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| Staff Writer |
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Trainer Koichi Shintani, who has been a JRA trainer based at Ritto Training Center for four years, sent two of his top horses to Korea at just the right moment and dominated the Korea Cup and Korea Sprint Group one.
On Sunday, 10th September, Remake, who had recently won the NAR's Cluster Cup in mid-August, started the afternoon for Shintani by winning the Korea Sprint as the overwhelming race favorite. Korea's Beolmaui Star set the pace, followed by the other Japanese contender, Bathrat Leon. Remake travelled mid-pack and waited until the turn to attack the front runners, not being the quickest in the early stages. In the homestretch, JRA's leading jockey Yuga Kawada guided Remake to a 4-length victory by waiting for the gap to open from the inside and stretching out. Beolmaui Star came in second, with second-favorite Bathrat Leon finishing in third.
In the following race, the Korea Cup, Kawada had a different strategy for the other Shintani horse, Crown Pride. Crown Pride jumped well from an outside barrier, squeezed over early to settle behind the front runner, and took over the front midway through the race.
Crown Pride, who had come close to winning several times but had yet to find the winner's circle since his win of the 2022 UAE Derby in Dubai, completely dominated the Korea Cup field in the homestretch. While his rivals dug deep in the final stages, Kawada and Crown Pride never relinquished the lead and continued to widen the margin between runner-up and compatriot, Gloria Mundi. Crown Pride finished 10 lengths ahead of Gloria Mundi, followed by locally trained Winner's Man.
"I'm thrilled that I was able to deliver the best possible result on both of my rides," Kawada said after the race. "As I always say, it's my job as a jockey to lead the horse to victory after receiving the reins from the connections and, seeing the horses in good condition today, I'm relived that I was able to get the job done. There'll be more Japanese contenders running abroad in the future, and I hope to be able to show how good the Japanese horses are to the global audience."