BRINGING ASIAN RACING TO THE WORLD
A talented son of Gold Ship that ‘cannot understand orders’ and an injury plagued dirt star bound for G1 glory find a place in this week’s JRA Blackbook.
Wayward superstar Gold Ship has a sole G1 winner as a sire so far but Meiner Laulea stamped himself as a potential topline stayer with a Listed win at his second start.
Gold Ship, beloved as much for his antics as his incredible ability, sired the 2021 Japan Oaks winner Uberleben and Meiner Laulea is bound for the Derby and beyond after his raw talent carried him to a spectacular last-to-first win at Chukyo.
Meiner Laulea sat back off a slow pace but when jockey Yuga Kawada pulled wide, the colt let down with a final 600m of 33.7s.
Kawada said Meiner Laulea will need more than just straight line speed to contend in the classics, but clearly the engine is there.
“He is a high ability horse,” Kawada said. “However, he cannot understand the order from the jockey. He will need to improve. Apart from this, it was a great run.”
Injury comeback horse Promised Warrior gave star Kazakh jockey Bauyrzhan Murzabayev another feature win and most likely a chance at another Group 1 next month.
Murzabayev has been one of the stories of the last few months in the JRA. A three-time champion in Germany, but a relative unknown to Japanese fans before his arrival, he won the G1 Hopeful Stakes last month and now Promised Warrior could carry him to further glory in the G1 February Stakes.
Promised Warrior was unfazed by the riderless horse at Chukyo. (Photo by @vanta3uma)
Promised Warrior has an incredible story of his own; the six-year-old has been limited to seven starts, returning from fractures three times during his career but has now won four in a row since resuming in October last year.
Murzabayev praised trainer Kenji Nonaka, whose only other G1 win was in the 2019 February Stakes with Inti.
“The horse became better and better,” he said. “The trainer put a lot of effort into him. I think he should have a chance to win Group one races.”
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