Japan: Beat Black connects at 158-1 in Tenno Sho

Beat Black, a 5-year-old who had never won a graded stakes, pulled a shocking upset in Sunday’s spring running of the $3.4 million Tenno Sho for older horses at Kyoto Racecourse in Japan, winning the Grade 1 race over about two miles by four lengths at the staggering odds of 158-1.

The victory was the first Grade 1 win for jockey Syu Ishibashi and the third career Grade 1 win for trainer Hitoshi Nakamura. He won his first Grade 1 race in 1984.

Beat Black was part of a field that included reigning Horse of the Year Orfevre, who could only finish 11th of 18. After the race, trainer Yasutoshi Ikee said Orfevre’s status for races such as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris in October will be reassessed.

Beat Black, a Japanese-bred by Miscast, was second or third in major stakes in the past, including a third in the Grade 1 Japanese St. Leger in 2010. Last fall, he was second in a Grade 2, but had struggled this year, finishing fourth, sixth, and 10th in graded stakes.

In the Tenno Sho, Beat Black was always near the front, tracking the leaders. Ishibashi guided Beat Black to the lead with a half-mile remaining and won comfortably over Tosen Jordan, the runner-up in the Japan Cup last fall. Tosen Jordan won the fall running of the Tenno Sho last year.

Win Variation, who was second to Orfevre in the Japanese Derby and Japanese St. Leger last year, finished third in Sunday’s race.

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