A triumphant First Force returned to Ritto training centre on Monday, March 27th. The seven-year-old colt was the dour winner of the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen, run in atrocious ground conditions. Assistant trainer, Kawamata-san, gave an upbeat report on his stable star, reporting "He looks well and seems to be in very good spirits."

First Force failed to break his maiden in the JRA as a three-year-old and was relegated to the lower level of local racing in the NAR. However, a quick hat-trick of wins resulted in a prompt return to the elite stage of the JRA racing. "I always believed he would one day win a big title, he finally has" stated Kawamata. First Force is scheduled to move to an outside pre-training yard for a spell today.