Race Preview: Takarazuka Kinen

One of two "All-Star" races (fans vote for 1/2 of the field) in Japan, the Takarazuka Kinen at Henshin is the country's only WAYI race. The winner receives entry into the Turf. The race is 2200 meters (about 1 3/8th miles) Here is this year's field:

Post	Horse	Sex/Age	Weight (Kg)	Jockey Trainer
1	Hokko Brave (JPN)	H6	58.0	Keita Tosaki Yasutoshi Matsunaga
2	Denim and Ruby (JPN)	F4	56.0	Suguru Hamanaka Katsuhiko Sumii
3	Verxina (JPN)	M5	56.0	Yuichi Fukunaga Yasuo Tomomichi
4	Hit the Target (JPN)	H6	58.0	Yutaka Take Keiji Kato
5	Curren Mirotic (JPN)	G6	58.0	Kenichi Ikezoe Osamu Hirata
6	Gentildonna (JPN)	M5	56.0	Yuga Kawada Sei Ishizaka
7	Win Variation (JPN)	H6	58.0	Yasunari Iwata Masahiro Matsunaga
8	Tosen Jordan (JPN)	H8	58.0	Hiroyuki Uchida Yasutoshi Ikee
9	Verde Green (JPN)	H6	58.0	Hironobu Tanabe Ikuo Aizawa
10	Meisho Mambo (JPN)	F4	56.0	Koshiro Take Yuji Iida
11	Gold Ship (JPN)	H5	58.0	Norihiro Yokoyama Naosuke Sugai
12	Fame Game (JPN)	C4	58.0	Hiroshi Kitamura Yoshitada Munakata

Hokko Brave (Marvelous Sunday (JPN)): 3rd in the Tenno Sho (Spring) in his last. 2nd in the Nikkei Sho and 12th in the Japan Cup before that. Last win was last October in the October Stakes at Tokyo.

Denim and Ruby (Deep Impact (JPN)): 7th in the Victoria Mile and 12th in the Dubai Sheema to fellow Takarazuka entrant Gentildonna. She was 3rd in the Japanese Oaks last year.

Verxina (Deep Impact (JPN)): Defended Victoria Mile title in her last. 11th in the Hanshin Himba Stakes. Seems to like going shorter than longer.

Hit the Target (King Kamehameha (JPN)): Has not hit the top three since last October when he won the Kyoto Daishoten.

Curren Mirotic (Heart's Cry (JPN)): 4th in his last two. His last win was in November in the Kinko Sho.

Gentildonna (Deep Impact (JPN)): Won the Sheema at Meydan in her last. First start of the year was a 6th place finish in the Kyoto Kinen. Two time defending Japan Cup winner, she won the One Thousand Guineas on this surface in 2012.

Win Variation (Heart's Cry (JPN)): Since November, he has not been worse than 4th. 2nd in the Tenno Sho (Spring) and won the Nikkei Sho. Second in the Grand Prix (the other All Star race) in December.

Tosen Jordan (Jungle Pocket (JPN)): Up track in his last two, but was 3rd in the Japan Cup. Ran in this race once before when he finished 9th in the 2011 edition.

Verde Green (Jungle Pocket (JPN)): 5th in the Nakayama Kinen and won the American Jockey Club Cup before that. He does have a race over the surface, but was 13th in a stakes race in 2011.

Meisho Mambo (Suzuka Mambo (JPN)): Runner up in the Victoria Mile and 7th in the Sankei Osaka Hai over this surface before that. She won the Japanese Oaks and Queen Elizabeth II Cup last year at 3.

Gold Ship (Stay Gold (JPN)): The defending champ of the race. 7th in the Tenno Sho (Spring) and before that he won the Hanshin Daishoten. Has not lost on this surface since 2011 when he was second in a G3 race.

Fame Game (Heart's Cry (JPN)): 6th in the Tenno Sho (Spring), he won the Diamond Stakes before that. Has the least stakes experience of all the horses entered in this year's edition.

Picks:

Win- Win Variation
Place- Gentildonna
Show- Gold Ship

There is no video preview for this race due to lack of time.

Good luck to all horses and may they return safe and sound!