Kaneko Makoto’s KANE HEKILI (Fuji Kiseki), displaying the mettle of a
champion, prevailed in a three-way blanket finish in Saturday’s Japan Cup Dirt
(Jpn-G1) at Tokyo. Seeking the Dia (Storm Cat) was an agonizingly close second,
with Star King Man (Kingmambo) a neck back in third. Adding to the drama of the
finish, a new track record of 2:08 was established for the 1 5/16-mile distance.
Although only a three-year-old, Kane Hekili earned odds-on favoritism in
light of his brilliant form on the dirt against his fellow sophomores. However, he
was facing a new challenge in tackling the elite elder brigade at the Group 1 level.
Among his older rivals were reigning Japan Cup Dirt champion Time Paradox
(Brian’s Time) and two serious American threats in Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) hero Lava Man (Slew City Slew) and Tap Day (Pleasant Tap), victor of the
Meadowlands Breeders’ Cup H. (G2) in his last start.
When the gates opened, Utopia (Forty Niner) bounded out to dictate a rapid
early pace. Adjudi Mitsuo (Adjudicating) was in close attendance on the outside
with Seeking the Dia tracking just behind the leader. Corey Nakatani had Lava
Man settled in a good stalking position behind that one along the rail, while
Kane Hekili was traveling in midpack for leading rider Yutaka Take. Tap Day was
not looking altogether comfortable toward the rear and never landed a blow
thereafter.
As the field rounded the far turn and entered the long and testing stretch,
Seeking the Dia made his bid for glory, striking the front when Utopia and
Adjudi Mitsuo gave up the ghost. Lava Man, unable to continue following on
Seeking the Dia’s heels, had beaten a retreat.
Dangers, however, were erupting in the forms of Star King Man, whom Kent
Desormeaux enterprisingly drove through on the inside, and Kane Hekili,
unleashing his run on the outside. For a moment, Seeking the Dia appeared truly
caught in the crossfire. Star King Man seized command briefly, but his exertions
took their toll, and he was a spent force. Although bravely sticking to his task
to keep nearly abreast of the top two, it was clear that he did not have enough
left to win.
Meanwhile, Kane Hekili’s swoop to the outside looked destined to carry him to
a clear advantage. Seeking the Dia was proving a very tough nut to crack, as
he kept finding more while buried between his foes, and he forced his head in
front once again. In the dying yards, Kane Hekili seemed beaten, but he offered
one final lunge, reaching for his very life at the line, and that was the
decisive margin. The three-year-old demonstrated that rare quality possessed by
so many great athletes, equine and human alike — the simple refusal to yield.
Kane Hekili thus became the second three-year-old to score in the six-year
history of the race, the first being the high-class Kurofune (French Deputy) in
2001. Winning rider Take has now taken three of the six runnings of the Japan
Cup Dirt and, with this victory, he established a new Japan Racing Association
record of six Group 1 tallies in one season. This also marked his 200th win of
the year.
Time Paradox finished a creditable fourth, 1 1/4 lengths behind the trio.
Sunrise Bacchus (Hennessy), the other sophomore, came in fifth. All three
international invaders disappointed, with Lava Man ending up 11th, Tap Day 13th,
and the English raider, Eccentric (Most Welcome [GB]), last of 16. Lava Man “scraped the frog of his
left front hoof in the backstretch and lost his drive,” jockey Nakatani
reported.
Kane Hekili capped a memorable week for trainer Katsuhiko Sumii, who captured
the Mile Championship (Jpn-G1) last Sunday with Hat Trick (Sunday Silence).
Indeed, the year has been a profitable one for the colt’s connections: Sumii is
also the conditioner of Cesario, the American Invitational Oaks (G1) queen, and
Kaneko Makoto also owns unbeaten Japanese Triple Crown-winning phenom Deep
Impact (Sunday Silence).
The result was another triumph for the Sunday Silence dynasty. The winner was
sired by one of Sunday Silence’s champion sons, Fuji Kiseki, Japan’s top
juvenile colt in 1994. Kane Hekili’s dam, the unraced Deputy Minister mare Life
Out There, is a full sister to successful stallion Silver Deputy.
Kane Hekili boasts a record of seven wins and one second in 11 lifetime
starts. His career mark is even more impressive when one ignores his three
unplaced efforts on the turf; on the dirt, he is seven for eight, including
convincing victories in the Japan Dirt Derby (Jpn-G1) and Derby Grand Prix
(Jpn-G1).
The international stage now beckons for this rising star, with the 2006 Dubai
World Cup (UAE-G1) a possible target.