Take Hopes For An ‘Awesome’ California Dream
Japan’s greatest jockey Yutaka Take is aiming to create more Del Mar memories with a first Breeders’ Cup win.
IT’S A LITTLE after 9.30am at Del Mar and the sizeable Japanese contingent of horsemen and media personnel is gathered in quiet, casual groups close to the gates of the Japanese quarantine stable: a star-spangle jacketed Yoshito Yahagi smoothly draws on a cigarette, jockey Ryusei Sakai chats with grooms and assistants, Equinox’s trainer Tetsuya Kimura is here and there, Noriyuki Hori keeps his profile low, and officials move between and around them.
Into this scene a car rolls along the discreet back lane behind one of the off-yellow buildings that is serving as something of an administrative station for the Japanese group. It stops in the deep shade by the stable gates, the passenger side opens and Yutaka Take emerges, blue jeans, sunglasses, purple Breeders’ Cup-liveried jacket, and baseball cap, wearing a smile of warm greeting to those close by.
Take looks at ease. And why shouldn’t he be? Japan’s greatest jockey is not only among familiar faces, but also in a place he knows well.
It was September 1989 when Take, then a 20-year-old rising sensation, still 14 months away from his almost mythical, career-lifting Arima Kinen victory on the great Oguri Cap, first breathed in the air at oceanside Del Mar. It was here, among these barns, that he had his first taste of Californian racing: over three days, from the fourth to the seventh of that month, he had five rides for a best-placed fourth.
Through the next decade he made Santa Anita race track, a couple of hours up the road in the Los Angeles suburbs, a regular end-of-year port of call. Then, as the 20th century gave way to the 21st, Take left Japan and made California his residence for a spell.
“Twenty-four years ago, in 2000, I rode in California for quite a long time,” Take recalls via Idol Horse interpreter Frank Chang. “I enjoyed riding here. It was fun, and was a good experience for me. A lot of fond memories. There were a lot of great jockeys here, and I learned a lot from riding against them. I love this place.”
Take moved to southern California in June 2000, starting out at Hollywood Park where his first ride pitched him against the likes of Eddie Delahoussaye, Tyler Baze and Martin Pedroza. His first win on the circuit that year came a month later at Los Alamitos, and, after jetting to England to ride Air Shakur at Ascot, he was on the mark for the year here at Del Mar on August 4, driving Red Hot And Blue to win against a field that featured star riders Chris McCarron, Garrett Gomez, Alex Solis, Laffit Pincay Jr, Victor Espinoza and Baze.
Japan’s finest continued in California until the end of January 2001. Six of his eight wins in that time came at Del Mar.
“It was a great experience for me, and I believe that experience made me stronger,” Take says.
He has had little more than a handful of Breeders’ Cup rides in his time, the best being Trailblazer’s fourth in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf of 2012, but he has two rides this time as he seeks to secure a first Breeders’ Cup win at the age of 55: Awesome Result, in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, and Shin Believe in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
The latter, trained by one of the pioneers of Japan’s overseas ambitions, Hideyuki Mori, is taking a big step up from his sole race, a five-length win in an 1800m newcomers contest at Niigata in August.
“I have to admit, it will be a tough race for him,” Take says. “I don’t think it will be easy for him. It will be a tough race.”
Awesome Result carries the weight of his hopes. The four-year-old is undefeated in seven starts, one as a two-year-old, all on dirt, the first five of those on JRA (Japan Racing Association) tracks and the latest two on NAR (National Association of Racing) ovals.
Like Marche Lorraine, who three years ago at this very venue gave Japan its second Breeders’ Cup win, and first on the dirt, in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, Awesome Result has won the NAR’s JPN G2 Empress Hai at Kawasaki, and the JPN G3 Breeders Gold Cup at Mombetsu by an easy five lengths.
Marche Lorraine won the latter contest by half a length having been defeated in her previous two starts, including eighth in the JPN G1 Teio Sho at Oi. Awesome Result’s Empress Hai victim, Grand Bridge, carried the flag for the fillies in the Teio Sho this year and was fourth behind King’s Sword, with G1 Dubai World Cup fourth Wilson Tesoro second.
The form is difficult to balance with what Awesome Result will face on Saturday, but there is enough, combined with their faith in her potential, for Take and trainer Yasutoshi Ikee to anticipate a good performance.
“Every time I have ridden her, I have been more and more amazed by her potential,” Take says. “This will be her first time racing against such strong opponents, but she has reached expectations on every step-up she has made. I hope she can do the same thing again.”
He hopes, too, that he can create another special memory at Del Mar.
“If I can win a Breeders’ Cup here,” he adds, “it will mean so much to me.”
With that, Take, living legend, moves on to warm conversations with friends, rivals and comrades around Del Mar’s Japanese corner ∎