NAR horse aims for Teio Sho victory after 14-year drought
Tuesday, 25 June, 2024 17:38
Light Warrior (Photo : Masakazu Takahashi)
The Jpn1 Teio Sho will be held at Oi Racecourse on Wednesday, June 26th. This race will determine the dirt champion for the first half of the year, an NAR horse will attempt to become champion for the first time in 14 years.
Since the race was established in 1986 as an exchange race between the JRA and NAR races, NAR horses have won 14 races and JRA horses have won 24 (including one tie). From the late 80s to the 90s, NAR horses dominated the race, with winners such as Fate Northern, Abukuma Poro, and Meisei Opera. In recent years, however, the NAR horses have been pushed aside by the JRA horses, and no local horse has been crowned champion since Furioso won in 2010. JRA horses have dominated the top ranks since.
This year there is a good chance for a "return" to the top for NAR horse. The first of these is Light Warrior, the winner of the Jpn1 Kawasaki Kinen, who seemed to have reached a plateau in his career at open class level in the JRA. However, since moving to Kawasaki reached a new career high in form. He is one of the top horses in the southern Kanto region in middle distance category. His best course appears to be a small track where he can make the most of his tenacity. Depending on how the race unfolds and his strength, he is likely to feature prominently in the race result.
Sayono Nature is also a horse of considerable note. As the name "Nature" suggests, he is a close relative of Nice Nature, who finished third in the G1 Arima Kinen three years in a row. Sayono Nature has shown no signs of slowing down, winning 12 of his 14 races and finishing second twice. The prolific winner has won the Katsushima Okan, Brilliant Cup, and Oi Kinen in succession since last fall, and while this is a much tougher task in the JPN1, he remains an unknown commodity.
Other contenders include Badenweiler, who won two Jpn3 races while in the JRA, and Heroic Tale, who finished second in the last race, the Jpn2 Nagoya Grand Prix. Will this be the first time in 14 years that a NAR horse will be crowned the NAR King of Japan?
Since the race was established in 1986 as an exchange race between the JRA and NAR races, NAR horses have won 14 races and JRA horses have won 24 (including one tie). From the late 80s to the 90s, NAR horses dominated the race, with winners such as Fate Northern, Abukuma Poro, and Meisei Opera. In recent years, however, the NAR horses have been pushed aside by the JRA horses, and no local horse has been crowned champion since Furioso won in 2010. JRA horses have dominated the top ranks since.
This year there is a good chance for a "return" to the top for NAR horse. The first of these is Light Warrior, the winner of the Jpn1 Kawasaki Kinen, who seemed to have reached a plateau in his career at open class level in the JRA. However, since moving to Kawasaki reached a new career high in form. He is one of the top horses in the southern Kanto region in middle distance category. His best course appears to be a small track where he can make the most of his tenacity. Depending on how the race unfolds and his strength, he is likely to feature prominently in the race result.
Sayono Nature is also a horse of considerable note. As the name "Nature" suggests, he is a close relative of Nice Nature, who finished third in the G1 Arima Kinen three years in a row. Sayono Nature has shown no signs of slowing down, winning 12 of his 14 races and finishing second twice. The prolific winner has won the Katsushima Okan, Brilliant Cup, and Oi Kinen in succession since last fall, and while this is a much tougher task in the JPN1, he remains an unknown commodity.
Other contenders include Badenweiler, who won two Jpn3 races while in the JRA, and Heroic Tale, who finished second in the last race, the Jpn2 Nagoya Grand Prix. Will this be the first time in 14 years that a NAR horse will be crowned the NAR King of Japan?