Japan’s top sprinter Satono Reve is preparing for the G1 July Cup at Newmarket in two weeks’ time followed by a possible assignment at York’s Ebor Festival in August if he continues to hold his form in what could be a prolonged European summer campaign.
The Noriyuki Hori-trained seven-year-old is lodging at trainer James Horton’s Beech Hurst stables in Newmarket, as he was last year when second in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, a result he repeated at Royal Ascot recently. Hori is currently back in Japan but Idol Horse understands the trainer intends to return to England ahead of the July Cup, which is often the race that determines Europe’s champion sprinter.
Satono Reve was left in the July Cup at the latest forfeit stage, and with no summer options for him in Japan, the two-time G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen hero could yet stay on beyond the six-furlong sprint at Newmarket’s July Course. He holds entries for the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest in France on August 9 and even the G1 Flying Five in Ireland as late as September 13.
And the four-day York fixture – August 19 to August 22 – one of Britain’s great festivals, is also under consideration, with the G1 Nunthorpe Stakes over five furlongs and the G1 City Of York Stakes over seven furlongs being the two options there.
“Hopefully it’s happening,” York chief executive William Derby told Idol Horse. “He’s been entered (Tuesday) in both the City Of York and the Nunthorpe, and we’d love to see him if he were to come.”
Derby has watched Satono Reve’s career with interest and is an admirer of the bay’s performances, his Japanese victories as well as his brave defeats at Ascot and in Hong Kong where he has battled the world’s best sprinter, the great Ka Ying Rising.
“I thought Satono Reve ran a great race at Ascot this year, as he did last year, and it would be a thrill for us to have a Japanese representative come to the Ebor Festival again,” he said.
And with no Japanese participation this year in York’s flagship G1 Juddmonte International Stakes, Derby is keen for the knowledgeable and passionate York crowd to see Satono Reve.
“He’s obviously very, very good and has travelled twice to Europe now, and he’s shown he can take on the best around the world,” Derby said. “He’s run with credit against Ka Ying Rising, so it would be an honour to have him come to York. There’s a fair time between now and then, but we’d love to see him.”
Satono Reve’s entries for the York races follow comments by Newgate’s Henry Field in Australia, in which he revealed the Japanese star’s connections had turned down his offer to take up the Newgate slot in the world’s richest sprint race, the G1 The Everest in Sydney in October. ∎
