Just a Way, the winner of the $5 million Dubai Duty Free at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai in March, extended his winning streak to four races with a nose victory in Sunday’s $2,031,250 Yasuda Kinen for turf milers at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan.
The Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen was the first start for Just a Way since the Dubai Duty Free.
Before Saturday, the reputation of the 3-year-old colt Australia rested on speculation. Aidan O’Brien said he was among the best horses he’d trained. His pedigree, by Galileo out of Ouija Board, was impeccable. But in the Epsom Derby, Australia demonstrated he was more than airy hype.
Always in good position under jockey Joseph O’Brien, Australia ranged up to contend with three furlongs left in the Derby, overpowered Kingston Hill in the final quarter-mile, and went on to a 1 1/4-length victory.
Taghrooda’s group stakes debut Friday produced a romping victory in the Group 1 Epsom Oaks, a first win in the race for trainer John Gosden and jockey Paul Hanagan, who rode his first Classic winner.
Taghrooda, breaking from an outside draw, traveled well throughout the 1 1/2-mile Oaks, racing on the outside of horses from a stalking position as Volume set most of the pace. Taghrooda was full of run with about a half-mile left, tossing her head and asking to be let loose, but Hanagan kept her reined in until the final straightaway.
Just a Way, the winner of the $5 million Dubai Duty Free at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai in March, will be favored to win Sunday’s $2,031,250 Yasuda Kinen for turf milers at Tokyo Racecourse.
A 5-year-old horse by Heart’s Cry, Just a Way has been in the best form of his career in recent months, winning the autumn running of the Grade 1 Tenno Sho last October and the Grade 2 Nakayama Kinen over 1 1/8 miles on March 2. He seeks a fourth consecutive win in the Yasuda Kinen.
If one is betting on Australia to win the Epsom Derby on Saturday at Epsom Downs in England, and the colt is the heavy antepost favorite, one is betting as much on trainer Aidan O’Brien and the reputation of his operation as the animal himself.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien can win the Epsom Oaks for the fifth time Friday at Epsom Downs, but his leading chance, Marvellous, has no decided edge on several others in the 17-horse field.
Marvellous won the Irish 1000 Guineas in her most recent start, but that was a one-mile race on soft ground, and on Friday, she will attempt to tackle 1 1/2 miles on the tricky left-handed Epsom course, which is forecast to be good for Friday’s card, and over which none of the Oaks runners has yet raced.
John Hills, who trained a Group 1 winner in Europe, as well as Docksider, who was third in the 1999 Breeders’ Cup Mile, died of pancreatic cancer Sunday, according to press reports in England.
Hills was 53 and active as a trainer in recent weeks. His stable was based in Lambourn, west of London.
Docksider was the most prominent runner Hills sent to the U.S., finishing a neck and a head behind Silic in the 1999 BC Mile at Gulfstream Park. Docksider later won the 1999 Hong Kong Mile.
One and Only, fourth in the Japanese 2000 Guineas in April, outfinished favored Isla Bonita to win Sunday’s $4,137,707 Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse.
Ridden by Norihiro Yokoyama, One and Only closed from sixth in a field of 17 to reach contention early in the stretch of the Grade 1 Japanese Derby over 1 1/2 miles on turf. Isla Bonita, winner of the Japanese 2000 Guineas, took the lead with less than a quarter-mile remaining but was quickly challenged by One and Only.
Isla Bonita, the winner of the Japanese 2000 Guineas on April 20, will be favored to win the second leg of that country’s Triple Crown in Sunday’s $4,173,707 Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse.
Isla Bonita is part of a field of 17 in the Japanese Derby, run over 1 1/2 miles on turf. The distance will be a test for Isla Bonita, who won the 2000 Guineas over 1 1/4 miles by 1 1/4 lengths over To the World, another runner in the Japanese Derby.
