Transcend leads throughout in Japan Cup Dirt

Transcend displayed high cruising speed to hoist his first Grade 1 trophy (Tomoya Moriuchi/Horsephotos.com) Koji Maeda’s TRANSCEND (Wild Rush) scored a front-running win in Sunday’s $3,058,000 Japan Cup Dirt (Jpn-G1) at Hanshin, but only after a riveting stretch drive that saw him survive two successive challenges to his authority. Under astute handling by Shinji Fujita, the 7-2 favorite first hurled back a menacing bid from Birdie Birdie (Brian’s Time), then just held on from the hard-charging Glorious Noah (Precise End) by a neck at the line. Transcend negotiated about 1 1/8 miles on the good track in 1:48.90, the fastest Japan Cup Dirt since the feature was transferred to Hanshin in 2008, and handed trainer Takayuki Yasuda his first Grade 1 tally. In the process, the four-year-old heralded his arrival as the nation’s latest dirt sensation, and stated his case to wrest the divisional championship from Espoir City (Jpn) (Gold Allure), still recuperating from his disappointment in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). Just as Espoir City had been up on the pace en route to his impressive triumph in the 2009 Japan Cup Dirt, so did Transcend set up shop on the front end to lethal effect. Making the most of his natural early speed from post 3, Transcend outsprinted his rivals to the lead. Birdie Birdie pressed the pace throughout, while the filly La Verita (Unbridled’s Song) and Daishin Orange (Agnes Digital) came next as close stalkers. Vermilion (El Condor Pasa), the 2007 Japan Cup Dirt winner, raced in midpack, but Glorious Noah and 4-1 second choice Silk Mobius (Stay Gold) were reserved much farther back. Aliseo (Symboli Kris S) blew the start in his dirt debut, became rank with his head up in the air, and never looked comfortable as he struggled toward the rear.

Transcend, on the other hand, continued to glide along at the head of affairs
until midstretch, when Birdie Birdie ranged up alongside and looked him squarely
in the eye. Fujita drove his mount onward, and Transcend responded heartily to
pull away by a little more than a length. The lone late runner to emerge as a
danger was Glorious Noah, who rattled home in eye-catching style on the outside.
Quickly erasing the gap, Glorious Noah had all the momentum in the final
sixteenth and threatened to spring a 24-1 upset. He got going a fraction too
late, however, and the wire came in time for Transcend.

“He was the favorite and I’m glad to have been able to live up to the
expectations,” said Fujita, who had guided Transcend to a wire-to-wire success
last time out in the November 7 Miyako S. (Jpn-G3) at Kyoto.

“Racing against most of the runners that we ran against in our last start,
and without the addition of any foreign contestants in the race, I was
determined to prove that we were the best in this field and worthy of the Grade
1 title. Transcend is a colt with big strides, so he has more speed than what
meets the eye.

“There was some pressure, but he has the speed and handled it well,” Fujita
said. “He has a huge stride and it didn’t feel fast for him. I thought the pace
was a bit fast, but knew he could handle it.

“He’s become a Grade 1 horse, and I will take care to see that he keeps on
winning,” the jockey summed up.

Glorious Noah finished second by 1 1/4 lengths. Admire Subaru (Admire Boss)
was along for third, nipping Birdie Birdie by a nose. Silk Mobius, last year’s
Japan Cup Dirt runner-up, was a belated fifth, followed by Courir Passion (Wild
Rush), La Verita, Daishin Orange, King’s Emblem (War Emblem), Maruka Shenck
(Sunday Silence), Oro Meister (Gold Allure), Daisho Jet (Cryptic Rascal), Tosen
Bright (Brian’s Time), Vermilion, Makani Bisty (Zenno Rob Roy) and Aliseo.

Transcend’s initial Grade 1 coup improved his resume to 14-7-3-0, to go along
with approximately $3.4 million in earnings. Unraced as a juvenile, Transcend
showed ability on the dirt in his first season of racing at three in 2009,
capturing the Leopard S. and not beaten very far when fourth in the Elm S.
(Jpn-G3) and sixth in the Tokyo Chunichi Sports Hai Musashino S. (Jpn-G3).

Transcend opened 2010 with a score at Kyoto, then threw in his worst career
effort on dirt when eighth in the April 25 Antares S. (Jpn-G3). The handsome bay
has made amends by finishing in the top two in each of his four subsequent
starts. Just caught late by Silk Mobius in the May 23 Tokai T.V. Hai Tokai S.
(Jpn-G2), he garnered runner-up honors again in the September 23 Nippon TV Hai,
recorded his first graded victory in the Miyako, and made it two in a row in the
Japan Cup Dirt.

Bred by North Hills Management in Japan, Transcend is out of the winning
Cinema Scope (Tony Bin), who is a full sister to the multiple Japanese
stakes-placed Pulsebeat from the family of Grade 2 victor Sakura Sunny O (Partholon).
Transcend’s third dam, Iron Age (*Khaled), is a full sister to Hall of Famer
Swaps.