Nakayama Festa rockets to win of Takarazuka Kinen

Darkhorse Nakayama Festa burst onto the scene in the final meters of the Takarazuka Kinen (G1) Sunday at Hanshin Racecourse to grab the win from front-running favorite Buena Vista and race third choice Earnestly by half a length.

His first time to run at Hanshin, the moody Nakayama Festa kept his cool and gave it his all on the hot, muggy afternoon in Hyogo Prefecture. Winning time was 2 minutes 13 seconds over the 2,200 meters of good turf.

Namura Crescent took the early lead in the 51st running of the Takarazuka Kinen as he put 2 lengths between himself and Earnestly. Logi Universe followed with Buena Vista to his inside in third and fourth position, respectively. Nakayama Festa remained midway back in the field of 17 as Miho-based rider Yoshitomi Shibata kept his mount to about 10 widths from the rail, a position that not only offered the colt better ground but also gave him room to breathe and little reason to become annoyed at the other horses.

Shibata, who was paired with Nakayama Festa for the second time, moved gradually up around the bend as Buena Vista, Earnestly and Namura Crescent lined up at the front. With some 200 meters to go, Namura Crescent faded and the race looked to be turning into a one-two battle for the top between Buena Vista and Earnestly. Suddenly, however, Nakayama Festa burst onto the scene, accelerating with lightning speed to the front, where he lined up with the leading two with 12 strides to go, then continued to gain ground to pass the finish line a half length in front.

Runnerup, the Special Week-sired Buena Vista, a 4-year-old filly, was voted into the Takarazuka as the horse fans most wanted to see. She answered expectations well with a strong finish and was followed a half length later by the third choice Grass Wonder-sired Earnestly. Fourth choice Dream Journey finished in fourth place another 1/2 length behind, with Never Bouchon in fifth.

“He ran feeling very good,” jockey Yoshitomi Shibata said of Nakayama Festa. Trainer Yoshitaka Ninomiya’s words from before the Takarazuka rang true. Ninomiya knew the biggest obstacle facing them was attitude, and the biggest question was whether the rather rambunctious Nakayama Festa would give them some serious work or act up. Sure enough, at the gate, the 4-year-old managed to dump Shibata as Nakayama Festa refused at first to load. Once in, however, he settled down to business.

“It’s always a question of whether this horse will run seriously or not,” Shibata explained. “He was a bit of a handful but after the break he ran smoothly and with a cool head. That was very good.”

As he moved up on the front-running Buena Vista and Earnestly in the homestretch, Shibata said he had been confident he could catch them. “This horse has the power.”

It was the first G1 win for Shibata in four years, since Orewa Matteruze won the Takamatsunomiya Kinen in 2006. The 43-year-old Shibata, who debuted as a jockey in 1985, currently ranks 12th among Japanese jockeys with 36 wins thus far this year. He has won seven G1 races over his career.

“It was so long ago I’d already forgotten about it,” Shibata said with a laugh about his last G1 win. The Takarazuka win, he said, “naturally, feels good. This is a horse that needs special handling and the staff really took pains to give him that. With a lot of work under his belt he was able to relax and run and give us a good performance. I really appreciate what they’ve done,” Shibata said.

Nakayama Festa, by Stay Gold, out of the Tight Spot mare Dear Wink, was bred at Arai Bokujo and is owned by Shinichi Izumi. The 132 million yen for the Takarazuka win took Nakayama Festa’s total earnings to just shy of 290 million yen. It was the first win of the race for both the Miho-based Ninomiya and Shibata.

The eighth pick of the Takarazuka, Nakayama Festa’s win boosted the return on the winning No. 17 ticket to 3,780 yen on a 100-yen wager. The winning exact 17-8 returned 16,990 yen, the winning trifecta 17-8-2 paid 77,160 yen on 100 yen.