Cristian Demuro will have plenty of time to reflect on a weekend of lasting memories during the long flight from Tokyo to San Diego, and he’s looking to make more good memories to enjoy on the return leg, with big-race rides on Shahryar and Don Frankie coming up at this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup.
The Italian ace was in incredible form with six wins at Tokyo last Sunday, having got back in the saddle in Japan for the first time in two years with a brace on Saturday at Kyoto. It all started with a rousting nose verdict in race four on Vilja Lied, and continued with victory in Saturday’s final contest aboard the 7.8 chance Vintage Bond.
Then came his glorious six-win Sunday: Demuro won five races on the bounce – six if you include the last at Kyoto the day before – starting with short-odds favourites Kunino Happy and Danon Mission, then came a savvy tactical move atop 7.8 chance Culavamsa, and a brilliant lead and rally ride on Amakihi, a two-year-old son of the Fillies’ Triple Crown winner Apapane, before he completed the unbroken sequence on the 7.9 shot Evan Sweet.
For good measure, he later made it six for the day when he drove the closing Mi Esperanza to get up in the final strides.
“I was very happy to be back in Japan, and really happy to come back with two wins and four seconds on Saturday,” Demuro, 32, told Idol Horse, noting that part of the reason he had not ridden in Japan since December 2022 was that he had reached too many penalty points for suspensions during his previous visit.
“Sunday was really good,” he continued. “Amakihi, for me, is a horse with good potential, it was first time out and he ran a bit green in front but he won more easily than it looked. Five in a row was special and then in the ninth race I won my sixth race in one day, so of course I was very happy!”
Not only that, Culavamsa was Demuro’s 200th JRA (Japan Racing Association) victory, the rider having achieved his first JRA win on January 14, 2012 aboard Shiny Hawk in an allowance race at Kokura. He has achieved plenty since then, not least putting two G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphes in the bag, but he has not yet nailed a Breeders’ Cup win and that’s something he’s hoping to change on Saturday.
“I ride Shahryar again,” he said. “I’ve not ridden him in this preparation because he’s already in America but the trainer has told me he’s in very good condition, so I hope he’s like last year.”
Shahryar and Demuro were third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf, and this time they will face the horse that beat them into second in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in March, Rebel’s Romance. Shahryar prepared for his Del Mar test when fifth in the G2 Sapporo Kinen in August when his ride that day, Yutaka Take, did not give him too hard a time once he was beaten.
The six-year-old was out on the Del Mar dirt track on Monday morning for light work.
“If he’s like he was a year ago, it’s some of the same horses he faced last year but not the winner, Auguste Rodin, and if he’s well, he should run a similar race. Del Mar is a small track, so I’m hopeful he’ll like that,” Demuro said.
“I also ride Don Frankie in the sprint so I’m hoping it will be another good weekend for me and for Japanese horses.” ∎
