Durezza is in good condition ahead of the G1 Juddmonte International Stakes next week and will stride out on the grass at Newmarket on Wednesday (August 14) morning before his trainer Tomohito Ozeki arrives to firm up final plans that could include the horse getting pre-race experience of the track at York.
Last year’s G1 Kikuka Sho hero has so far been working on the Al Bahathri all-weather gallop but connections are keen to give the four-year-old a chance to get his hooves into some English turf before he takes on European stars such as the Aidan O’Brien-trained Derby winner City Of Troy in the 10-furlong feature on August 21.
“We will take Durezza on the grass (on Wednesday), the watered gallop in Newmarket,” Yusuke Sai, Northern Farm’s international racing manager, told Idol Horse.
“That gallop is quite firm, probably good to firm, and it’s looking a little bit rough because it’s the only grass gallop that’s open now, so it’s been used a lot by everyone. We don’t want to give him any strenuous work on there: it will be super-easy exercise, but he hasn’t been on any grass here in the UK yet, so we want him to have a taste of what it feels like.
“Then on Saturday or Sunday, we will gallop him again at the Al Bahathri before he goes to York early next week.”
Sai said that Durezza, who races for the Northern Farm affiliated Carrot Farm racing club, has thrived in Newmarket where the summer temperature is cooler than what can often be intense heat in Japan during August.
“He had a good, strong gallop on Sunday at the Al Bahathri gallop and he’s coming on, his coat is shining and the muscle looks strong, he’s powering up. He’s very happy, which is great,” he said.
Ozeki is due to land in England on Wednesday evening and will check in on his star colt the following morning before driving the three hours north to York to run his eyes over the racecourse’s stable facilities and the track itself.
“We are going to York to look at the facilities because the idea at this stage is that we will go to York on Monday afternoon and perhaps he can be ridden out on the racecourse on the Tuesday morning, and then onto the race on the Wednesday, but Mr Ozeki will decide that for sure after he has been to York and seen the facilities there,” Sai said.
The Miho-based trainer, 52, is no stranger to international travel and success, having prepared Glory Vase to win the G1 Hong Kong Vase in 2019 and 2021, while Through Seven Seas placed fourth in last year’s G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France.
Meanwhile, Durezza’s jockey, the JRA champion Christophe Lemaire, will be in action at Niigata this weekend before flying to Britain.
The French ace has ridden the horse to three wins, including his Classic success in the Kikuka Sho, the Japanese St Leger, last October, and is not expected to sit on the horse before race time.
