Lovely Day wins fourth straight stakes in Tenno Sho

Lovely Day will be favored to win the Japan Cup on Nov. 29 after winning his second Grade 1 race of 2015 Sunday in the $2,593,850 Tenno Sho at Tokyo Racecourse.

Ridden by Suguru Hamanaka, Lovely Day, the 2-1 favorite, always was near the front, took the lead in early stretch, and won the Grade 1 race at 1 1/4 miles on turf by a half-length over the 33-1 Staphanos. Isla Bonita, a 10-1 chance, finished third in the field of 18.

Spielberg, winner of the 2014 Tenno Sho and third in the 2014 Japan Cup, finished 10th.

Lovely Day, a 5-year-old by the Kingmambo stallion King Kamehameha, races for Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co. and is trained by Yasutoshi Ikee. Lovely Day has won four consecutive stakes races, including the Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse in June and the Grade 2 Kyoto Daishoten at Kyoto on Oct. 12.

Lovely Day has won 9 of 25 starts in his career. He did not start in the Japan Cup last year but has won over the distance of that race – 1 1/2 miles on turf.

Johannes Vermeer wins Criterium International

A day after they teamed to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland with Found, jockey Ryan Moore and trainer Aidan O’Brien, won the Group 1 Criterium International for 2-year-old colts and fillies at Saint-Cloud Racecourse in Paris with Johannes Vermeer.

Much like Found, who ran three times in October, Johannes Vermeer has had a busy autumn. He finished fourth in the Group 1 Jean-Luc Largardère at Longchamp in Paris on Oct. 4 and was second in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster, England, on Oct. 24 before Sunday’s race.

The $275,000 Criterium International was the second stakes win for Johannes Vermeer, who won the Group 3 Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown, Ireland, on Sept. 12. Sent off as the 5-2 second choice in a field of eight in the Criterium, Johannes Vermeer was third early, took the lead in the final quarter-mile, and won the seven-furlong turf race by a head over Stormy Antarctic, a 30-1 shot.

Attendu (13-1) was third, finishing 1 1/2 lengths in front of Donjuan Triumphant, the 9-5 favorite who was beaten 2 1/2 lengths.

Johannes Vermeer races for Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Sue Magnier, and Teo Ah Khing. An Irish-bred, Johannes Vermeer is by Galileo.

On the same program, Robin of Navan, a French-bred colt by American Post, won his third consecutive race in the Group 1 Criterium de Saint Cloud for 2-year-old colts and fillies over 1 1/4 miles on turf, a race worth $275,000.

Ridden by Tony Piccone, Robin of Navan, a 5-2 shot, led throughout to win by 2 1/2 lengths over Cloth of Stars, winner of the Group 3 Prix de Chenes at Longchamp in September. The O’Brien-trained Idaho, the 11-5 favorite, finished fourth, beaten 5 1/2 lengths.

Robin of Navan is owned by a partnership and trained by Harry Dunlop. The colt won the Group 3 Prix Conde at Chantilly on Oct. 5.