Natural Rise bids to solidify Japan Road lead in Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun

Dec 09, 2024 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Natural Rise holds off Clay King in the Cattleya S. at Tokyo

Natural Rise holds off Clay King in the Cattleya S. at Tokyo (Photo by Horsephotos.com)

Natural Rise, who became the early leader on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby by taking the Cattleya S., will try to add the second leg of the series in Wednesday’s Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun at Kawasaki.

Won last year by Forever Young on the way to his close third in the Kentucky Derby (G1), the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun also produced a 2023 Derby competitor in Derma Sotogake. Interestingly, both Derma Sotogake and Forever Young departed from the Japan Road to contest the Saudi Derby (G3) and UAE Derby (G2). Forever Young swept them all during his unbeaten sequence that came to an end – by two noses – at Churchill Downs.

Natural Rise likewise brings a perfect mark into the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun. Romping by six lengths in a newcomers’ race at Sapporo, the son of leading sire Kizuna appeared green when adapting to the left-handed turn at Tokyo in the Cattleya. Kawasaki is a tighter left-handed track, so we’ll see how much Natural Rise has learned as he negotiates its two-turn metric mile.

Four other contenders also belong to the elite Japan Racing Association (JRA) contingent – unbeaten filly Myriad Love, Gran Giorno, Happy Man, and Copano Vincent – while Soldier Field tops the entrants from the usually lesser National Association of Racing (NAR) circuit.

Myriad Love is trained by Koichi Shintani, best known stateside as the trainer of 2022 Kentucky Derby runner Crown Pride. By New Year’s Day, the sire of champion Maximum Security, Myriad Love beat males in a newcomers’ race at Chukyo and aced her stakes debut in the Edelweiss Sho for fillies.

Soldier Field hails from the first crop of 2017 Zen-Nippon star and eventual Japanese dirt champion Le Vent Se Leve. Never out of the top two in seven starts, Soldier Field just floored the better-fancied JRA horses in the Nov. 4 JBC Nisai Yushun – the same race that Forever Young won prior to his victory here.

Gran Giorno, a grinding second in the JBC Nisai Yushun, now picks up internationally renowned jockey Ryan Moore. He’s also by a freshman sire who was once Japan’s champion dirt horse, Gold Dream, and Gran Giorno’s dam (mother), Vita Allegria, is herself a stakes winner on dirt. Gran Giorno had won his only other start, a newcomers’ race at Sapporo, and he is eligible to progress.

Happy Man and Copano Vincent ran one-two in the Nov. 21 Hyogo Junior Grand Prix at Sonoda.

Happy Man’s only loss came two starts back at Chukyo, where he was fourth off a layoff. But he’d previously beaten the winner of that race, American Bikini, in their mutual debut. American Bikini later trailed in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). Happy Man keeps Ryusei Sakai, Forever Young’s rider, aboard.

Copano Vincent, by past dirt champion Copano Rickey, prevailed in a newcomers’ sprint at Nakayama before placing second in a Tokyo allowance over a metric mile. Setting the pace last time in the Hyogo Junior Grand Prix, he succumbed only to the stout rally of Happy Man.

Rounding out the 11-horse field are NAR hopefuls Holy Grail, a Nadal filly who’s won both starts at Kawasaki; Will Aureole, successful in his past two since stepping up to a mile or thereabouts; King Minister, who’s been no match for Will Aureole and Soldier Field; Jugemoon, who’s 4-for-9 in sprints; and Kamuy Kar, finally a winner in his fifth attempt.

The Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun is worth points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale to the top five finishers. The final two races on the Japan Road are the Hyacinth S. back at Tokyo in February and the March 22 Fukuryu S. at Nakayama.

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