Australian jockey Damian Lane is back in Japan on a short-term licence.
Lane endeared himself again to the Japanese fans when he road Shahryar to victory in the Sheema in Dubai. On Saturday in Tokyo he has the ride on favourite L'Evanglei 3.2 in the G2 Aoba Sho for the 3yo colts over 2400m. He's trained by Hori-sensei, Lane's designated trainer for this term. On Sunday he has a ride in one of the listed races in Tokyo.
Praderia on 5.6 and Lord des Ailes 6.2 are both by Deep Impact and follow in the market.
Sunday sees the running of the G1 Tenno Sho (Spring) at Hanshin this time as the Kyoto track is out of commission while it undergoes significant works. It has a special interest to Australians as it is over the Melbourne Cup trip of 3200m.
Deep Bond was second in the race last year and heads the market on 2.9 and is a clear favourite on 2.9. Titleholder won the Japanese St Leger in 2021 and won the prep race for this – he's on 5.3.
A very interesting runner is T O Royal. He won the Diamond over 3400m but he's going to have to carry a bit more weight here. The word is that he is a very promising type and 7.7 could be value. Iron Barrrows has run second in two 3000m races and is on 8.5 and Machaon d'Or would have a better record if he could get out of the gates a bit quicker. He finishes his races well, just needs to improve his start so he's on 9.5.
There could be some rain around on Sunday so it may be best to stick with the tried and true!
