Japan’s stars shine brightly on rich Riyadh raceday
It may have hosted the world’s richest race ever staged, but the shock victory of Emblem Road (4 h Quality Road – Venturini by Berardini) in yesterday’s Saudi Cup (Gr 1, 1800m), worth a cool US$10 million (approx. AUS$13.85m) to the winner, played second fiddle to the exploits of the Japanese raiders who completed a near clean sweep on the rich undercard.
Kicking off with a terrific turf treble, capped by a hugely impressive performance from Stay Foolish (7 g Stay Gold – Kauai Lane by King Kamehameha) in the Red Sea Turf Handicap (Gr 3, 3000m), Japan’s runners proved to be a cut above the competition – which included a host of top performers from Europe and the US, including Mishriff (Make Believe), who would have eclipsed the mighty Winx (Street Cry) as the sport’s leading prize-money earner of all time had he struck in the feature.
However, the John and Thady Gosden-trained five-year-old was soon beaten in a furiously fast running of the Saudi Cup in which the locally-trained Emblem Road came from last to first under Wigberto Ramos to triumph for Mitab Almulawah.
Earlier, the Yoshito Yahagi-trained Stay Foolish showed his liking for the longer trip as he bowled along in front under Christophe Lemaire before effortlessly stretching clear of the pack deep in the straight to come home four and a quarter lengths clear of his nearest pursuer, Ireland’s leading Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) hope Sonnyboyliston (Power).
“Unbelievable. But you know I was very comfortable with that horse because the last morning [work], he looked really beautiful and I had a good feeling,” the winning jockey said.
“I knew he would stay the trip so we took the lead and he was very comfortable in front. He used his stamina and what a performance.”
That was the third time Lemaire had been in the winner’s enclosure in as many races, having started the Japanese domination when Authority (5 h Orfevre – Rosalind by Symboli Kris S) bossed the field in the Neom Turf Cup (Gr 3, 2100m), making all the running to score from the locally-trained Kaspar (Pivotal) and Hong Kong Vase (Gr 1, 2400m) third Ebaiyra (Distorted Humor).
“He was definitely the best horse in the race and I took my responsibility and got to the front,” said Lemaire of the winner, who had beaten all bar Contrail (Deep Impact) in the Japan Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) on his previous start.
“He was very comfortable in front, breathing easily and I knew he could stay the trip. I used his long acceleration and there was no contest today.”
Winning trainer Tetsuya Kimura, who was saddling his first runner outside of Japan, will now target next month’s Sheema Classic (Gr 1, 2400m) in Dubai with five-year-old.
Sandwiched between those two front-running wins, Lemaire was on the mark when Songline (4 m Kizuna – Luminous Parade by Symboli Kris S) saw off Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) and Happy Romance (Dandy Man) in a tight finish to the 1351 Turf Sprint (Gr 3, 1351m).
Lemaire was back among the winners later on when the Keisuke Miyata-trained Dancing Prince (6 h Pas Des Trois – Little Blessing by Bubble Gum Fellow) skipped clear of the field to run out a convincing winner of the Riyadh Dirt Sprint (Gr 3, 1200m)
A Japanese whitewash was narrowly avoided when the raiders from the Land of the Rising Sun had to settle for minor honours in the Saudi Derby (Gr 3, 1600m) as the fast finishing Sekifu (Henny Hughes) and Consigliere (Drefong) narrowly failed to reel in last year’s Del Mar Futurity (Gr 1, 7f) winner, the Bob Baffert-trained Pinehurst (3 c Twirling Candy – Giant Win by Giant’s Causeway).