Kizuna, a Japanese Derby Winner, to gate in the Prix Niel, and hopefully the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

As you know, the last year's champion-supposed-to-be, Orfevre has arrived in France and he is training to win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. But, there is another horse from Japan going to the gate for the arc this year. His name is Kizuna.

 

Kizuna is getting beloved by Japanese racegoers for three reasons. First, he won the Japanese Derby this year by a stunning finish. In fact, he was the most favourite in the derby (2.9 or 29/10), but lots of fans were suspicious to his victory in the race, because he didn't participate in the first race of the Japanese triple crown, Satuki Sho. Yet, his performance in the previous race, the Kyoto Shimbun Hai, was outstanding like his father, Deep Impact, so the colt was chosen as the most favourite, and he won!

 

Second, Kizuna's jockey is TAKE Yutaka, a most well-known champion Jockey for a long time. There are lots of KEIBA fans who cheer the jockey including me, and probably he has been known by people who are not interested in horse racing. Besides, TAKE Yutaka was a jockey of Deep Impact, so Kizuna looks like his father.

 

Third, Kizuna is a timely name for Japanese racegoers. It literally means 'bonds' or 'ties.' We still vividly remember what happened on 11 March 2011, when the tremendously disastrous earthquake and tsunami assaulted Japan. We believe that we must cooperate together for everything.

 

For these three reasons, Kizuna may be highly expected in the Japanese racing society. His odds at William Hill currently for the arc is 15.0, or 14/1. But, personally, his way of racing will not be good to the turf condition at Longchamp. He likes going behind the other horses, and changed the gear to top at the final corner. It looks the horse is very strong because of the sensational finish, but I doubt he is as strong as he looks.

 

In any case, we can't miss the prep race of the Prix Niel, which is going to be held on Sunday 15 September 2013, at 9pm (JPN, +0900).

All about this blog.

Hi, my name is Kei, and I am an amateur horse player.

This blog aims at introducing Japanese horse racing, or KEIBA, from my own perspective.

Actually, there are lots of Japanese sites to talk about Japanese horse racing, but they are written in Japanese, which is not a good idea to welcome new horse players who cannot understand Japanese. I googled days and nights to find out Japanese horse racing sites in English but I could not make it. I reached some websites but they are official or seldom updated. Then I said to myself, “Why don’t I start my own?“

What I want to post on this website is:

1. My memory of a horse, a race, a jockey, a trainer, an owner, or whatever mainly in Japan.
2. My review of a certain race.
3. My own forcast of a certain race.

My effort to find out KEIBA sites in English has been useless so far, so if you happen to know one, please do let me know and share the opinion together!

Thank you very much for your visit and hope you a good luck in the next race!