Most of the 17 colts lining up for the Asahi Hai Futurity (G1) at Hanshin Racecourse (G1) Dec. 18 still have a lot to prove before they can be considered top candidates for next year's classics, but already there is at least one rivalry building.
Danon Touchdown, a Lord Kanaloa colt, enters the fray with a win and a second from two starts, with the runner-up showing coming in the Daily Hai Nisai Stakes (G2) over the same Hanshin course in his most recent outing. When they line up for the 1,600-meter (about one mile) Futurity, he again will have to cope with the winner of that race, All Parfait.
But he also will be carrying some lofty expectations, still wearing the ¥264 million (US$2,178,624) price tag he earned—and Danox Co. Ltd. paid—at the 2021 Select Yearling Sale.
He also will be looking to avenge the loss absorbed by his half brother, Danon the Kid, a week earlier in the Longines Hong Kong Cup (G1), although a 4 1/2-length margin behind Hong Kong's budding superstar Romantic Warrior is far from a disgrace.
Both Danon Touchdown and Danon the Kid were produced by Epic Love, a Dansili mare who raced for Katsumi Yoshida in France and peaked with a second-place finish, beaten a short neck by Wavering in the Montjeu Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary (G1).
Danon Touchdown's trainer, Takayuki Yasuda, shrugged off the defeat in his colt's last start.
"Even though he lost last time, he still ran a strong race," Yasuda said. "Lord Kanaloa progeny do well in winter and, as a half brother to Danon the Kid, he seems a well-balanced horse. Right from his debut, I've had a grade 1 race in mind for him."
Jockey Yuga Kawada will start Danon Touchdown from gate 12, nine slots out from All Parfait.
All Parfait, a Real Steel colt, finished second in his first start at Tokyo Racecourse in June, took a four-month break, and won at Nakayama Oct. 3 before the stakes win at Hanshin Nov. 12.
"He is a horse with good speed and ability," trainer Yuji Wada said. "It looks like there will be other horses that might want to lead, so I don't think he has to go straight to the front."
In their last meeting, All Parfait sprinted to the lead from an outside gate and Danon Touchdown's furious late run from the back of the back came up half-length short.
Some others to consider: Obamburumai, a Discreet Cat colt who is 2-for-2 with a win in the Keio Hai Nisai Stakes (G2) at Tokyo in his most recent, going 1,400 meters (about seven furlongs) in both wins; Dolce More, undefeated winner of the Saudi Arabia Royal Cup (G3); and Labeling, a Frankel colt who has only one previous start, a victory at 1,600 meters at Tokyo.
Obamburumai was an upsetter in the Keio Hai, going off as the 10th favorite in that field. Trainer Keiji Yoshimura said he should be able to build on that.
"Christophe Lemaire has ridden him in training and will ride him in the race. He thinks with the horse's win last time in Tokyo over 1,400 meters, the extra distance in this race isn't a problem," Yoshimura said.
The Asahi Hai Futurity is run right-handed around the outer turf loop, starting on the backstretch. It is the first of two grade 1 races this month that will set the stage for next year's classics. The second, the Hopeful Stakes (G3) at Nakayama Racecourse Dec. 28, is 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles).
Do Deuce won the 2021 Futurity over the likes of Serifos and Geoglyph and went on to victory in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby-G1).
