3 minute read

They are the Mainichi Okan at Tokyo and the Kyoto Daishoten at Hanshin.

The Okan is over 1800m and the market is headed by the very smart German-bred Schnell Meister with Christophe Lemaire doing the honours.  After that in the market are three sons of Deep Impact – Danon Kingly on 3.3, Potagen on 7.9 and Vin de Garde who we like – no doubt influenced by the name – on 8.1.

The Daishoten is being run at Hanshin this year while the Kyoto track is undergoing works and is over 2400m.  Aristoteles is a horse we like a lot – Mirco Demuro is riding and they are on 4.1.  Heart on Beat is 4.3, Iron Barrows 6.6 and Kiseki 6.8 in what is quite an open race.

Good to see another son of Deep Impact, Profondo, win the G1 Spring Champion Stakes in Sydney yesterday.   He's now going on holidays until next autumn.