Fully vindicating his trainer’s enthusiasm, Espoir City romped to a
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Espoir City, the 3-1 favorite, flashed speed from his rail post and grabbed
the early lead. Soon afterward he was pressed by the sole American shipper, the
James Bond-trained Tizway (Tiznow), who argued the pace for a time but faded
from contention later on the backstretch. As his pace rival retreated, Espoir
City continued to travel comfortably on the front end, and he was in complete
command for the duration.
Spurting away to a daylight lead turning for home, Espoir City effectively
put the race away. Success Brocken (Symboli Kris S), who had been stalking
throughout, was caught flat-footed and could make no dent on the leader in the
stretch. The late-running sophomores Silk Mobius (Stay Gold) and Golden Ticket
(King Kamehameha) rallied from far back for the minor awards, but neither posed
the slightest danger to the winner. Espoir City coasted across the wire in a
final time of 1:49.90 for about nine furlongs on the right-handed track.
“His training toward this race had gone smoothly, and I am happy that he was
able to produce his ability to his fullest in this race,” Adachi said. “He is
still a baby in many ways and has room for improvement, but physically, he has
matured considerably. Tetsuzo Sato (the winning jockey) has devoted his time in
helping out with his training — he had problems of leaning on the bit — and I
think the efforts have enabled him to put his full power to use.”
“The horse ran a heck of a race,” Sato said. “He settled perfectly, but I
wasn’t worried about that because we’ve been working on it a lot in training. I
had all the faith in the world he would travel well. I never looked back when we
turned for home because I knew we wouldn’t lose with the race we were running.
He tends to get distracted at Hanshin, but he was so locked in today.
“I’ve been working with the horse hand in hand for a while now, and to win
this race means a lot to us because the Japan Cup Dirt had always been the one
we wanted to win,” the 39-year-old jockey said. “The stable and I have bigger
plans for him abroad, but if we’re not good enough to win here, then it wasn’t
going to happen. So I’m really glad he came through for us today.
“He’s such a tremendous horse, and he’ll only get better and better from
hereon. I met him when I was coming back from my injury, and this victory is the
fruit of all the hard work everyone associated with him has put in.”
Runner-up Silk Mobius had 1 1/4 lengths to spare over Golden Ticket, who just
got up in a three-way battle for third. Golden Ticket collared Success Brocken
by a neck nearing the wire, and Admire Subaru (Admire Boss) was another nose
away in fifth. After a gap of 2 1/2 lengths came Wonder Acute (Charismatic) in
sixth, followed by Meisho Tokon (Mayano Top Gun), the near-miss runner-up in the
2008 Japan Cup Dirt, and Vermilion (El Condor Pasa), hero of the 2007 Japan Cup
Dirt and a close third here last year. Makoto Sparviero (Brian’s Time), Daisho
Jet (Cryptic Rascal), Bonneville Record (Assatis), Tizway, the three-year-old
filly La Verita (Unbridled’s Song), Suni (Soto), Wonder Speed (King Glorious)
and Marubutsu Lead (Afleet) completed the order of finish.
Rajiv Maragh, who rode 12th-place finisher Tizway, summed up his trip.
“We wanted to race in front, but were unable to beat the winner’s speed,”
Maragh said. “He raced well in the backstretch, but the colt doesn’t have the
ability to win a Grade 1 race yet.”
Espoir City sports a mark of 17-9-3-1 with approximately $4.3 million in
earnings. An indifferent performer on turf, the chestnut improved dramatically
when switched to the dirt in the latter half of 2008. Espoir City captured his
first four starts on the surface, including the Topaz S. at Kyoto in his stakes
debut. His skein was snapped next time out in the Heian S. (Jpn-G3) at Kyoto,
his 2009 bow, where he was beaten all of a neck in second. Espoir City then
stepped up in class for the February S. (Jpn-G1) at Tokyo, finishing a
creditable fourth. He has not tasted defeat since.
Espoir City’s current streak began with a 1 1/2-length decision in the March
S. (Jpn-G3) at Nakayama. Returning in the May 5 Kashiwa Kinen at Funabashi, he
rallied from midpack to defeat two-time Japan Cup Dirt star Kane Hekili (Fuji
Kiseki) by three-quarters of a length. Espoir City was rested until the October
12 Mile Championship Nambu Hai at Morioka, but he apparently thrived from the
layoff, for he wired the field by four lengths. The Japan Cup Dirt was his first
JRA Grade 1 title.
Bred by Ikuchise Bokujo in Japan, Espoir City was produced by the winning
Brian’s Time mare Eminent City. This is the family of Gold City (Viceregal),
Japan’s champion two-year-old colt of 1986. Interestingly, the female line has
been resident in Japan for 100 years; his 10th dam, the American-bred Tip Top
(*Pirate of Penzance), was exported to Japan early in the 20th century.
Espoir City is owned by Yushun Horse, which also campaigned Tap Dance City,
the 2003 Japan Cup (Jpn-G1) winner. Tap Dance City was unable to shine on the
world stage, winding up 17th in the 2004 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1).
Sato, who rode them both, is hopeful that Espoir City can succeed on foreign
soil.
“It has always been my dream to challenge overseas,” Sato said. “Meeting up
with Espoir City has revived my hopes. I know Espoir City has a lot more room
for improvement, and with a little more experience racing in various positions
— he doesn’t necessary have to lead — I know he can be competitive in big
races overseas.”
Adachi was not yet prepared to confirm a globetrotting agenda.
“As for his future plans, including possible overseas endeavors, that will
have to be discussed with the owners,” the trainer noted.
The next top-level dirt event on the Japanese calendar is the February S.,
and the most logical starting point for world travel would be Dubai in March.