Bellagio Opera. (JPA Photo)
Sunday’s Winner Gains Automatic Berth into Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf for World Championships at Del Mar
Breeders’ Cup Release
TAKARAZUKA, Japan – Shorai Hayashida’s two-time Group 1 winner Bellagio Opera (JPN) leads Sunday’s $4.3 million Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan. The winner of the 1 3/8-mile race will gain an automatic starting position into the $5 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In.
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 93 stakes races in 15 countries whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, scheduled to be held Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, California.
The Yasuda Kinen will be shown live on FanDuel TV at 2:40 a.m. ET.
Bellagio Opera, a winner six times in 12 starts, led last year’s race, which was run at Kyoto Racecourse in a driving rain storm, until the final quarter mile but wound up finishing third. He comes into this year’s race after an impressive title defense in the April 6 Osaka Hai (G1) at 1 1/4 miles. Moving off the rail in midstretch, the 5-year-old son of Lord Kanaloa (JPN) passed Lord Del Rey (JPN) in the final yards for trainer Hiroyuki Uemura in a course record 1:56.2.
Unbeaten in four starts at Hanshin, Bellagio Opera seems better than the last time he came back before the Osaka Hai, when “he needed to have a bit more work,” said Uemura. “He’s been training well, and the weather’s not too hot yet, so we don’t have to worry about that with the race being two weeks earlier this year.”
Silk Racing Co. Ltd.’s Urban Chic (JPN) has four wins for trainer Ryo Takei, including October’s Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1) over 1 mile and 7 furlongs at Kyoto, having also posted a 1 3/4-length win in the Asahi Hai St. Lite Kinen a month earlier at Nakayama. A 4-year-old son of Japan Cup (G1) winner Suave Richard (JPN), Urban Chic finished third in the March 29 Nikkei Sho (G2) going 1 5/16 miles at Nakayama as the 8-5 favorite.
Sunday Racing Co. Ltd. has entered the lone filly in the race, the 4-year-old Regaleira (JPN), and the 6-year-old Rousham Park (JPN). Trained by Tetsuya Kimura, Regaleira will be making her first start since taking last December’s Amira Kinen (The Grand Prix, Gr. 1) over male rivals at Nakayama. Also, a daughter of Suave Richard, she has won three times in eight starts.
In last year’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf, Rousham Park threw a big scare into Rebel’s Romance (IRE), closing furiously in the final eighth-of mile to come up just a neck short of victory at Del Mar. Trained by Hiroyasu Tanaka, the son of Harbinger ran fifth in the 2024 Takarazuka Kinen. Seeking his seventh win, he will be making his first start since finishing sixth in the April 12 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) going 1 1/4 miles at Royal Randwick in Australia.
Lord Horse Club Co. Ltd.’s Lord del Rey delivered an outstanding effort in the Osaka Hai, his first Group 1 race in his 10th start, finishing a length behind Bellagio Opera. Trained by Mitsumasa Nakauchida, the 5-year-old son of Lord Kanaloa won his previous start, the Jan. 19 Nikkei Shinshun Hai at Chukyo, for his sixth career victory.
Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co. Ltd.’s 7-year-old Yoho Lake (JPN), third in the Osaka Hai, won the Feb. 16 Kyoto Kinen (G2) in his previous start for trainer Yasuo Tomonichi
As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders’ Cup will pay the entry fees for the winner of the Takarazuka Kinen to start in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf, which will be run at 1 1/2 miles. Breeders’ Cup will also provide a travel allowance for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. The Challenge winner must be nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program by the pre-entry deadline of Oct. 20 to receive the rewards.
