Nakayama Grand Jump - Preview

Nakayama Racecourse

The world's richest steeplechase race is up for grabs as the gates will fly open for this weekend's Nakayama Grand Jump without a prohibitive favorite.

The origin of the Nakayama Grand Jump, with a purse exceeding 170 million yen, dates back to 1934 when the Nakayama Racing Club created the Daishogai Tokubetsu as a race to rival the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) at Tokyo Racecourse. The inaugural race was held over 4,100 meters that December, and from 1935 was run twice a year in the spring and autumn.

From 1948, the race was renamed the Nakayama Daishogai until 1999, when the spring version was given its current label and a Grade 1 status for jumpers (the autumn version, now held in December, is still called the Nakayama Daishogai). From 2000, the Nakayama Grand Jump became the Japan Racing Association's only international steeplechase race and a year later, the distance was stretched out to 4,250 meters on the outer track.

Since the doors were opened to the world nine years ago, a pair of Australian horses have won the Nakayama Grand Jump, St. Steven in 2002 and, of course, the legendary Karasi, who captured the race three consecutive years from 2005 to 2007 before an injury forced him to retire just days ahead of the race last year.

This year's race is short on international flavor with just Ginolad, also of Australia, in the mix from abroad and 2008 champion Maruka Rascal will be absent. But Ginolad and the 15 nominations including surprise Pegasus Jump Stakes winner Open Garden remain colorful, and should wage a heated battle for the winner's check of 80 million yen. Four including Open Garden from the Pegasus Jump Stakes have been entered for the Nakayama Grand Jump, while seven have entered after running in the Hanshin Spring Jump.

The following are the contenders for this Saturday's 11th running of the Nakayama Grand Jump. Post time is at 3:40 p.m.:

KING JOY: With victory in the Nakayama Daishogai in December, King Joy is the only Jump Grade 1 winner in the field, and the 7-year-old son of Marvelous Sunday is in line to become the race favorite this weekend. The Yutaka Masumoto-trained horse is coming off a fourth-place finish in the March 14 Hanshin Spring Jump as the first choice following a layoff of almost three months, not to mention that he lost a shoe during the race. A turnaround - and another Jump Grade 1 title, perhaps - seems inevitable on Sunday.		King Joy
TOWA HIYOSHIMARU: The 4-year-old colt picked up his first graded victory by winning the 3,900-meter Hanshin Spring Jump on near yielding going, holding off seasoned jumpers like King Joy as the ninth choice in a reduced field of 11. Towa Hiyoshimaru only hit the steeplechase circuit in October, and recorded his first jump win in February before capturing the Hanshin Spring Jump. He has yet to experience Nakayama, and will race with an additional 3 kilograms this weekend, but one has to like the upside of this Masaru Sayama-trained son of New England. SPRING GHENT: The 9-year-old horse finished a narrow second in the Hanshin Spring Jump, only a neck behind Towa Hiyoshimaru. The Opera House son was also fourth in last year's Nakayama Daishogai, and Spring Ghent, once the JRA's brightest jumper before an injury shelved him for almost two years until October 2008, could be regaining the stellar form that won him six straight as a 6-year-old. A Kane Hekili-like miracle maybe in the works here.		Towa Hiyoshimaru (left), Spring Ghent (right)
T M ACE: Third in the Nakayama Grand Jump a year ago, the 6-year-old son of T M Opera O went on to cream King Joy in the following race, the Tokyo High Jump, by more than two seconds. T M Ace has not had the results recently, but it would be of no surprise if the Akira Shikato-trained chestnut ended up near the top of the leaderboard after the race.		T M Ace
OPEN GARDEN: This 5-year-old horse turned the 3,350-meter Pegasus Jump Stakes upside down by smashing a field of 14 by three lengths as the 11th favorite. There was nothing fluky about the performance from Yusuke Eda's mount although the punters will probably still need more convincing, which Open Garden should be eager to give them on Sunday. Definitely more than a one-hit wonder.		Open Garden
GRAN TURISMO: He set a brisk pace to the Pegasus Jump Stakes and looked victory bound until the 5-year-old gelding ran out of steam after the last hurdle. If Yusuke Igarashi can pace his mount better in the Nakayama Grand Jump, which is 900 meters longer, Gran Turismo may even run away with it this time.		Gran Turismo
GINOLAD: While Aaron Purcell expected more from the Australian star jumper in the Pegasus Jump Stakes, the trainer is convinced the 9-year-old Ginolad will improve on the 10th-place finish in the Nakayama Grand Jump. "He'll be ridden a little further back and hopefully he can be stronger in the finish," Purcell told Horse Racing in Japan. "Obviously the field will be a lot stronger, but he's strongest at the distance with the extra 1,000 meters." After all, Karasi never had the results in the Pegasus Jump Stakes but won the Nakayama Grand Jump three straight times, so Ginolad could very conceivably follow this trend. Only the fourth horse ever in Australian racing history to cap the 5,500-meter Grand National Steeplechase and the 4,350-meter Grand Annual Steeplechase double, the Perugino son loves a marathon and the Nakayama Grand Jump will certainly put him to the test. And perhaps most importantly for a traveling horse, Ginolad appears to have acclimatized to Japan and maintained a clean bill of health, which should make him one of the top picks on Sunday alongside King Joy and Towa Hiyoshimaru. "He lost about four kilograms after the run but he's put that back on," Purcell said. "No stiffness, no soreness anywhere and fitness-wise, he's pretty well back to his top."		Ginolad