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First Force wins this year’s Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo.
Coming off a runner-up effort in the Silk Road Stakes (G3, 1,200m) in his kick-off start in January and sent to post 12th favorite, First Force grinded his way over the rain sodden turf to capture his long awaited G1 victory in this year's Takamatsunomiya Kinen. Winless in six starts since his three-year-old debut, he was transferred to NAR's Hokkaido where he scored three wins out of four starts on dirt. Returning to JRA racing from the latter half of his four-year-old campaign and focusing on short-distance racing, the son of Lord Kanaloa landed his first grade-race title in July, 2021, in the CBC Sho (G3, 1,200m) and made three G1 attempts in which he was best at ninth in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen last year. Trainer Masayuki Nishimura, who opened his yard in 2015, scored his first G1 title with the win and tenth graded victory overall. It was also the first G1 victory and fourth graded title for jockey Taisei Danno, who debuted in 2019.
First Force broke smoothly from stall 13 and was pushed along by his rider to secure an outside position in mid-field, not too far behind from the pace setter. Closing in gradually with 600 meters to the wire, the seven-year-old dark bay went into gear while splitting horses along the homestretch, pinned the leader in the last 100 meters and pulled away for a length victory.
"I thought our gate number turned out for the better as the track today seemed to work better for those on the outside. The trip went smoothly for us, much better than I had expected, I was able to give him a short breather before the fourth corner and he responded well at the homestretch," commented jockey Taisei Danno.
Second pick Namura Clair was unhurried after a good break, settling a little further back from the eventual winner on the outside. Following that foe into the straight then opting to shift more to the outside for the stretch run, the Mikki Isle filly showed a good turn of speed to make up ground to reach contention from the widest route, overtaking Travesura, a few strides before the wire for second place.
Thirteenth favorite Travesura was unhurried after the break, hugged the rails throughout the 1,200-meter trip from stall No.1 and positioned in mid-division up to the final turn. Staying to the inside while most of runners searched for better footing further away from the rails, the son of Dream Journey found plenty of space to increase his speed and gain a brief lead after the furlong pole but was soon outrun by the top two finishers while holding on well for the share.
Race favorite Meikei Yell was keen early while positioned between horses around fourth or fifth from the leader. Using up too much energy over the heavy surface, the Mikki Isle mare was unable to demonstrate her usual powerful speed at the stretch and finished 12th.
Other Horses:
4th: (6) Naran Huleg—broke poorly, raced around 15th, showed belated charge
between horses
5th: (16) Grenadier Guards—trailed in rear, showed fastest late speed but had too
much ground to make up
6th: (8) Lotus Land—ran 3-wide around 10th, passed one by one but no match for
top finishers
7th: (12) Aguri—chased pace around 3rd, took brief lead 300m out, weakened when
path narrowed in last 200m
8th: (7) Vento Voce—traveled around 7th, showed effort up to 200m marker
9th: (3) Kir Lord—set pace, maintained lead until 300m out, outrun thereafter
10th: (18) Win Marvel—advanced to around 7th from widest stall, checked 200m
out, dropped position
11th: (4) Daddy's Vivid—tracked leader around 3rd, remained in contention until
300m out
13th: (11) Pixie Knight—sat 3-wide around 13th, failed to respond at stretch
14th: (9) Divination—settled around 15th, unable to reach contention
15th: (14) Toshin Macau—ran 3-wide around 14th, showed little at stretch
16th: (2) Water Navillera—raced around 5th on rails, dropped back after 200m pole
17th: (10) Opal Charme—stalked pace in 2nd, faded after final corner
18th: (17) Buon Voyage—traveled second from rear, no factor
