Third-favourite Do Deuce registered his second Gr1 victory in the 89th running of the Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday, with jockey Yutaka Take recording his sixth Derby win,
Yutaka Take steers Do Deuce to victory (Pic – Japan Racing Association)
The 3-year-old colt completed the 2400m turf race in a record two minutes and 21.9 seconds, with the 53-year-old Take becoming the oldest rider to win the major.
After some pedestrian stuff at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday, no canter-and-sprint nonsense in the big race at Tokyo Racecourse 24 hours later!
“It felt electrifying coming around the final corner. I’m over the moon and really happy,” said Take, who last won aboard Kizuna in 2013.
Take held Do Deuce in the middle of the pack until catapulting forward in the final stretch to see off second-favourite Equinox, who made late progress, by a neck.
“There’s no better feeling than this. I hope to keep giving my best with Do Deuce, including on the international stage,” Take said.
Seventh-pick Ask Victor More, who led until the last 150 m, was third, two lengths further back.
The win was trainer Yasuo Tomomichi’s third in the Derby and his first in four years.
First prize earned Do Deuce a total of nearly ¥227 million ($1.8 million).
Equinox pushed Do Deuce hard but settled for a second straight runner-up finish after April’s Satsuki-sho, one of Japan’s three triple crown races for 3-year-old colts.
“I had a good response on the straight and thought we had won as we moved outside, but Do Deuce found another gear from there,” jockey Christophe Lemaire said.
“The pace of the race was fast. We had to stay behind more than we were hoping for, and we also started from an outer stall. It couldn’t be helped.”
“He was second but did a good job.”
Watch the replay here:
Japanese connections have lusted after the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe prize for decades.
Bred by Northern Farm, and racing for Kieffers Co Ltd., Do Deuce certainly has the pedigree to continue that quest, as his sire, Heart’s Cry, is by 1989 Kentucky Derby winner Sunday Silence and his dam sire, Vindication , is by 1977 U.S. Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew .
Vindication won the Gr3 Kentucky Cup Juvenile Stakes at Turfway Park and the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Arlington International Racecourse in 2002. Named champion 2-year-old male that year, he was retired with a suspensory injury. Dust and Diamonds finished second in the Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Santa Anita in 2012 and was never out of the top three in 11 career starts.
Do Deuce also appears to have the temperament to handle top challenges.
“He’s an easy horse to deal with, so there’s nothing to worry about with him at all,” trainer Yasuo Tomomichi said.
Do Deuce was undefeated in three starts as a 2-year-old, culminating in the Futurity win. He started the 2022 campaign with a second-place finish in the Gr2 Hochi Hai Yayoi Sho Deep Impact Kinen while stepping up to 2000 meters for the first time in preparation for the Satsuki Sho at the same trip. The further step up to 2400 meters seemed to play right into his hands, as Tomomichi predicted before the race.
