Winning Post - Letter Of The Week Archive

It is most pleasing that we again have representation of the Japanese in our spring racing and we should be grateful that quarantine measures and the requirement of missing their own lucrative autumn season haven’t prevented them coming down under.
But unfortunately, having already won our big Cup, the focus for their best horses lies elsewhere as they endeavour to showcase the Japanese thoroughbred in the world’s best weight-for-age or set-weight races.
This particularly refers to the Arc, which has become somewhat of an obsession after a number of frustrating near misses in recent years including Orfevre’s runner-up efforts in 2012 and 2013.
There has been a disappointing lack of reporting in Japan about the two horses coming to Melbourne as virtually all the focus has been on the Arc preparations of Harp Star, Just a Way and Gold Ship.
Both Admire Rakti and Bande are capable of winning either Cup in a year that appears well down on true international Group 1 quality.
However, some of the media reports surrounding both horses shows great ignorance as to where each stands in terms of Japanese racing.
I’m sure there will be a few raised eyebrows back home if, as seems likely, Admire Rakti carries top weight in a 2400-metre Caulfield Cup worth $3 million.
These two are not as yet “star stayers”, as they have already been referred to. In the context of Australian racing they may live up to this description but this is definitely not the case in their home country.
Attention should be drawn to the official Japanese ratings released to July 31, which give both horses a mark of 111 with seven others in the four-year-old-and-over category.
Leaving aside two sprinters with higher ratings, there are 26 middle-distance/staying horses in this category with higher ratings.
There are also a further 16 with ratings above 111 in the three-year-old category.
In the theoretical free handicap accompanying the ratings schedule, Admire Rakti and Bande are allocated 50.5kg behind Just a Way on 59kg.
These facts can easily be accessed on the official Japan Racing website.
Put simply, because of the relative strength of Japanese distance racing, there are many superior stayers to the two who have now arrived safely.
Much has been made of Admire Rakti’s fourth placing in last year’s Japan Cup.
It must be pointed out that, as widely reported in Japan in the lead-up to that race, many of the leading local horses did not compete.
It was far from a typical Japan Cup and well down on the quality usually associated with the race. The time for the race was slower than for the previous year and a full four seconds outside the race record.
Runner-up was 30 /1 chance Denim Ruby, who had been well beaten by Meisho Mambo in both the Group 2 Flora Stakes and Group 1 Oaks at her previous starts.
In third place was the seven-year-old Tosen Jordan, 11th pick in the market and a 100/1 shot.
Although below her best, Gentildonna managed to win narrowly.
Perhaps she was a little flat after her previous start, when trailing four lengths behind Just a Way in the 2000-metre Autumn Tenno Sho, run in a slick 1:57.5.
Among those who missed the race were Orfevre, derby winner and Arc fourth placegetter Kizuna, Meisho Mambo, Just a Way, Fenomeno (arguably the world’s best 3200m horse), established Group 1 performers Epiphania, Win Variation and Logotype as well as Hokko Brave, who in the spring was a close-up placing in the Spring Tenno Sho behind Fenomeno.
Accordingly, there is a question mark surrounding the form out of that Japan Cup.
Gold Ship, who finished 15th, showed his usual dislike for racing left-handed and recorded yet another failure on the Tokyo track so his was probably the one performance out of the race that needs to be forgotten.