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Roger Barrows led them on to the track wearing saddlecloth 1 and he led them back as the surprise winner at 150/1.

It was a new record time as well.  As for the name, his owner Hirosugu Inokama has a business called Barrows and gives his horses a people name hence Roger Barrows.  He got a dream run in the race when Lion Lion went off like a scalded lion until he ran out of steam on the home corner, at which time his jockey Suguru Hamanaka was in a pouncing position and went for home with the chasing being done by Danon Kingly and Velox. 

Favourite Saturnalia played up on the way to the start and knuckled over at the start to be last to leave the gates and giving jockey Damien Lane no chance.  They did very well to finish fourth, with Nishino Daisy fifth.

It was not all gloom for Lane who rode a treble on the day, including winning the last the Meguro Kinen just ahead of fellow Aussie Brenton Avdulla providing a get-out quinella for this grateful punter.  Lane also rode his 1000th winner and although he didn’t ride a winner from his 3 rides on the day, Avdulla will have finished his current stint in Japan happy with his second on Ice Bubble, a refreshing sounding horse for a day when the mercury reached 33 degress. 110,000 came out to Fuchu for one of Japan’s top days of racing and it certainly lived up to the reputation.