NEWS
Espoir City takes unusual route in final workout
Posted: Sunday, October 31, 2010 4:56 PM
by Jeff Lowe
The connections of Espoir City (Jpn) chose an unusual method, at least by American standards, for his final major tuneup for the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) on Sunday morning at Churchill Downs.
Espoir City went through his customary long warmup in the backstretch chute and switched to a strong gallop into the far turn and stretch. At the wire, he began a four-furlong breeze, finishing on the backstretch in :49.60.
Trainer Akio Adachi was not on hand for the drill, and exercise rider Toshiyuki Abematsu, through interpreter Mikki Tsuge, said simply that the five-year-old Gold Allure horse “Went well.”
Tsuge, a California-based bloodstock agent, has helped coordinate Espoir City’s venture to the U.S. She said Adachi and the horse’s owner, the Yushun Horse Club, originally considered sending the horse to the Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1), after he won the Japan Cup Dirt (Jpn-G1) last December.
“The owner was a bit reluctant because it was on synthetic,” Tsuge said. “From then on, the focus was on the Breeders’ Cup.”
Espoir City has never raced farther than 1,800 meters (8.97 furlongs). He has made three starts this year, winning the February Stakes (Jpn-G1) on February 21 and Kashiwa Kinen on May 5, and finishing second in the Mile Championship Nambu Hai at Morioka on October 11.
Tsuge said Adachi would be at Churchill on Monday. Adachi began training in 2000, and Espoir City is his first Group 1 winner. He finished fourth in the 2009 Dubai Golden Shaheen (UAE-G1) with Bamboo Ere.
The Yushun Horse Club is a partnership with more than 5,500 members, including 386 shareholders in Espoir City.
The partnership has targeted a major international race before, finishing 17th in the 2004 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Lucien Barriere (Fr-G1) with Tap Dance City, after he won the ’03 Japan Cup (Jpn-G1).
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
