Dane looks a dream bet in the Japan Cup
DANEDREAM will be bidding to become the first horse to win the Arc de Triomphe and Japan Cup in the same season when she goes to post for the latter contest at Tokyo on Sunday morning.
The Peter Schiergan-trained filly has impressed greatly in her last three starts, culminating in her clear-cut victory at Longchamp where she beat outside Shareta by five lengths, winning easily. That form has already been franked in no uncertain terms, with the third Snow Fairy winning the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup at Kyoto since, the fourth So You Think finishing runner-up in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket, and the fifth home, St Nicholas Abbey, going on to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
The main barrier, it seems, is the ground in Japan. The underfoot conditions will be quicker than anything that Danedream has previously encountered. However, she’s won on good ground on a few occasions and, given her action and sharp turn of foot, I have every confidence that the daughter of Lomitas will handle the surface with aplomb. If she does, I really cannot envisage her being beaten, so the 5-2 on offer with Paddy Power and Ladbrokes is well worth taking.
Buena Vista landed this race with a bit left up her sleeve last year but was later disqualified, with the race being awarded to Rose Kingdom. Buena Vista has been beaten in all five starts since, including by the re-opposing Victoire Pisa in the Arima Kinen at the end of December, but I’m expecting the Special Week mare to run a huge race, as she’s bound to have been teed-up for a repeat bid at this valuable contest. Whether she will have enough in her armoury to withstand the late thrust of Danedream is another thing.
Personally, I reckon both Rose Kingdom and Victoire Pisa will struggle this time around, and the one feared most besides Buena Vista is Tosen Jordan who made it three from four in 2011 when bagging the Tenno Sho at the end of October over 1¼m. This trip is no problem – he’s won over 13f in the past – and I can see Yasutoshi Ikee’s charge going very well indeed.