Belshazzar, a Grade 3 winner in Japan earlier this year, won the richest race of his career in Sunday’s $2,655,577 Japan Cup Dirt at Hanshin Racecourse. Pants On Fire, a five-time stakes winner in the United States, finished last of 16 after becoming upset in the starting gate.
Belshazzar, a 7-1 chance, finished a neck in front of 14-1 Wonder Acute. Hokko Tarumae, the 9-10 favorite, finished third, a half-length behind Wonder Acute.
Pants On Fire, winner of the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby in 2011 and four other stakes, makes his international debut in Sunday’s $2,655,577 Japan Cup Dirt at Hanshin Racecourse.
Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens has been booked to ride Pants On Fire for owners George and Lori Hall and trainer Kelly Breen.
Gentildonna held off a late threat from Denim and Ruby to become the first repeat winner of the $4,713,337 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday.
Ridden by British jockey Ryan Moore, Gentildonna closed from fourth in a field of 17 to lead by a length in the stretch. The advantage was reduced by Denim and Ruby in the final strides, but Gentildonna held on to win the 33rd running of Japan’s richest race.
“She did it the hard way because I was in front a little bit earlier than what I’d wanted it to be,” Moore said. “She’s very tough and fought very well at the end.”
Gentildonna, the 2012 Japanese Horse of the Year, tries to become the first repeat winner of the Japan Cup, to be run at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday. If the 4-year-old Gentildonna accomplishes that milestone, the $4,713,337 Japan Cup will be her first win this year.
Gentildonna is winless in three starts in 2013 – a second-place finish in the $5 million Dubai Sheema Classic in the United Arab Emirates in March, a third in the Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse in June, and a runner-up finish to Just a Way in the Tenno Sho Stakes in Tokyo on Oct. 27.
CHELTENHAM, England - Johns Spirit closed from last in a field of 20 to win the richest race of his career in Saturday’s $256,000 Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham Racecourse, the first major race of the 2013-14 jump season.
The 7-1 second choice, Johns Spirit was toward the rear of the field until the final six furlongs of the race over 2 9/16 miles. Jockey Richie McLernon guided Johns Spirit closer to the leader with a half-mile to go, and they were within a few lengths of the lead turning into the uphill finish.
CHELTENHAM, England. - Jockey A.P. McCoy, who became the first steeplechase jockey to surpass 4,000 career wins earlier this month, rides the American-bred Tap Night in Saturday’s $256,000 Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham Racecourse, the first major race of the 2013-14 jump season.
Bred in Virginia by Edward Evans, Tap Night won a maiden race at Delaware Park and a $25,000 claimer at Belmont Park in 2010 when trained by Anthony Dutrow.
The brilliant French 3-year-old filly Treve has been named Cartier Horse of the Year, roughly the European equivalent of North America’s Horse of the Year award.
Treve and the other Cartier award winners were formally announced at the annual Cartier Awards ceremony on Tuesday night in London. Another French female, Moonlight Cloud, was named the leading older horse in Europe. Christiane Head-Maarek trains Treve, while her brother, Freddie Head, trains Moonlight Cloud, who was bred and is owned by George Strawbridge, a Pennsylvanian.
Australian racing authorities announced Tuesday the creation of a lucrative Breeders’ Cup-style, year-end race meeting to be called The Championships.
The two-day event, scheduled for Saturday, April 12, and Saturday, April 19, in 2014, will include 10 races with purses worth a combined $16.8 million and will be held at Royal Randwick Racecourse in suburban Sydney.
Fiorente gave favorite backers and trainer Gai Waterhouse reasons to celebrate with his win in Tuesday’s $5,658,000 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse in Australia.
Fiorente won the two-mile handicap as the 6-1 favorite, the first winning favorite in Australia’s most famous race since Makybe Diva won the race for third consecutive year in 2005.
A 5-year-old Irish-bred horse by Monsun, Fiorente gave Waterhouse, one of Australia’s leading trainers, her first career win in the Melbourne Cup, which drew a field of 24.
Fiorente’s experience will make him the favorite to win Tuesday’s $5,658,000 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse in Australia, a race in which he was second by a length in 2012.
A two-mile handicap run on turf, the Melbourne Cup has drawn a maximum field of 24, including eight runners trained in the Northern Hemisphere.
