Japan: Cafe Pharoah bids for repeat, BC Classic berth in February Stakes
With two top rivals scheduled to start in stakes in the Middle East, Cafe Pharoah has an improved chance of winning Sunday’s Grade 1 February Stakes at a mile on dirt at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan for the second consecutive year than it might have seemed a few months ago.
A winner of 5 of 10 starts, the 5-year-old Cafe Pharoah had four starts in 2021, with the February Stakes his only win. Cafe Pharoah was a disappointing 11th behind T O Keynes and Chuwa Wizard in the Grade 1 Champions Cup on dirt at Chukyo Racecourse in December. T O Keynes and Chuwa Wizard are not part of the February Stakes and are expected to race in Saudi Arabia and Dubai in coming weeks.
A Kentucky-bred by American Pharoah, Cafe Pharoah is part of a field of 16 in the $2.02 million February Stakes, a race with long-range American ramifications. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Nov. 5.
Japanese-based runners won two races at the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar last November, and another group of shippers is expected this year.
The February Stakes and Champions Stakes are the only Grade 1 races on dirt at Japan Racing Association tracks. The February Stakes is run around one-turn and starts on the turf course for a few strides before the field joins the inner dirt course.
Cafe Pharoah drew post 6 and will be ridden by Yuichi Fukunaga, who replaces Christophe Lemaire, the leading rider in Japan. Lemaire is riding the 6-year-old mare Teorema, who has won two listed stakes on dirt since early November.
Air Spinel and Red le Zele, who were second and fourth in the 2021 February Stakes, are part of this year’s field. Red le Zele was later second in the Group 1 Golden Shaheen at six furlongs on dirt in Dubai last March. More recently, Red le Zele won the JBC Sprint at seven furlongs at Kanazawa Racecourse in November in his latest start.
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Other prominent runners are Another Truth and Inti, who were third and fourth in the Champions Cup, and Sodashi, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2020, who was only 12th of 16 in the Champions Cup.
Post time for the February Stakes is 1:40 a.m. Eastern on Sunday or 10:40 p.m. Pacific on Saturday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
Earlier on the Tokyo Racecourse program, the $315,700 Hyacinth Stakes for 3-year-olds will offer Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 30-12-6-3 scale for the first four finishers of the one-mile race.
Combustion, second in the Nisai Yushun Stakes at a mile at Kawasaki in December, and Geraldo Barrows, third in the Cattleya Stakes at a mile at Tokyo in November, have earned points and are among the probable starters in the Hyacinth Stakes.
The Hyacinth Stakes is the first of two stakes with qualifying points this year. The Cattleya and Nisai Yushun were the first two legs of a four-race series that concludes with the Fukuryu Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse on March 26.
One berth for the Kentucky Derby is available through the Japanese qualifying series. Three runners from Japan have started in the Kentucky Derby. Master Fencer had the best result, finishing sixth in 2019.