February Stakes (G1) - Preview

Tokyo Racecourse

Another season of Grade 1 racing in the Japan Racing Association begins this weekend at Tokyo Racecourse with the 27th February Stakes, and another intriguing cast looks set to make up what should be a full field of 16.

The February Stakes is the JRA's oldest graded dirt race, the first race run in 1984 as the February Handicap at Grade 3 level. It was upgraded to Grade 2 in 1994 when the race was renamed the February Stakes.

The February Stakes became the JRA's first Grade 1 race on dirt in 1997 and was internationalized in 2007. It has been pegged as the biggest dirt race of the spring, while serving as an ideal stepping stone for Japanese runners targeting the Dubai World Cup meet in late March. In 1999, the February Stakes also produced the JRA's first locally based Grade 1 champion in Meisei Opera.

One constant with the February Stakes over the years has been the course and distance – always at Tokyo over 1,600 meters, apart from 2003 when the track was going under renovation work.

The mile on dirt at Tokyo starts from the back stretch, the first 75 meters of it laid out on turf. The run to the first corner is more than 600 meters, before the course turns left for 450 meters then leading into the final straight of 501 meters.

The February Stakes has proved kind to the race favorite over the last decade, the first choice winning 6 of the 10 runnings during that span. The No. 1 pick this year is widely expected to be Espoir City, named the JRA's top dirt runner in 2009 after crushing the competition in the Japan Cup Dirt for his first Grade 1 honor.

Post time on Sunday is 3:40 p.m., with the winner's check worth 94 million yen. Here are the early favorites:

Espoir City ESPOIR CITY: Espoir City debuted on the Grade 1 stage at the February Stakes last year, when he finished fourth after setting a pace of 58.8 seconds over the first 1,000 meters. That, however, turned out to be the last defeat for the 5-year-old son of Gold Allure, who since has won four straight, including the Japan Cup Dirt on Dec. 6 at Hanshin which he captured by more than three lengths as the betting favorite. Espoir City has clearly come into his own, and is more than equipped to wrest the title away from defending champion Success Brocken, who he already has dismissed in the Japan Cup Dirt. Trainer Akio Adachi says the mile, counterclockwise, is the ideal condition for his horse. Victory on Sunday will take Espoir City overseas, most likely to the 2,000-meter Dubai World Cup on March 27 at the brand new, state-of-the-art Meydan Racecourse. Jockey Tetsuzo Sato has been working hand in hand with his mount since the Japan Cup Dirt, and claims he is coming along fine for the race this weekend. There are few – if any – reasons to doubt Espoir City right now.

Glorious Noah GLORIOUS NOAH: The 4-year-old colt will take his first shot at a Grade 1 title in the February Stakes and odds are, he won't have too many believers – as was the case when he won the 1,400-meter Negishi Stakes last month as the 11th choice among 16. By winning the Negishi Stakes, Glorious Noah, by Precise End out of Love Robbery, handed 28-year-old jockey Shinichiro Kobayashi the first graded victory of his 11-year career, surely to go down as one of Japanese racing's best stories in 2010. The Yoshito Yahagi-trained Glorious Noah handles Fuchu well, having won three of four at the track with one second-place finish. The Grade 3 Negishi Stakes was his first race in four months, so an improvement in form for the February Stakes ought to be expected. Kobayashi's mount has nothing to lose here, and going for broke could very well invite the best of results.

Laurel Guerreiro LAUREL GUERREIRO: That the JRA's top sprinter of 2009 threw his hat into the ring for the February Stakes was a surprise all right. Whether it will be a pleasant one or not remains to be seen. "I thought about racing him on dirt before when he wasn't doing too well, and that's always stuck in my mind," trainer Mitsugu Kon said, according to the weekly magazine Gallop. "We had the option of 59 kilograms at Grade 3 on turf, or 57 kilograms in the Grade 1 February Stakes. We chose the latter." The 6-year-old by King Halo is coming off a disastrous 13th-place finish in the Hong Kong Sprint on Dec. 13, off the heels of winning the Sprinters Stakes in October to cap the JRA's spring-autumn sprint double. The natural course of action for Laurel Guerreiro would have been to prepare for the defense of his Takamatsunomiya Kinen title in March by entering in the 1,400-meter Hankyu Hai at Hanshin, but Kon, after discussing his options with jockey Shinji Fujita, decided to give the horse his dirt debut in the February Stakes after 27 races – with the 1,200-meter Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan in mind. No dirt debutant has finished better than third (To the Victory in 2001) in the February Stakes. "He puts up fast times on a heavy upslope course and has won at the mile," Kon said. "I don't think he won't be able to handle it. He's a Grade 1 champion, and I don't think he'll embarrass himself out there."

Reach the Crown REACH THE CROWN: Like Laurel Guerreiro, Reach the Crown is another turf star getting his break on dirt this weekend. The 4-year-old colt by Special Week – who has been heralded by trainer Kojiro Hashiguchi as the biggest thing at his stable since Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) winner Dance in the Dark and Arima Kinen and Dubai Sheema Classic champion Heart's Cry – won just one race in seven starts last season, largely because of his inability to pace himself. As he showed in his runnerup finish to Logi Universe in the Tokyo Yushun (the Japanese Derby), Reach the Crown is as good as they get if he pulls it together, but that has been a huge if because of his temperament. Hashiguchi, as well as jockey Yutaka Take, feels the mile is the best distance for the horse – although how he fares on dirt will be anyone's guess. At least the first 75 meters will favor Reach the Crown, which is on turf, and the February Stakes has always required speed from its past winners which he has in plenty. Will Reach the Crown turn over a new leaf, or will he stayed turned over? Win or lose, a lot of eyes will be on superstar Take and his mount.

Red Spada RED SPADA: His sire, Taiki Shuttle, was the best miler of his generation and was a perfect 3-for-3 on dirt. Red Spada has shown plenty of proficiency at the mile – all four of his victories have come at 1,600 meters – and now he just has to show it on dirt. Like several others in the field, the 4-year-old colt trained by Kazuo Fujisawa and ridden by the white-hot Norihiro Yokoyama will have his first go on the sand at Tokyo in the February Stakes. The trainer is convinced Red Spada can make the transition. "There's no way he won't run on dirt given his pedigree," Fujisawa told Nikkan Sports. Red Spada has won his two starts this year, winning the New Year Stakes at Nakayama and the Grade 3 Tokyo Shimbun Hai at Fuchu – both at 1,600 meters. The February Stakes will be his second shot at Grade 1 honors since last year's NHK Mile Cup in which he placed, and with only nine starts under his belt, the best has yet to come for Red Spada.

Success Brocken SUCCESS BROCKEN: Not even the legendary Admire Don or Vermilion did it, but the holder of the February Stakes title will look to become the first horse to win the race in consecutive years on Sunday. The 5-year-old Success Brocken won the 2009 February Stakes as the sixth choice, after an autumn campaign in which he took on the nation's best dirt horses as a raw, unpolished 3-year-old. The Hideaki Fujiwara-trained son of Symboli Kris S, though, needed close to eight months of recuperation before returning to the track last October. Success Brocken showed signs of regaining his form in the Japan Cup Dirt, driving up the pace to take the tape fourth, and recorded his first win since the February Stakes in the Tokyo Daishoten at Ohi Racecourse on Dec. 29. Although Fujiwara's sights for the horse are set on the Dubai World Cup next month, the trainer should have Success Brocken at his best because anything less will not be enough to beat the outstanding Espoir City, and if he can't win here, he will almost certainly have no chance of success in Dubai.