11/17/07
Last updated: 11/16/07 6:53 PM
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Daiwa Major (outside) looms as the horse to beat at Kyoto
(Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club) |
The Neil Drysdale-trained BECRUX (Ity) (Glen Jordan) has wound up in
post 17 in an 18-horse field entered in Sunday’s Mile Championship
(Jpn-G1) at Kyoto Racecourse. Now in its 24th running, the prestigious
event was opened to international entries in 1998, but no foreign horse
has taken the prize. For Becrux to score a landmark victory here, he
must defeat an all-star cast over a right-handed turf course.
Chief among them is defending champion DAIWA MAJOR (Sunday Silence),
who was honored as Japan’s top sprinter and miler in 2006, and added the
Asian Mile Challenge (AMC) trophy to his resume this season. The
six-year-old didn’t turn in one of his best efforts when finishing a
well-beaten third in the March 31 Dubai Duty Free (UAE-G1), the second
leg of the AMC series, but he bounced back with a determined victory
in the coveted Yasuda Kinen (Jpn-G1),
the fourth and final AMC race on June 3.
Daiwa Major’s most recent outing, a rough-trip ninth as the defending
champion in the 1 1/4 mile Tenno Sho (Autumn) (Jpn-G1) on October 28,
has the look of a complete throw-out. Regular rider Katsumi Ando will
guide the champion from post 8.
Tenno Sho (Autumn) runner-up AGNES ARK (Agnes Tachyon) and
third-place finisher COMPANY (Miracle Admire) will also line up in the
Mile Championship.
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Other top contenders include FUSAICHI RICHARD (Kurofune), the champion
juvenile of 2005 who just missed to SUPER HORNET (Rodrigo de Triano) in the
Mainichi Broadcast Swan S. (Jpn-G2), a key prep, last time out; Victoria Mile
(Jpn-G1) queen KOIUTA (Jpn) (Fuji Kiseki), who has yet to return to form after
finishing ninth in the CashCall Mile Invitational S. (G2) at Hollywood Park in
July; NHK Mile Cup (Jpn-G1) victress PINK CAMEO (French Deputy), a sophomore
filly who should enjoy cutting back in trip; and SUZUKA PHOENIX (Sunday
Silence), successful in the six-furlong Takamatsunomiya Kinen (Jpn-G1) in March
and a respectable fifth in the Yasuda Kinen two starts ago.
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Becrux is the only international shipper, and the only gelding, in the Mile Championship
(Benoit Photo) |
Becrux will get the services of English jockey Ryan Moore as he faces the
stiffest challenge of his career.
The hero of the 2006 Woodbine Mile S.
(Can-G1), Becrux finished a creditable sixth as the defending champion two
starts back, beaten a total of 3 3/4 lengths by Shakespeare. Underscoring the
depth of this season’s Woodbine Mile, runner-up Kip Deville (Kipling) came back
to capture the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1).
A two-time winner of the Wickerr H. at
Del Mar, Becrux is coming off a rallying third in the about 6 1/2-furlong
Morvich H. (G3) at Oak Tree.
On Friday, Becrux jogged one lap on Kyoto’s dirt track, and Drysdale outlined
his itinerary.
“After a jog around the course, we schooled the horse in the paddock as
planned,” the horseman said. “He’s in the same good condition. Tomorrow, we’ll
probably do a canter on the dirt course.”
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