Japan: Adam's Peak vs. Cosmo Ozoro in 2000 Guineas at Nakayama

Adam’s Peak, a graded stakes winner at 2 but winless in his only start this year, and Cosmo Ozora, the upset winner of a Grade 2 race last month, start in Sunday’s $2.5 million Japanese 2000 Guineas at Nakayama Racecourse, the first leg of Japan’s Triple Crown.

The Japanese 2000 Guineas is followed in that country’s Triple Crown by the Japanese Derby on May 27 and the Japanese St. Leger in October.

Adam’s Peak has bloodlines that will be familiar to American racegoers.

By the Japanese stallion Deep Impact, Adam’s Peak is out of Singhalese, a 10-year-old British-bred mare who won the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks in 2005.

Adam’s Peak was a Grade 3 winner at 2 last November, but was a troubled eighth in the Hochi Hai Yayoi Sho Stakes over about 1 1/4 miles on turf at Nayakama Racecourse on March 4. The Japanese 2000 Guineas is run over the same course and distance.

Cosmo Ozoro was a 28-1 winner of the Hochi Hai. A colt by Roses in May, Cosmo Ozora has won 3 of 6 starts.

Deep Brilliante, second in the Grade 2 Spring Stakes at Nakayama on March 18, and Gold Ship, the winner of the Grade 3 Kyoto News Service Hai Stakes at Tokyo in February, are other contenders in an expected field of 18.