Derby ‘Voyage’ Commences In Cattleya Stakes

[Wandering Eyes]

Having already conquered trips of 1200 meters and 1400 meters on the dirt, owner Hajime Satomi's immaculately bred Satono Voyage (Jpn) (Into Mischief) successfully negotiated a stretchout to the metric mile and reported home a comfortable 1 1/2-length winner of Saturday's $194,621 Cattleya Stakes, good for 10 points on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. The 1600-meter contest is run under allowance conditions around a left-handed bend at Tokyo Racecourse.

The son of Brazilian Horse of the Year and three-times North American graded winner Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer) had annexed those two previous tries on the main track by some 15 combined lengths and the betting public sent him off as the $1.70 (7-10) favorite in a field that also included $1-million OBS March grad Magna Victor (Maxfield), named a 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard off a nine-length debut score in September, and Arcadia Cafe (Into Mischief), a half-brother to Tokyo stakes winners champion Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah) and Luxor Cafe (American Pharoah).

Off to an uneventful beginning from gate four, Satono Voyage was ridden positively by Keita Tosaki and was an inside third chasing a moderate early tempo before easing off the inside and into the clear with 1000 meters to travel.

Allowed to creep into contention three deep with about three furlongs to race, the bay colt was held together into the long Tokyo straight and traveled strongly as Magna Victor and Arcadia Cafe came with challenges outside and inside, respectively. Magna Victor was soon hard at it and retreated, and Satono Voyage put away Arcadia Cafe inside the final furlong before staying on nicely for the victory.

Don Erectus (Jpn) (Danon Legend), the 132-1 second roughest chance in the field of 12, covered his final 600 meters in a race-fastest :36.4 to finish second. The winner was home in a respectable :37.1, while Magna Victor, the 3-2 second choice, was beaten 11 lengths into ninth.

Just 39 years of age, Hiroyasu Tanaka knows how to train a top horse on the main track, having helped orchestrate the career of two-time G1 Champions Cup hero and dual Japanese champion dirt horse Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid), who took this event in 2020 at his second career start. He clearly relishes what might lie ahead for Satono Voyage.

“The Kentucky Derby is of course one of the most prestigious races that this quality of horse can target, but it's not easy to say at this point whether we will target the Kentucky Derby,” Tanaka said in an impromptu post-race press conference, attended by TDN's Emma Berry on-site in Tokyo. “Before this race I was thinking about the [Feb. 14 G3] Saudi Derby if he ran well here. I will talk to the jockey after this and see what he thinks, but it is one of the options.”

Asked if he would consider the G2 UAE Derby (1900m) to earn extra points towards Kentucky, Tanaka replied, “I just want to concentrate on the next race, which might be the Saudi Derby.”

Among Tanaka's other stable stars is Rousham Park (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}), a neck second to Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the 2024 GI Breeders' Cup Turf, and the trainer admits that Japan's success on American soil has fed his desire to travel one over.

“Forever Young's great performance has certainly encouraged us, and me, to send horses overseas, including America,” he said, referring to this year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

“This horse has a lot of potential and I am personally very happy to be able to train a horse of this caliber. He's by Into Mischief, whose crops do very well in the United States, and I think he has a good chance to perform well in the U.S. as well.

“Going into a race with two turns will be one of the tasks for him because he hasn't raced over that distance so I would like to be able to condition him to handle two turns. I've been training top dirt horses in my stable so my next aim is to get my first win in an overseas Grade I race.”

Jolie Olimpica, also a Sovereign Award winner, was purchased by Shimokobe Farm for $675,000 carrying a full-brother to Satono Voyage at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton November Sale, and the mare was bred back to the Spendthrift stallion prior to her export to Japan, where she foaled Satono Voyage on Apr. 3, 2023.

Breeders' Cup Classic-winning broodmare sire Drosselmeyer is a son of Distorted Humor, and the cross of Into Mischief over mares going back to the latter's sire Forty Niner has been sensationally productive, accounting for the likes of Grade I winners Life Is Good, Goldencents, Practical Joke, Citizen Bull, the recently retired Patch Adams and Tappan Street.

Jolie Olimpica did not produce a foal to the cover of Contrail (Jpn) in 2024 and is responsible for a weanling colt by Horse of the Year Equinox (Jpn).

The Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby continues with the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun (1600m around two turns) at Kawasaki Dec. 17 (20-10-6-4-2), the Listed Hyacinth Stakes back at Tokyo on Feb. 2, 2026 (30-15-9-6-3) and the Fukuryu Stakes (allowance) over 1800 meters at Nakayama Mar. 28, 2026 (40-20-12-8-4).

Saturday's Results:
CATTLEYA S. (Allowance), ¥30,400,000 ($194,621), Tokyo, 11-29, 3yo, 1600m, 1:37.2, ft.
1–SATONO VOYAGE (JPN), 126, c, 2, Into Mischief–Jolie Olimpica (Brz), by Drosselmeyer. O-Hajime Satomi; B-Shimokobe Farm; T-Hiroyasu Tanaka; J-Keita Tosaki; ¥16,000,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $235,800.
2–Don Erectus (Jpn), 123, c, 2, Danon Legend–Dona Primo (Jpn), by Furioso (Jpn). O/B-Koichi Yamada; T-Noboru Takagi; J-Akira Sugawara; ¥6,400,000.
3–Arcadia Cafe, 123, c, 2, Into Mischief–Mary's Follies, by More Than Ready. ($550,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). O-Koichi Nishikawa; B-Orpendale/Chelston/Wynatt & Westerberg Ireland ULC; T-Noriyuki Hori; J-Damian Lane; ¥4,000,000.
Margins: 1HF, HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 0.70, 132.20, 8.70.

 

The post Derby ‘Voyage’ Commences In Cattleya Stakes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article