3 minute read

Sunday sees the 39th running of this amazing race, with this year the race being dedicated to the memory of Deep Impact.

Three of his sons and one daughter will be lining up to see if they can repeat what their father did in 2006.  Two of his daughters have won – Gentildonna won twice in 2012 and 2013 and Shonan Pandora in 2015, which gives a boost to the form of Curren Bouquetd'or who will come out of Gate 2 and has the advantage of the lightest weight which may be a great help since the wet weather which arrived on Friday is continuing on Saturday.

There are very few of these horses who have actually had experience of a wet track, and even fewer who have either won or placed on one.

Danburite won his debut on a soft track and placed third on a yielding track.  He's a strong finisher and the 23.8 looks worth of investment.  Drawn Gate 11 which isn't the worst but it looks as if horses will need to be up on the speed.

Jinambo is a 4yo by Deep Impact out of a King Kamehameha mare and won the June Stakes on soft ground at Tokyo over 2000m.  He's got Ryan Moore riding and comes out of Gate 15 which is car park territory but 21.3 would be tempting except for a question over the trip – he's only run once over 2400m and it wasn't his best result.

Rey de Oro, by King Kamehameha, has won and placed on yielding surfaces.  In 2018 he won the Tenno Sho Autumn and then went straight to the Arima Kinen where he was second.  Form can be a bit up and down but he's got Gate 8 and William Buick on board and a quote of 5.7 so he's ticking a lot of boxes.

Our early thoughts were for Wagnerian and the fact that he won in the wet at Hanshin has just boosted the confidence in this 4yo Derby winner from 2018.  He's also be Deep Impact out of a King Kamehameha mare so like Jinambo recently lost both his father and grandfather.  He's drawn Gate 2, will be ridden by Yuga Kawada and is the favourite on 5.5.

Without Almond Eye this field doesn't really have a stand out and the wet track is going to make it even more open.  If you want to go really wide, back Taisei Trail who has drawn Gate 12 which has yet to produce a winner and who knows this could be the year.