Tower of London takes second shot at Grade 1 in NHK Mile

The two-time stakes winner Tower of London will be favored to win his second appearance in a Grade 1 in Sunday’s $1.879 million NHK Mile for 3-year-olds on turf at Tokyo Racecourse.

Tower of London, by Raven’s Pass, has won four of six starts. The colt won his only start this year – the Grade 3 Arlington Cup at a mile on turf at Hanshin Racecouse on April 14, his first victory at the distance. At 2, Tower of London was a Grade 2 winner at Tokyo Racecourse in November and third in the Grade 1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes at a mile, the season-ending championship race for the division.

Owned by Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Racing, Tower of London will be ridden by regular rider Christophe Lemaire for trainer Kazuo Fujisawa.

“Some are saying [seven furlongs] is best for him, but it was a strong run last time,” Fujisawa told Japan Racing Association publicity earlier this year.

“If he can run like that, there’s no problem with the distance. Two starts ago, he didn’t run so smoothly in the Asahi Hai Futurity, but last time was different. He had a tendency to pull a little, but now he doesn’t.”

The NHK Mile drew a field of 18, including four fillies. The most prominent filly is Tetradrachm, who won her first stakes in the Grade 2 Daisy Hai Queen Cup at Tokyo on Feb. 12. Tetradrachm is unbeaten in two starts at Tokyo, both at a mile on turf.

The colt Gibeon deserves support. By Deep Impact, Gibeon has won two of three starts. The loss was a second in the Grade 3 Mainichi Hai at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Hanshin Racecourse on March 24.

There are three Kentucky-bred colts in the field – Delta Barows, Mr Melody, and Ryono Tesoro.

Delta Barows, by Into Mischief, was purchased for $200,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Florida sale of 2-year-olds in training. Delta Barows was third in the Grade 2 New Zealand Trophy at Nakayama on April 7.

Mr Melody, by Scat Daddy, was bought for $400,000 at the Ocala Breeders Sales Co. auction of 2-year-olds in training in April 2017. Mr Melody won the Grade 3 Falcon Stakes at seven furlongs at Chukyo Racecourse on March 17, his first stakes win and second consecutive win.

Ryono Tesoro, by Justin Philip, was purchased for $300,000 at the 2017 Barretts March sale of select 2-year-olds in training at Del Mar. Ryono Tesoro was eighth in the New Zealand Trophy in his graded stakes debut.