The picture for the 89th running of the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1) at Tokyo Racecourse May 29 has been made clear through a series of Derby preps that concluded last weekend.
Sunday Racing's Geoglyph was refreshed at the Tenei Branch of Northern Farm at Fukushima Racecourse after winning the first leg of the Japanese Triple Crown April 17 in the Satsuki Sho Japanese Two Thousand Guineas (G1) at Nakayama Racecourse. The 3-year-old colt returned to trainer Tetsuya Kimura's barn in Miho Training Center May 11 to resume full training.
Geoglyph is one of the first crops by multiple graded-stakes winner Drefong, who found success between six to seven furlongs in races such as the 2016 TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) and the Forego Stakes (G1) of 2017.
Owned by the Baoma Corp, Drefong won six of his nine starts for trainer Bob Baffert and earned $1,538,385. He entered stud in Japan in 2018 and stands at Shadai Stallion Station for ¥7million (US$54,180).
The colt's dam Aromatico, is a graded stakes-placed daughter of King Kamehameha, who finished third in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) over 11 furlongs in 2013. The dam also came second in the Hokkaido Shimbun Hai Queen Stakes (G3) in 2014 and was third best in the Mermaid Stakes (G3) of 2013.
A half brother to Geoglyph is Albilla, a son of Maurice, who won the May 14 Ryokufu Stakes over 12 furlongs at Tokyo. Perhaps Geoglyph has inherited the same stamina to go 12 furlongs from his dam's side.
The extra two furlongs in the Tokyo Yushun could favor both Equinox and Danon Beluga, who were second- and fourth-place finishers, respectively, in the Satsuki Sho. The former is by Kitasan Black, a two-time winner of the Tenno Sho Spring (G1) over 16 furlongs, and the latter is by Heart's Cry, who sired One and Only, the 2014 Tokyo Yushun winner.
Pradaria, winner of the April 30 TV Tokyo Hai Aoba Sho (G2), will look for another win around the same course and distance in the Tokyo Yushun. The 3-year-old colt will try to achieve an unprecedented fifth straight victory in the race for his legendary sire, Deep Impact (JPN), who died in 2019 at the age of 17.
For the past four years, the leading sire's progeny has dominated in the Tokyo Yushun with Wagnerian (2018), Roger Barows (2019), Contrail (2020), and Shahryar (2021).
