In addition to the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, the Japan Racing Association will see some exciting action with two highly competitive Grade 3’s the 2023 Silk Road Stakes and Negishi Stakes.
It will be fascinating to see if the 2022 runner-up Shine Garnet can go one better in the 2023 Silk Road Stakes, while we have the first three from the 2022 Negishi Stakes returning to do battle once more, and trying to fend off the up-and-coming Lemon Pop.
Silk Road Stakes
Grade 3 Handicap – Purse $602,000 – 1200 meters (6 furlongs) – Turf – 4-Year-Olds and Up
We have a great race in prospect with the four-year-olds Win Marvel and Namura Clair both sure to be popular on the boards.
The colt Win Marvel has hit the board in ten of thirteen starts, including 4 wins with the last of those coming in this spot three back. Has since finished runner-up in the Grade 1 Sprinters Stakes and gets some nice class relief today.
The filly Namura Clair has a similar profile and she also won in this grade three starts back and also competed in the Sprinters Stakes where she was fifth behind Win Marvel and finished about 2 lengths behind that rival. Today is a handicap and she is better off at the weights, but Win Marvel came from way back that day and gets a narrow call over his rival.
An interesting contender is Shine Garnet who finished second in this race last year and advertised her claims with a solid second in Listed company just last month. The six-year-old mare is a consistent type and although she has not won since 2020, could well be a big price on the morning line odds.
If we are looking for an unexposed type here, then look no further than Mad Cool who is very lightly raced with just six career starts and has won the last four of those. He runs in the famous Sunday Racing silks and was very impressive last time in the Chiryu Stakes at Chukyo, and could be the one to give the two favorites the most to think about.
There are a few at bigger odds that we should look at, and we’ll start with Maria’s Heart who ran a mighty race in the Sprinters Stakes to finish eighth. She was second last turning into the home stretch and had to pitch into the eight lane to make a run. She closed strongly to the wire and should get much closer today.
Others that should run well are First Force, Kir Lord and Toshin Macau, with Kir Lord looking the most likely of those to challenge for a spot on the board.
2023 Silk Road Stakes Odds & Betting Picks
| Horse | Jockey | Odds by JazzSports |
| Win Marvel | K.Matsuyama | +650 |
| Eighteen Girl | scratched | |
| Kaiser Melange | scratched | |
| Kir Lord | Y.Fukunaga | +650 |
| Groove It | Y.Iwata | +1200 |
| Shigeru Pink Ruby | R.Wada | +1700 |
| Shine Garnet | M.Iwata | +800 |
| Shonan Vanilla | scratched | |
| T M Spada | S.Imamura | +1700 |
| Toshin Macau | K.Sameshima | +1100 |
| Namura Clair | S.Hamanaka | +400 |
| First Force | T.Danno | +3500 |
| Mad Cool | K.Fujioka | +100 |
| Maria’s Heart | H.Yoshida | +3500 |
| Lei Halia | scratched |
Maria’s Heart should be a nice price on the boards and her run last time was unlucky, and she should be right in the action as they come down to the wire and is one for players who like to bet across the board.
However, the run of WIN MARVEL last time is the best piece of form available in this field, and taking this drop in class should allow this talented colt to be closer to the speed today, and he looks the class angle in the field, and gets a confident vote.
Namura Clair will give the likely favorite plenty to think about, and along with Mad Cool and Shine Garnet, can be battling for a share of this lucrative Grade 3 purse.
Negishi Stakes
Grade 3 – Purse $591,000 – 1400 meters (7 furlongs) – Dirt– 4-Year-Olds and Up
We have to start with last year’s winner T M South Dan who will be trying to win this once again, but will surely face a tough battle from last year’s second and third, Helios and Tagano Beauty.
TM South Dan heads into this having hit the board in three of his last four races and looks sure to give another good account. He was seventh last time over 1200 meters, but this 1400 meter (7 furlongs) distance is much more his bag and will enjoy this stretch out in distance.
Last year’s runner-up Helios is arguably in the better current form than his rival, having hit the board in seven of his last eight starts, including two wins. The doubt about him is, does he really have the class, as most of his best runs have come in Listed class?
Tagano Beauty who finished third in this last year has not been in as good form as his rivals, and even though taking a big class drop today, he’ll need to take a big step forward based on his overall current form.
We mentioned Lemon Pop in our headline and this five-year-old has now won six of his nine career starts and has finished runner-up in the other three. He looked to be a superstar as a two-year-old, but his three-year-old career was cut short due to injury. He has not looked back since and his last run when runner-up in this spot makes him a dangerous foe for the others with more to come.
An interesting runner we need to talk about is Ho O Amazon, who has been running against much tougher rivals and gets a significant class drop today. Recent results have been poor in Grade 1 company, but the last three runs in Grade 2 events have seen this one hit the board. Today see’s the horse get even more class relief and if we are to see an upset, this one could provide it
Some of the bigger-priced runners to look at include Sekifu, Gilded Mirror, and Battle Cry, and of the three, we like the look of Gilded Mirror who has won two of his last three runs.
Negishi Stakes Odds & Betting Predictions
| Horse | Jockey | Odds by JazzSports |
| Admire Lupus | H.Uchida | +1700 |
| Air Almas | scratched | |
| Aurora Tesoro | Y.Hara | +3700 |
| Gilded Mirror | K.Miura | +300 |
| Kenshinko | H.Tanabe | +7500 |
| Jasper Prince | scratched | |
| Sekifu | M.Demuro | +1700 |
| Tagano Beauty | S.Ishibashi | +7500 |
| T M South Dan | C.Lemaire | +650 |
| Denko Riziere | S.Akiyama | scratched |
| Battle Cry | Y.Kawada | +3700 |
| Helios | Y.Take | +2500 |
| Verdad Imeru | Y.Shibata | +7500 |
| Ho O Amazon | R.Sakai | +7500 |
| Ladybug | scratched | |
| Lemon Pop | K.Tosaki | -250 |
T M South Dan is going to enjoy stretching out to 1400 meters and he looks sure to make a bold bid to win this for the second year in succession and looks like a strong player to hit the board.
It is a tight race with many in with chances, but our main pick is LEMON POP who is still improving and having never finished out of the first two in all his races, we see this one as a surefire play across the boards, and he can take this before going onto better things.
Gilded Mirror has been in fine form and looks sure to run well, while Ho O Amazon is one to put in exotics at a likely big price. Definitely, one we want onside, taking such a big class drop.
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