Japan: Regaleira takes on the boys again in Japanese 2000 Guineas

Regaleira is the lone filly facing colts in Sunday’s Grade 1 Japanese 2000 Guineas at Nakayama Racecourse, a familiar scenario for the two-time winner.

Last December, Regaleira beat 14 males and one other filly as the 2-1 co-favorite in a field of 16 in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Nakayama, her final start of the year.

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Regaleira, by Suave Richard, has not raced since the Hopeful. She will arguably face a better field in the 2000 Guineas, which has a purse of $2.72 million, drew 18, and is run at 1 1/4 miles.

Trained by Tetsuya Kimura, Regaleira will be ridden for the first time by Hiroshi Kitamura, a replacement for a sidelined Christophe Lemaire, who through Friday was tied for the lead in the jockey standings at Japan Racing Association tracks this year with 46 wins. Lemaire was injured when unseated on the Dubai World Cup program last month.

Through Friday, Kitamura ranked 77th, with three wins from 59 mounts.

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Regaleira, who races from off the pace, will break from post 10, two positions to the outside of Jantar Mantar, last year’s champion 2-year-old male in Japan.

Jantar Mantar won the Grade 1 Asahi Hai Futurity at a mile at Hanshin last December to clinch his title. He was beaten for the first time in his fourth career start when second in his 3-year-old debut in a Grade 3 race at 1 1/8 miles at Tokyo on Feb. 11, closing from fifth in a field of 10 to finish 1 1/2 lengths behind Justin Milano.

Justin Milano, unbeaten in two starts, had his stakes debut Feb. 11 and is part of the 2000 Guineas field. Similar to Jantar Mantar and Regaleira, Justin Milano runs from off the pace.

The distance of the 2000 Guineas, formally known as the Satsuko Sho, should not be an issue for Shin Emperor, a winner of 2 of 4 starts. Shin Emperor won a Grade 3 at 1 1/4 miles in his stakes debut last November and was later second by three-quarters of a length to Regaleira in the Hopeful Stakes as the 2-1 co-favorite.

The Japanese 2000 Guineas has a post time of 2:40 a.m. Eastern on Sunday, or 11:40 p.m. Pacific on Saturday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

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