Horse, Dog & Sports Apollo Kentucky Leads Home US-Bred 1-2 in Tokyo Daishoten

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A respectable fifth to Sound True and Awardee when last seen in the G1 Champions Cup at Tokyo 3 1/2 weeks back, Apollo Kentucky (Langfuhr) led home a 1-2 finish for US-bred runners in Thursday’s G1 Tokyo Daishoten at Ohi Racecourse.

A dual listed winner on the dirt earlier this campaign, the $55,000 Keeneland September bargain defeated top Japanese dirt sophomore Glanzend (Jpn) (Neo Universe {Jpn}) for a first success at group level in the G3 Miyako S. at Kyoto Nov. 6. He gave a good account of himself from a hellish draw in the Champions Cup at odds of 20-1, rallying from worse than midfield to finish fifth, beaten around two lengths.

Assigned gate 11 for this season-ending tilt, Apollo Kentucky was ridden for speed and landed in a great spot from third, stalking the pacesetting Copano Rickey (Jpn) (Gold Allure {Jpn}) who in turn was hounded along by Awardee (Jungle Pocket {Jpn}), the half-brother to G2 UAE Derby and GI Belmont S. third Lani (Tapit). The front-runner took them a long way on the engine, but Awardee and Apollo Kentucky went on the attack leaving the quarter-pole and Copano Rickey called it a day outside the 200-metre mark. The heavy favorite fought on gamely between rivals, but Apollo Kentucky did the better work three away from the fence and got home comfortably in front. Sound True (Jpn) (French Deputy) rallied up four wide on the turn and stayed on well for third without troubling the top two.

Dixiana Delight, a daughter of 2002 GII Fair Grounds Oaks and GII Fantasy S. runner-up Lake Lady (Salt Lake), is the dam of the 2-year-old filly Basic Principals (Archarcharch) and was most recently bred to Shackleford. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO.

Thursday, Ohi, Japan
TOKYO DAISHOTEN-G1, ¥136,000,000, Oi, 12-29, 3yo/up, 2000m, 2:06.60, hy.
1–&APOLLO KENTUCKY, 126, c, 4, by Langfuhr
1st Dam: Dixiana Delight, by Gone West
2nd Dam: Lake Lady, by Salt Lake
3rd Dam: Slinkylady, by What a Hoist
($55,000 Ylg ‘13 KEESEP). O-Apollo Thoroughbred Club; B-Doug
Branham (KY); T-Kenji Yamauchi; J-Hiroyuki Uchida; ¥80,000,000. Lifetime Record: 19-8-3-2, ¥238,237,000. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A.
2–Awardee, 126, h, 6, Jungle Pocket (Jpn)–Heavenly Romance (Jpn), by Sunday Silence. O-Koji Maeda; B-North Hills Management; ¥28,000,000.
3–Sound True (Jpn), 126, g, 6, French Deputy–Kyoei Truth (Jpn), by Fuji Kiseki (Jpn). O-Hiroshi Yamada; B-Okada Stud; ¥16,000,000.
Margins: 1HF, NK, 4. Odds: 15.30, 0.60, 3.00.
Also Ran: Nonkono Yume (Jpn), Copano Rickey (Jpn), Mozu Raijin (Jpn), Kazenoko (Jpn), Happy Sprint (Jpn), Sand Platina (Jpn), Spire (Jpn), Studium (Jpn), Wagenseil (Jpn), Cosmo Kaupili (Jpn), Major Presence (Jpn).

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