Leung Ho Yin, Simon's Bio
Simon is a well respected full-time thoroughbred racing commentator specializing in pedigree and overseas international racing. He is currently the presenter on several racing television programmes including, ‘Horse Racing – Results’, ‘Simulcast Preview'’ and Simulcast oversea races.

Tokyo Racecourse – Track Analysis (NHK Mile Cup Day):

On top of its ample track width and a 525m-plus stretch run, the Tokyo Racecourse also features its own version of sweeping turns. Deep closers with explosive late speed would find it as effective to pounce home from out wide; that being said, with an uphill drive from 400m to 300m out, front-runners at Tokyo have to open up against the field at the top of the lane, or find it an insuperable task to wire the field. Overall, this is still a fair track with no particular penchant towards any running style.

For the featured NHK Mile Cup and the Shonan Stakes – both over 1600m on turf, the same course and distance as the Yasuda Kinen, the field will have a full 400m stretch run on the backside before reaching the only turn. Thus, runners still have plenty of time to either drop towards the rail or sought for cover, and an outside stall is still more than manageable.

To the rest of the day’s undercard: on to the turf strip, the 1400m 4yo and up 1 win, will see the field hitting the first turn just 300m off the break, and outside-drawn runners may invariably be floated wide. For the 2000m 4yo and up 2 wins, the starting gate is positioned at a doe-leg extending from just outside the course proper; yet as precisely a route that posts slow early fractions in general, breaking from out wide should not hurt as much.

On to the inner dirt oval, the 1300m 4yo and up 1 win, will map a similar trip to their counterparts going 1400m on turf, hitting the first turn merely some 300m into the race likewise. Then for the 1600m 3yo 1 win and Tachikawa Tokubetsu, runners will have the luxury of travelling through another 300m on the backside – plenty of real estate for good positioning, or find covers, stall assignment are not strictly crucial to the winning chances. By contrast, the gate for the 2100m Brilliant Stakes is positioned just 200m behind the finish line, right in front of the grandstand, and the clubhouse turn will come up in a flash; outside-drawn runners, therefore, need to find the rail nice and quick, or be in big trouble.

Last year’s NHK Mile Cup contested on firm turf, the eventual quinella of LAUDA SION and RESISTENCIA were both gunned to the first flight from the go; while RESISTENCIA flaunted inside speed, LAUDA SION managed to take command head-long into the final 200m and won it in style, whereas GILDED MIRROR, drafting right behind the early speed while saving ground, closed strongly to check in third.

With sunny skies giving way to “mostly cloudy” – yet next to no rain – heading into this weekend in the Tokyo area, good ground would still be on deck for this year's running of the NHK Mile Cup Day, and that is surely good news yet again for runners that position well, preferably on the rail, in the early stages.

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