Keita Tosaki was taking no prisoners at Oi on Wednesday night. He had one intention and he went for it: get to the lead on April’s Jpn1 Haneda Hai hero Finger and make the Jpn1 Tokyo Derby his.
Tosaki executed an aggressive, intuitive, brilliantly judged ride in the 2000m contest, which ensured Finger now has the option to attempt Japan’s Dirt Triple Crown in the Jpn 1 Japan Dirt Classic back at Oi in October. That’s not yet locked in, though.
“Whether it will be domestic or abroad, I think he can really make us dream a little bit: going for the Triple Crown is, of course, one of the options,” said trainer Hiroyasu Tanaka, fresh off last Sunday’s G1 Yasuda Kinen victory with Sixpence.
“I feel there is huge potential and possibility lying inside this horse, and we have a wide range of race selections. He is a big guy, but he is always calm, and you could see he didn’t move a step during the photo session after the race. He is very lovely, but he can also give you a mind-blowing performance.”
Finger’s races will be mapped out – possibly after a summer break – once the dust has settled, Tanaka added. But Tosaki’s own Tokyo Derby race map had only one way.
The jockey had spoken with the trainer earlier in the day about their tactical options. Both favoured getting the lead, but from an unfavourable wide gate, Tanaka knew that might be too difficult to achieve. Tosaki made sure it happened.
“I thought maybe he didn’t necessarily have to lead the race and based on his performance I think he could have also given a good race without leading the race,” Tanaka said.
“After the start, Tosaki insisted on going to the lead, and I think that decision led us to victory.”
Finger broke well, but so too did Rock Ptarmigan from an easier inside berth. Heading towards the winning post for the first time, it looked like the latter would be the one dictating the running. Tosaki was having none of it, though: he kept the reins long and let his mount stride right on past his rival at a sharp clip.
“We thought a demanding race might be even better for this horse to show his strength, so I went aggressively to the front from the start,” Tosaki said.
“I always believed in my horse, and I just wanted to let my horse race in his desired rhythm. I went pretty fast in the early stages, so I wanted to ease the pace down a little bit.”
Tosaki let Finger fill his lungs down the back, finding his flow, then wound it up on the home turn, drove hard down the home straight and his brave mount hung on safely from the deep-closing Silver Ratio.
“Everything went according to the plan – we managed to let the horse show his grit,” Tosaki added.
It was like the old days at Oi when Tosaki, now 45, was turning heads and stacking up wins as one of the National Association of Racing (NAR)’s hottest tickets. That was during the 15 years before his 2013 switch to the elite Japan Racing Association (JRA), where he has gone on to claim three champion jockey titles and major wins on some of Japan’s biggest stages.
This was the rider’s fifth Tokyo Derby but the first since 2011, two years before he made the switch to the JRA.
“I feel Oi is my home, this is where I came from, and today I’m able to win the Derby here, that is truly emotional,” Tosaki said.
“The horse has already won two legs of the Triple Crown, so I’m really looking forward to his future.” ∎
