The Japan Racing Association's feature race this coming weekend is the Osaka Hai (G1) at Hanshin April 6. The total purse of the 2,000-meter (about 1 1/4 miles) turf event has increased from ¥432 million in 2024 to ¥651 million (approx. US$4.34 million) this year. Although some of the highest-profile middle-distance runners are competing in Dubai the previous day, the Osaka Hai field has a deep bench that includes four grade 1 winners and some rising stars.
Female horses have been running well against male horses recently in the Osaka Hai. In the last five years, five out of the 10 horses who finished first or second were fillies or mares. Stellenbosch, could be a horse who follows that recent tendency.
Joao Moreira, a Brazilian jockey who was issued a five-week temporary license at the JRA, is booked to ride the 4-year-old Epiphaneia filly who won the 2024 Oka Sho (G1)—the first leg of Japan's Triple Tiara for 3-year-old fillies—for the third time. The "Magic Man" led the filly to victory in the Oka Sho and was in the iron when Stellenbosch finished third in the Hong Kong Vase (G1) last December.
An interesting emerging force in the field is Sixpence, who has won three graded stakes among his five victories in six starts. The 4-year-old colt by Kizuna established a new course record for 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles) over Nakayama's turf course while winning the March 2 Nakayama Kinen (G2).
