Japan: Do Deuce rallies from far back to take Tenno Sho

Do Deuce closed from a seemingly impossible position with a quarter-mile remaining to win his fourth Grade 1 race in Sunday’s autumn running of the $2.77 million Tenno Sho at Tokyo Racecourse.

Do Deuce ($12.30 in American pools) was 14th in a field of 15 early in the long stretch and steadily improved his position with a wide rally to win by 1 1/4 lengths over 71-1 Tastiera. Ho O Biscuits (49-1) finished third by 2 1/4 lengths.

Liberty Island, the 2023 champion 3-year-old filly in Japan, was the 4-5 favorite and finished 13th in her first start since a third-place finish in the Group 1 Sheema Classic in Dubai in March.

Do Deuce was ridden by Yutaka Take, who kept the 5-year-old horse toward the back of the field for the first seven furlongs of the race at 1 1/4 miles.

“I wanted to show the true ability and strength of Do Deuce, so I was really happy when he was able to display his usual powerful kick in the stretch,” jockey Yutaka Take told Japan Racing Association publicity.

“The pace was not very fast and I was relying on his strong finishing speed. I didn’t want to make any unnecessary moves in the first half of the race, and settled him second from last.”

The win gave Take a record-tying seventh career victory in the autumn running of the Tenno Sho. There is a Grade 1 spring version of the race run at two miles.

Take, 55, first won the spring running of the Tenno Sho in 1989. With Sunday’s win, he joined Takayoshi Yasuda as seven-time winners.

Do Deuce, a 5-year-old horse by Heart’s Cry, races for Kieffers Co., Ltd., and trainer Yasuo Tomomichi. Do Deuce has won 7 of 16 starts, including the 2022 Japanese Derby and the Grade 1 Arima Kinen last December, one of Japan’s leading year-end races.

Sunday’s Tenno Sho was Do Deuce’s first start since a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen in June. Do Deuce is a candidate for Grade 1 races such as the Japan Cup at 1 1/2 miles at Tokyo Racecourse on Nov. 24, or the Arima Kinen at 1 9/16 miles at Nakayama Racecourse on Dec. 22. Both races are worth $3.26 million.

Do Deuce won the Grade 1 Asahi Hai Futurity for 2-year-olds in Japan in 2021. He was seventh in the autumn running of the Tenno Sho last year and fourth in the Japan Cup the following month.

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