Stage Set For 2011 Japanese Derby

The stage is set for the Tokyo Yushun(known as the Japanese Derby) at Tokyo on Sunday. The 18 three-year-old colts will go for the most prominent race in the country.

Shocks are rare. Seven of the last 10 favorites have won. Second and third favorites have won each. The longest-priced winner in the last decade was Eishin Flash(7th favorite in 2010).

The Satsuki Sho(Japanese 2000 Guineas) and the NHK Mile Cup provide a good guidance. In the last 10 years, runners of the Satsuki Sho(Japanese 2000 Guineas) have won six times and placed second four times, while the NHK Mile Cup runners have recorded three firsts and a second.

Frankie Dettori, one of the most world-famous jockeys, will participate in the Japanese Derby for the first time, taking the mount on Debonair, owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

The 78th Japanese Derby, Grade One
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Tokyo Race-11
3yo 2,400-meter turf left-handed
Weight: 57kgs for colts; fillies allowed 2kgs
Post time: 3:40 p.m. JST

1/Win Variation(by Heart's Cry)/Katsumi Ando
2/Sadamu Patek(by Fuji Kiseki)/Yasunari Iwata
3/All as One(by Neo Universe)/Shinji Fujita
4/Libertas(by Deep Impact)/Hirofumi Shii
5/Orfevre(by Stay Gold)/Kenichi Ikezoe
6/Cresco Grand(by Tanino Gimlet)/Suguru Hamanaka
7/Belshazzar(by King Kamehameha)/Hiroki Goto
8/Fateful War(by Stay Gold)/Katsuharu Tanaka
9/Cotillion(by Deep Impact)/Futoshi Komaki
10/Nakayama Knight(by Stay Gold)/Yoshitomi Shibata
11/Debonair(by Agnes Tachyon)/Lanfranco Dettori
12/A Shin Jackal(by Fuji Kiseki)/Yuga Kawada
13/Roccaverano(by Manhattan Cafe)/Yutaka Take
14/Shonan Parfait(by Agnes Tachyon)/Kosei Miura
15/Tosen Ra(by Deep Impact)/Masayoshi Ebina
16/Tosen Reve(by Deep Impact)/Craig Williams
17/Universal Bank(by Neo Universe)/Yuichi Fukunaga
18/Northern River(by Agnes Tachyon)/Nicola Pinna