Japan: Potager ($147) surprises with Osaka Hai victory

Potager ended a six-race losing streak, all in graded stakes, with a shocking win in Sunday’s Grade 1 Osaka Hai at 1 1/4 miles at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan.

Potager ($147) closed from fifth in a field of 16 to win by a neck over 9-1 Lei Papale, a 5-year-old mare who won the Osaka Hai in 2021. Efforia, the 2021 Japanese Horse of the Year, could manage only ninth as the 1-2 favorite in his first start of the year.

The $3.13 million Osaka Hai was Efforia’s worst result in his eighth race. Efforia has won six races, including the Grade 1 Arima Kenin at Nakayama Racecourse last December, one of Japan’s most prestigious races.

In the Osaka Hai, Efforia raced in the middle of the field three furlongs from the finish, but failed to offer a challenge.

“Efforia was not himself,” jockey Takeshi Yokoyama told Japan Racing Association publicity. “We made an early move, but he just didn’t have anything to give at the straight.”

Potager, a 5-year-old horse by Deep Impact, was ridden by Hayato Yoshida for trainer Yasuo Tomomichi. The Osaka Hai was Potager’s first graded stakes win and second stakes win in a 15-race career that includes six overall wins.

Yoshida said Potager’s ability to stalk the pace was the difference in the Osaka Hai.

“Potager adapts well to various race developments,” Yoshida told JRA publicity. “He was terrific in that he was able to keep up with the pace of the other really strong horses in front.”

The Osaka Hai was the first Grade 1 turf stakes at a distance in Japan this year.