Deep field of 16 for Yasuda Kinen

There are 16 runners in Sunday’s Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen for turf milers at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan. Seven of them have won Grade 1 races and that list does not include all the leading contenders.

The Grade 1 winners Suave Richard and Persian Knight were first and second in the Grade 1 Osaka Hai at Hanshin Racecourse on April 1, but must contend with runners such as Western Express, who was second in the Group 1 Champions Mile in Hong Kong on April 29, and Sungrazer, the winner of the Grade 2 Yomiuri Milers Cup at Kyoto on April 22.

The $2,178,597 Yasuda Kinen has remarkable depth as well as international significance. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3, although the Grade 1 Mile Championship at Kyoto Racecourse in Japan on Nov. 17 may be more appealing to stables based in the Far East.

Suave Richard has won three of his last four starts. The Osaka Hai was run at 1 1/4 miles on turf and equals his shortest race in the last year. Suave Richard was second in the Japanese Derby at 1 1/2 miles on turf in May 2017.

The 4-year-old filly Aerolithe is well-suited to the conditions of the Yasuda Kinen. She beat males in the Grade 1 NHK Mile in May 2017 and was more recently fourth in the Grade 1 Victoria Mile for fillies and mares at Tokyo on May 13 despite losing a shoe at the start.

Two runners had their last starts outside of Japan – the Hong Kong shipper Western Express, and the Japan-based Real Steel, who was third in the $6 million Dubai Turf in the United Arab Emirates on March 31.

Western Express is trained by John Size, the current leader in Hong Kong. Winless in his last seven starts, Western Express was beaten a length by Beauty Generation in the Champions Mile. A 6-year-old gelding, Western Express has yet to win a graded or group stakes.

The 4-year-old Sungrazer was third to Persian Knight in the Grade 1 Mie Championship last November. The Yomiuri Milers Cup was his first start of 2018.