Hyacinth Stakes: Japan Road To The Kentucky Derby

Dear blog reader:

I won’t have a write up for this race because the entries were not available until it was too late for me to do a profile analysis of the horses. However, below are links for several stories about this race and also a link for the entries.

BRISNET

Sunday’s Hyacinth Stakes at Tokyo will determine which three-year-old becomes the first ever to secure a Kentucky Derby (G1) berth in Japan.

Mont Saint Legame, the winner of Japan’s first scoring race in the November 26 Cattleya Sho, is the pro tem leader with 40 points on this separate “Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby.” But the all-conquering Epicharis cuts quite an imposing figure, and royally bred Foggy Night likewise has the right profile. With the Hyacinth’s point structure being 50-20-10-5, Mont Saint Legame needs another good performance in this second and final Japanese scoring race to book his Derby ticket.

To read more of this story, please click here.

HORSE RACING NATION

          Mont Saint Legame and Caucus, first and second respectively in the Cattleya Sho, the first leg of the “Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby”, are among the 20 three-year-olds registered for the 18 spots in the Hyacinth Stakes, the second leg of the “road” to be held on 19 February at Tokyo Racecourse. 

          To read more of this story, please click here.

BLOODHORSE

          Fifteen 3-year-olds, including one owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, are set for the Hyacinth Stakes Feb. 19 at Tokyo Racecourse, which carries a qualifying opportunity to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).

          To read more of this story, please click here.

DAILY RACING FORM

          There’s a Kentucky Derby prep race Sunday – on the other side of the world.

The Hyacinth Stakes, over about one mile on dirt at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan, is the second of two races in the so-called Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. The two-race sequence was introduced for this year by Churchill Downs to allow a Japan-based horse to qualify for the Kentucky Derby field, which is capped at 20 runners.

To read more of this story, please click here.

To see the entries, please click here.