Hanshin Racecourse hosts the G1 Osaka Hai (2000m) on Sunday, 4 April and the competition is so strong the initial nominees numbered only 15, and were further reduced by two this week.
What’s keeping the field small is the largeness of two – Contrail and Gran Alegria – an odd couple that has never met before.
Gran Alegria, a four-time G1 winner has never attempted anything longer than a mile. Contrail, the 2020 Japanese Triple Crown winner, boasts four G1 victories, as well as a second in last year’s G1 Japan Cup (2400m), and he has never raced over anything shorter than 1800m and his best distance is in the 2000-2400m range.
Nonetheless, meet they shall and they’re expected to be not only neck and neck in the final stretch but also at the betting windows.
Gran Alegria and Contrail have commanded headlines all week and Thursday (1 April) morning papers after final fast work the day before were no different.
Gran Alegria doesn’t look like a horse that hasn’t raced since the end of November, when she won the G1 Mile Championship at Hanshin. Her footwork is sharp and she’s on her game.
Working in a trio at the Miho training centre on 31 March, jockey Christophe Lemaire took the mare over the woodchip flat, straightening into the stretch, and with no visible cue from Lemaire, she swiftly stepped to the front in time of 1m 21.1s over 1200m, a final furlong in 12.8s.
She has conquered the sprint. She has conquered the mile. Now, it’s looking like it’s time Gran Alegria will conquer 2000m. “Until now, she always wanted to give her all to everything she did,” said her trainer Kazuo Fujisawa. “But this morning, even though she was at the back, she ran relatively quietly. The jockey has much greater control over her now.”
“This is a big challenge distance-wise for us, but if she can remain relaxed from the gate, she can most definitely manage 2000m,” said Fujisawa with confidence.
Still, it’s Triple Crown champ Contrail, proven over the distance with two 2000m G1s victories (the Satsuki Sho and the Hopeful Stakes, both at Nakayama), who’s expected to be the race favourite in Japan.
He went from his September 2019 debut straight through last year with a perfect record in four G1s and wasn’t stopped until he met Almond Eye in the Japan Cup where he finished second place by a length and a quarter. The Japan Cup was his last race and he too is heading to Hanshin first-up.
On 31 March, an assistant to trainer Yoshito Yahagi took Contrail up the Ritto hill. With no more than a shake of the reins from the rider, Contrail recorded 50.6s over the 800m.
The biggest issue surrounding Contrail was getting him relaxed. For the Japan Cup, Yuichi Fukunaga says. “He was in excellent physical shape but he was still stressed. He was more nervous than he usually was and got far more worked up in the gate than he’d ever been before.”
Now, after four months off, Contrail is a different horse. He’s “totally switched on, yet more relaxed than ever,” said an assistant to Yahagi. “He’s thicker, with good muscle,” said Fukunaga.
