2012 Japan Cup Dirt (G1) – Preview

For the third straight year, the Japan Cup Dirt will be lacking in international color as all invitations were turned down, but the best and brightest from the home team are anything but chopped liver, poised to put on a show on Dec. 2 at Hanshin Racecourse.

Twenty horses from the Japan Racing Association have been nominated for a maximum field of 16 for the 13th Japan Cup Dirt, which will draw the curtain on the Japan Autumn International, the 1.2 billion yen series also including the Japan Cup, the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup – Diamond Jubilee and the Mile Championship.

The winner of the Japan Cup Dirt receives 130 million yen from a purse of 271.4 million yen.

The race was added to the JRA calendar in 2000 and during the first eight years apart from 2002 and 2004, the Japan Cup Dirt was held the day before the Japan Cup at Tokyo over a distance of 2,100 meters. In 2002, it was held at Nakayama and in 2004, the dirt and turf versions of the Japan Cup were run on the same day. The Japan Cup Dirt was relocated to Hanshin in 2008 at a shorter distance of 1,800 meters, and pushed to the weekend following the Japan Cup.

Much like the way the Japan Cup did with turf racing in Japan, the Japan Cup Dirt has been significant in helping raise the level of dirt racing in the country. The year 1995 was a turning point for the JRA’s dirt program, which received a boost as it expanded its relationship with the National Association of Racing that governed the local races. The Japan Cup Dirt aided the wind by serving as a platform where homegrown horses could be given an opportunity to take on the world’s best dirt runners.

In the past, 26 have made the trip for the Japan Cup Dirt from the United States, France, Germany, Great Britain and Hong Kong. However through the first 11 races, only two horses from abroad have managed to finish inside the top three – and both were from the U.S.: Lord Sterling, who came in third in the inaugural Japan Cup Dirt, and Fleetstreet Dancer, the winner in 2003.

Hanshin is a right-handed course where a jockey’s riding skills, tactics and luck come far more into play than Tokyo.

The Japan Cup Dirt starts on the homestretch, about 280 meters from the winning post, and runs flat for the first 80 meters before rising 1.2 meters over the next 130 meters. The 353-meter final straight is preceded by a gradual upward slope of over 100 meters. The stretch is flat for the first 200 meters but rises 1.2 meters for the following 130 meters before flattening out again to the wire.

The 2012 Japan Cup Dirt will bring together the race’s champions of the last three years, Espoir City in 2009 and Transcend in 2010 and 2011. The betting favorite, however, looks like it will be 4-year-old Roman Legend who has rattled off six straight wins including the Grade 3 Miyako Stakes on Nov. 4, the last five under Yasunari Iwata.

Not far behind should be Wonder Acute, the runner-up in the Japan Cup Dirt last year who smashed the competition by five lengths in the JBC Classic earlier this month, and 3-year-old Ijigen who went from last to first to capture the G3 Musashino Stakes on Nov. 11. Another 3-year-old who should be an intriguing pick is Hokko Tarumae, the King Kamehameha colt who won the G3 Leopard Stakes in August and finished third only a half-length out of first in the Miyako Stakes.

Five-year-old Nihonpiro Ours has been a model of consistency, having finished under sixth just once in 21 starts since debuting on dirt in January 2010. TheWhite Muzzle son was a narrow second to Roman Legend in the Miyako Stakes, and could finally get his break in the big time here. Also interesting will be dirt debutant To the Glory, the 5-year-old out of Dubai World Cup runner-up To the Victory, trained by Triple Crown winner Yasutoshi Ikee.

The Special Week-sired Roman Legend has been virtually unstoppable since taking up dirt racing after two winless runs on turf, with eight wins from nine starts and one second-place finish. He will make his G1 debut in the Japan Cup Dirt but judging by his performances so far, there’s nothing to suggest he can’t join the select circle of champions right away. Trainer Hideaki Fujiwara was pleased with the way his horse worked this week.

“He hasn’t won all these races in a row for nothing,” Fujiwara said. “I think he’s got a lot of potential. I don’t think we’ve seen everything of him just yet.”

“He’s always been a clever horse capable of running at any pace at any position, but he took the race to them last time, fighting his way through to the finish. He showed a lot of heart, and it was a very convincing win,” said assistant trainer Nobuyuki Tashiro. “He was back working on the slope course the following weekend, and continues to be in extremely good condition. The field will be much tougher this time around, but the sky is the ceiling for him; he’s handled everything he’s been given to him so far. We’re expecting nothing short of a good race from him.”

The 6-year-old Transcend went wire to wire to defend the Japan Cup Dirt title last year but hasn’t won since then, finishing seventh in the February Stakes, 13th in the Dubai World Cup and third in the Nov. 5 JBC Classic. Trainer Takayuki Yasuda, however, says Transcend, by Wild Rushout of Cinema Scope byTony Bin, should be better equipped to challenge for a record third consecutive title.

“The JBC Classic turned out to be a difficult race for him. But unlike in the spring in the Dubai World Cup when he gave in, he ran his heart out,” Yasuda said. “The quality of the opposition will be unlike what it was the last two years and we do expect things to be different this time. But he does run well at Hanshin as he’s shown by winning the race here the last two years, and he does pick it up as he gets more races under his belt. He’s been working fine since his last start so it’s just a matter of whether he can keep his head in the race next time.”

By King Kamehameha out of the Sunday Silence mare To the Victory, To the Glory‘s talent has never been questioned. He’s finished a close third in the Arima Kinen the last two years, with five graded titles to his name. But after finishing dead last in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) last month, Ikee has decided to experiment with his horse, with the hopes To the Glory will turn over a new leaf on a new surface.

“He’s always raced better during the cold, and his conditioning has picked up as it’s gotten a lot chillier lately,” Ikee said. “His mother is To the Victory and I’ve been wanting to try him out on dirt at some point in his career. But he’ll have to round four turns in a 1,800-meter race, not to mention the fact that this will be his first dirt race – at G1, too. So the conditions are certainly against him. We’ll just have to see how he does.”

The Japan Cup Dirt is open to 3-year-olds and up. Three-year-olds are assigned 56 kilograms, horses 4 and above 57 kg. The female horses receive a 2-kg handicap, as do 3-year-olds born in the Southern Hemisphere.

The race record is held by Transcend, who cut a winning time of 1 minute, 48.9 seconds when he won two years ago.