Dubai World Cup winner Ushba Tesoro will be off to Saudi Arabia and Dubai as a seven-year-old after completing back-to-back successes in the G1 Tokyo Daishoten at Ohi racetrack on December 29.
Sent off favourite in a nine-runner field full of Japan’s best dirt horses, Ushba Tesoro (Noboru Takagi/Yuga Kawada) raced at the rear and was caught wide before rallying with typical intent to catch Wilson Tesoro (in common ownership) in the final strides of the 2,000-metre contest.
Stopping the clock at 2m07.3s, Ushba Tesoro scored by a half-length from Wilson Tesoro, with G1 winner Dura Erede another neck away in third place. Disappointment of the race was Japan Dirt Derby winner Mick Fire, who failed to produce his form and beat only one home.
Ushba Tesoro’s record since he was switched to dirt bears close scrutiny, although he will always benefit from having a good pace to close into – something he did not get in the Tokyo Daishoten, which means the performance can be marked up.
What is more, the son of Orfevre has now won eight of ten starts on dirt, including seven of his last eight – a sequence broken only by his fifth place behind White Abarrio in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
As a result, he moves up to #41 (from #73, +77pt) on the Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings.
Indeed, there is an argument that this resilient performer should feature even higher, although his status is hampered by the fact nearly all races on the NAR (National Association of Racing) local-government circuit are recognised with only Listed status on the international stage – a throwback to days of yore when Japanese dirt horses as a rule were lower-grade types.
Not anymore – but as it stands NAR races cannot be granted higher status if they are restricted to domestic animals. As an NAR race, The Tokyo Daishoten is the sole internationally recognised G1 run in Japan not run under the aegis of the JRA (Japan Racing Association).
Either way, Ushba Tesoro is likely to be given the chance to improve his standing in the near future as connections outlined plans to return to Meydan – probably via the world’s richest race, the Saudi Cup in Riyadh on February 24.
“Ushba Tesoro will continue to train in 2024 and will continue to compete on the international scene,” said winning jockey Kawada, quoted by Netkeiba. “The horse will remain active next year, so we appreciate the support as he goes to challenge the world again.”
Lemaire clims sixth JRA jockeys’ crown
In other Japanese news, world #6 Christophe Lemaire has secured his sixth JRA jockeys’ title with 165 wins, with Yuga Kawada (#8) second on 151.
In France, Maxime Guyon has retained the Craveche d’Or as champion jockey with 248 wins – well clear of next best Mickael Barzalona (186).
Japan wasn’t the only nation with G1 action during what some refer to as the ‘Twixtmas’ period. The stakes-laden opening day of Santa Anita’s winter-spring meet featured three G1s and three G2s. Anisette (#73 from #129, +107pt) won the American Oaks for her second G1 victory Stateside since joining Leonard Powell from UK-basedKevin Philippart de Foy.
Speed Boat Beach (#95 from #742, +327pt) catapults himself up the charts when leading home a one-two for trainer Bob Baffert in the G1 Malibu.
• Unlike traditional methods of racehorse rankings, TRC Global Rankings are a measure of an individual’s level of achievement over a rolling three-year period, providing a principled hierarchy of the leading horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and sires using statistical learning techniques. Racehorse rankings can be compared to similar exercises in other sports, like the golf’s world rankings or the ATP rankings in tennis.
They are formulated from the last three years of races we consider Group or Graded class all over the world and update automatically each week according to the quality of a horse’s performances and their recency, taking into account how races work out.
View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
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