 Expert - Naohiro Goda | |
|---|---|
| Naohiro is a leading journalist and commentator in Japan with regular television shows on networks such as NHK Network and Green Channel. He is a regular contributor for newspapers, magazines and websites including Sports Nippon, Weekly Gallop, and netkeiba.com. He also operates a bloodstock business marketing firm. Naohiro is a frequent international racing traveler and a regular visitor to the Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin. | |
Nakayama Racecourse – Track Analysis (Arima Kinen Day):
Nakayama is a clockwise oval track with two routes for turf course - the inner track and the outer track, and a dirt course. The outer track branches off from the inner track at the exit of near turn and rejoins the inner track at the entrance of the far turn. The homestretches for the turf course and dirt course are 310m and 308m respectively. Meanwhile, it is the tendency at Nakayama that the tempo is picked up at the middle of the far turn, and the runners who hold endurance and stamina enjoy better results than runners who hold sharp turn of foot.
This year, four turf races and three dirt races from the Arima Kinen Day will be simulcast to Hong Kong.
The Goodluck Handicap and the feature race Arima Kinen are over 2500m on turf. The starting gate for both races is set on the outer turf track at 100m before rejoining to inner turf track. Runners will enter the far turn which lasts for 600m right after the break. Although the turns at Nakayama are famous for its sharpness and horses drawing high number will easily be parked wide, with the customary slow pace at this course in the early stages, they still have plenty of time to find the favourable position when travelling the homestretch for the first time. Therefore, barriers are of less importance. Besides, it is worth noting that there is a sudden upslope in the final 200m which is absolutely a disadvantage to front runners, but given the 310m short homestretch, runners who track leaders closely tend to enjoy better results than closers.
The outer turf track is used for the 1200m Candle Light Sho and 1600m 2yo Newcomer. Starting gate for the 1200m Candle Light Sho is set at the beginning of the backstretch and there is a 275m long straight from the starting gate to the beginning of the far turn. Statistics show that there is nearly no draw bias at this course. Given the short homestretch, tactical speed is always the key to success and it is a tendency that front runners and runners who track leaders closely enjoy better result. But with the upslope in the final 200m, closers are not denied.
The 1600m 2yo Newcomer travels the same route as 1200m. The only difference is that the starting gate is set in the chute of the near turn. The field will only run for 240m straight before the first turn. As a result, outside drawn runners are easily put in disadvantage and need extra effort to find an ideal position. The tempo is picked up around at 800m out over this distance. In other words, runners with long spurt is highly preferred.
For the dirt races, the starting gate of the 1200m Toji Tokubetsu and 2021 Farewell Stakes is set on the turf track, runners who start from wide draw runs a longer distance on turf than runners who start from inside draw. The pace tends to be strong over this distance. Runners of the 1800m 3yo and up 1 win will break from the top of the homestretch. There is no specific draw bias, front runners and runners who track leaders closely enjoy better result over this distance. And “power” and “stamina” work well here, rather than “speed” and “turn of foot”.
Last year’s Arima Kinen contested on good ground. BABBITT, jumped from barrier one, set a pace at front and the tempo was slow. While FIEREMENT, the second favourite, tracked the leader from the fourth position, CHRONO GENESIS, favourite in the race, was settled at the twelfth position in 16 runners’ field. Yuichi Kitamura on the saddle of CHRONO GENESIS started to make a move at 1000m out and CHRONO GENESIS was at the third position at the top of the homestretch. FIEREMENT hit the front at 300m out and he was overtaken by CHRONO GENESIS at 100m to go. Although SALACIA who was at twelfth position at the top of homestretch, delivered strong challenge at closing stage, CHRONO GENESIS held off SALACIA for a neck to win. FIEREMENT was a neck behind SALACIA.
Dry weather is expected throughout the week at Nakayama. Though a little amount of rain or snow may arrive on Saturday afternoon, it will not affect the track condition and the ground on the race day should be good.
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