the Nov. 7 GI Breeders' Cup Classic moved Authentic (Into Mischief) into a co-topping second in the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings with a 126 rating, an increase from 124 which he had received after winning the GI Kentucky Derby Sept. 5. Improbable (City Zip), runner-up in the Classic, earned a 123 ranking, while Global Campaign (Curlin) earned a 120 rating following a third. Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), winner of a treble of Group 1 stakes this season, leads the rankings with a 130 rating, while dual...

Seven-time Group 1 winner Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) will attempt to add another top-level score to her already impressive record in Sunday's 2,000-meter G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) at Tokyo. Winner of the filly Triple Crown in 2018 before scoring in the G1 Japan Cup, the 5-year-old mare added a pair of Group 1 wins in 2019 in the Dubai Turf and last fall's Tenno Sho, beating Danon Premium (Jpn). A lack-luster ninth in the 2,500-meter G1 Arima Kinen in December, she made a belated start to the 2020...

Sunday Racing's Fierement (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) successfully defended his title and took the G1 Tenno Sho Spring by a nose over Stiffelio (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) at Kyoto on Sunday. He is the fifth horse to take the 3200-metre feature in consecutive years, while granting his trainer Takahisa Tezuka his sixth Japanese Group 1 crown and pilot Christophe Lemaire his 29th. Before empty stands as spectatorless racing continues in Japan from the coronavirus, the even-money favourite stayed well off the fence in midfield from his wide draw. Fierement traveled...

Older horses take center stage at Kyoto Racecourse Sunday in the G1 Tenno Sho, and featured among the entries is last year's winner, Fierement (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who has been set as the 2-1 early choice to become the fifth horse in the history to win the spring even in consecutive years. Winless since last year's Tenno Sho, he was third in the G2 Sapporo Kinen in August before finishing 12th in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Most recently, he was fourth behind Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart's...