With three-time defending champion Karasi having pulled out, and the top three finishers of the Pegasus Jump Stakes not running, this year's Nakayama Grand Jump has become as unpredictable as the race has been in its nine years of existence.
The world's richest jump race, boasting a purse of more than 170 million yen with the winner receiving 80 million yen, was elevated to Japanese grade one status in 1999 after spending decades as a specialty of Nakayama Racecourse. The following year, it became an international invitational race and in 2001, the Nakayama Grand Jump took on its current form of 4,250 meters-the longest distance of any race in Japan.
The 10th Nakayama Grand Jump will feature a field of 12, of which two are from abroad: Alarm Call and Gliding, a pair of 8-year-old from France and the United States, respectively.
Alarm Call has arrived in Japan with three wins from as many races this year. He won his most recent race on March 2-the 4,300-meter Prix Robert de Clermont Tonnerre-by a stunning 10 lengths while carrying 69 kilograms.
Alarm Call is trained by Jacques Ortet, who is no stranger to the Nakayama Grand Jump having entered Escort Boy in 2003 and Oway the year after. The two finished 10th and eighth, respectively, but Ortet clearly took something from those defeats as the 52-year-old trainer has said that he believes the Nakayama track suits Alarm Call.
Nakayama is a tight course, and the race itself features nine different hurdles for a total of 12 jumps, all the while clearing five downs-and-ups. The Nakayama Grand Jump is a test of not only technique and endurance, but also one that tests the mental strength of jockey and partner.
Gliding may not have the track record of Alarm Call, but the New Zealand-bred has been a model of consistency since joining the steeplechase circuit in July of 2006. In 15 jump races, he has won four and placed second and third three times each, never having finished under fourth.
The Doug Fout-trained gelding is coming off a third-place finish in the Imperial Cup Hurdle Stakes on March 22 with a load of 71.5 kilograms, and if history is to serve as precedent, Gliding has to be considered as one of the favorites this Saturday.
Of the Japanese entries, the following are expected to contend:
Eishin Niizan is a relative newcomer to the steeplechase circuit, running his first jump race in only January. But the Forty Niner 6-year-old has won all three starts as a hurdler, and there is every reason to believe the Masanori Sakaguchi-trained horse will put on another credible performance at the weekend.
The JRA's top hurdler in 2007, Merci A Time, is back for another crack at the title after finishing third a year ago behind Karasi and Reward Present. Just like last year, 6-year-old Merci A Time has warmed up for the Nakayama Grand Jump with a flat race and barring injury, should make a run at the honor that eluded him.
Blue Flanker is coming off a record victory in a 3,110-meter jump race at Hanshin, winning by four seconds ahead of the runner-up. The 6-year-old has yet to be tested in a steeplechase race at Nakayama, but one has to like the pace which Blue Flanker brings to a small field on a short track.
Maruka Rascal, the steeplechase horse of the year in 2006, has never finished below third in seven jump races for his career. He went wire-to-wire in the 3,190-meter Ushiwakamaru Jump Stakes at Kyoto Racecourse in January, and it would not be out of reach for him to surge toward the top come Saturday afternoon.
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