The year’s first Grade 1 race will get underway on Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse with the 1,600-meter February Stakes, now in its 24th running. Originally the February Handicap with Grade 3 merit, the contest was bumped up to Grade 2 status and given its current name in 1994. Three years later, the February Stakes was given the highest grade, and is now one of only two G1 dirt races on the Japan Racing Association calendar along with the Japan Cup Dirt.
With titleholder Kane Hekili and last year’s Japan Cup Dirt champion Alondite out of the picture, Sunday’s race will not feature a single JRA G1 dirt winner among the field of 16, and the first place check of 94 million yen will be up for anyone’s taking. Ahead of the 10-year anniversary of the February Stakes’ G1 promotion we introduce some of the contenders for the afternoon on Feb. 18th in the Tokyo suburb of Fuchu:
SEEKING THE DIA: Runner-up in last year’s February Stakes as well as the Japan Cup Dirt, the 6-year-old Storm Cat bay could emerge as the morning line favorite as his reins have been handed to the nation’s leading jockey, Yutaka Take, who made a G1 winner out of Kane Hekili in 2006.
The Hideyuki Mori-trained Seeking the Dia is coming off a third-place finish in the 2,000-meter Tokyo Daishoten on Dec. 29, a G1 fixture on the local circuit. The horse and Take had to settle for silver in the 2,100-meter Japan Cup Dirt, his fourth at the Tokyo track in as many starts. There is no question about Seeking the Dia’ssuitability to the racecourse, and given his stalking style of racing, the mile just maybe his best distance. He looks a solid bet to cross the finish line first come Sunday.
BLUE CONCORDE: The 7-year-old veteran was the second favorite among the punters in the most recent Japan Cup Dirt, but fizzled to ninth place, six lengths behind the winner. Blue Concorde, nevertheless, rebounded quickly in his next race, creaming the field by four lengths in the Tokyo Daishoten, the aforementioned Seeking the Dia among them.
Jockey Hideaki Miyuki has guided Blue Concorde, sired by former Japan Derby champion Fusaichi Concorde, to nine of his career 12 victories, but only one of them has come at Tokyo Racecourse. Trainer Toshiyuki Hattori appears to have him in competitive form for Sunday’s eight-furlong trip, which could be the perfect length for Blue Concorde. Will the horse take off like the speed of sound, or crash and burn? It’s now or never for him to translate his local success on Japanese racing’s grandest stage.
SEEKING THE BEST: This other entry from the Seeking family, also trained by Hideyuki Mori, has been a model of consistency. The 6-year-old horse by Seeking the Gold has not finished below second in his last seven starts, the most recent being the G3 Negishi Stakes on Jan. 28 over 1,4000 meters, also at Tokyo. He came in only behind surprise winner Big Grass who was the 11th favorite and also a February Stakes entry, and one has to expect jockey Yuichi Fukunaga has thought long and hard about how to overturn the length and a quarter during the last four weeks.
The knock on Seeking the Best is that for his career, he has competed mostly at seven furlongs and under, with just a pair of races at a mile or more under his belt (he won one, and failed to reach the board in the other). Fukunaga’s mount has been successful at Tokyo, winning two of three to go with a second-place finish, so the distance, it appears, is the only thing standing in his way from becoming a G1 champion. While Fuchu is known to be a fair and honest course, it is also known to be very punishing, with a home stretch exceeding 500 meters slanting upward. But if Seeking the Best is at his best, he could very well get the job done on Sunday.
ADJUDI MITSUO: The fans may be disappointed with the exclusion of Kawasaki Kinen winner Vermilion, but Adjudi Mitsuo is probably not. The Masayuki Kawashima-trained 6-year-old had to watch Vermilion pull away stride by stride down the final straight in the Jan. 31 Kawasaki Kinen before sealing a whopping six-length victory. With Vermilion eyeing bigger things, opting for the Dubai World Cup in March, Adjudi Mitsuo had to be heaving a huge sigh of relief that his rival will not be around in the February Stakes.
The horse recorded a couple of G1 wins on the local circuit last year, taking the 1,600-meter Kashiwa Kinen in May and the 2,000-meter Teio Sho in June. The pacesetter, though, did not have a great February Stakes a year ago, leaving the blocks late to end up seventh. A less than spectacular start also left the horse in fifth in the Tokyo Daishoten in December, so a good jump out of the gates will be the key to Adjudi Mitsuo’s success.
Jockey Hiroyuki Uchida, nevertheless, will have to pull some kind of trick out of his bag as his mount has never placed in three previous races at Tokyo Racecourse. Regardless of distance, the track is not an easy one for frontrunners so Uchida, who has produced six of 10 career wins for Adjudi Mitsuo, must ride a near flawless race if the local challenger is to hit the wire first.
MEISHO TOKON: Of the entire field of 16 to be announced later this week, Meisho Tokon could be the hottest. The 5-year-old Mayano Top Gun heir has won four of his last five starts (he finished second in the other), including the last three. He is coming off a win in the G3 Heian Stakes on Jan. 21 at Kyoto Racecourse, perhaps the most ideal prep race for the February Stakes, and his renewed partnership with jockey Koshiro Take ought to make Meisho Tokon an interesting if not popular choice at the morning line.
The younger Take has at least placed in all five past opportunities aboard the late runner, thrice guiding the horse to victory. It remains to be seen how Meisho Tokon will handle Tokyo, where the race runs counter clockwise and the stretch very long. Trainer Isao Yasuda’s entry has never won turning left on dirt, but his preference for coming from way behind makes the Fuchu track ideal for Meisho Tokon. Take also seems to do well in the saddle of closers, as he demonstrated aboard the now retired Song of Wind in the autumn Kikuka Sho to foil Meisho Samson’s bid to complete the triple crown. Meisho Tokon may have the most upside among the contenders, and it’s conceivable that he could take it to a whole another level come post time.
OREWA MATTERUZE: If the February Stakes were held on turf, there’s no question the G1 champion sprinter would be among the top picks. But on dirt, the Sunday Silence 7-year-old remains nothing but a mystery. The seasoned turf winner will make his dirt debut in the February Stakes, and only the man upstairs knows how Orewa Matteruze will adapt. He could turn out to be the next Kurofune or Meisho Bowler, who both turned into G1 winners after making the transition from turf to dirt; or he could be so forgettable that the February Stakes will be his last dirt race.
In terms of pedigree, one cannot argue with Yoshitomi Shibata’s mount. But his recent record could be a sign that the 2006 Takamatsunomiya Kinen champion could be beyond his prime. The Hidetaka Otonashi-trained horse is coming off a disastrous 14th-place showing in the G2 Hanshin Cup in mid-December, and was fifth and ninth in his two races before that, the latter being the G1 Sprinters Stakes. A change of scenery could just be what Orewa Matteruze needs, or it could be further proof of the decline of one of the JRA’s recent best.
© Japan Association for International Racing and Stud Book (JAIRS). All Rights Reserved.
