World Racing Weekly: Cavallerizzo, Alohi Alii & T O Elvis

Cavallerizzo Has Cristian Demuro’s Confidence

The unbeaten colts Admire Quads, Realize Sirius and Ecoro Alba are set to clash in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes at Hanshin on Sunday, a race likely to determine juvenile championship honours in Japan, but Cristian Demuro believes his mount Cavallerizzo has the talent to thwart the trio. 

Demuro returned to Japan this week after the Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin, which brought an agonising second in the G1 Hong Kong Mile. The Italian’s mount Soul Rush – conqueror of Romantic Warrior in Dubai last April – looked set for Mile victory when he surged to the lead early in the straight, only for the local hero Voyage Bubble to rally hard and late to deny him by a head. 

“I was thinking it was done when I passed Voyage Bubble, but that is a very tough horse and he came again and beat me,” Demuro told Idol Horse as he praised the skill of trainer Yasutoshi Ikee in getting the seven-year-old back to his peak for that challenge. 

“Soul Rush gave me everything last Sunday. It was a little bit hard to get him back to this level because after Dubai he had an injury to his knee and it took that time to recover.”

But as Soul Rush heads off to take up stud duties at Breeders Stallion Station, Demuro is looking to the future and the excitement of a Classic prospect emerging from Sunday’s race.

The Italian – crowned France’s champion jockey for the first time this year – partnered Cavallerizzo at his second start, in the G2 Daily Hai Nisai Stakes at Kyoto a month ago. The Silk Racing-owned colt started steadily at the rear, then raced keenly and advanced to track the leader under a restraining hold. Demuro angled his mount off the rail at the top of the home straight and kicked to the lead.

But Admire Quads sprinted past on his inner and Cavallerizzo showed immaturity – hanging into his rival rather than running straight – and was beaten by a head.

“Cavallerizzo is a good horse, I think he has a lot of potential,” Demuro said of the Tatsuya Yoshioka-trained juvenile. “He will improve for last time when he was green. He’s not so easy to ride, he’s a little bit of a hot horse at the beginning, he can pull a little bit.

“But last time he also showed that he has a good turn of foot, but then he was green, hanging on the outside. He was beaten by a good horse, but I think this time I can beat him, I hope so. I hope he is in good form with everything going well.”

Admire Quads will attempt to give his owner Junko Kondo back-to-back wins in the race after Admire Zoom scored last year.

Realize Sirius boasts impressive form for his big-spending owner Yosuke Imafuku, having won the G3 Niigata Nisai Stakes last time by four lengths from last week’s G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies third Taisei Vogue. Meanwhile, Ecoro Alba showed a good turn of foot to win the G3 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup at Tokyo in early October but the runner-up that day, Galilea, was a well-beaten seventh in the Daily Hai Nisai behind Admire Quads and Cavallerizzo.

Demuro, who has had another successful short stint in Japan with 27 Japan Racing Association (JRA) wins since November 1, worked Cavallerizzo Wednesday morning on the Ritto training centre uphill gallop. The colt maintained a smooth rhythm as he clocked a steady time of 58.0 seconds, as is his trainer’s style leading into a race.

Kyoto Start For Arc Prospect Alohi Alii

Hiroyasu Tanaka knows a bit about trying to crack a puzzle. The trainer most famous for preparing Lemon Pop to win two G1 Champions Cups has also managed to channel the enigmatic, bull-headed Narukami to Group 1 level performances on dirt.

But the biggest puzzle of all for any Japanese horseman is how to win the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October – it’s a conundrum that has yet to be solved. Tanaka tried and failed last year with Alohi Alii and has 10 months to work it out before the next attempt to win Europe’s end-of-year 2400m championship race, and the process will start at Kyoto in January.

That’s the place and time for Alohi Alii’s planned first-up run in the G2 Nikkei Shinshun Hai, a race that has been won in the past by subsequent off-shore Group 1 winners Stay Gold, Rulership and Glory Vase.

Alohi Alii was a leading fancy for last year’s Arc after his victory in the G2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano, but was a disappointing 16th of 17 behind Daryz at Longchamp. But the Arc is still in Tanaka’s thinking.

“Winning the Arc is the dream of the horse owner as well as myself, we are still thinking about going for that next year,” Tanaka told Idol Horse.

“But currently we are aiming him at the G2 Nikkei Shinshun Hai which is run at a mile and a half. We will see how he does there and then think about the next steps.”

This Week In Horse Racing History

It was on December 18, 1983 that the world’s first US$1 million race for two-year-olds was held at Hollywood Park. The Hollywood Futurity (now the Los Alamitos Futurity) was in its third year when it became the world’s richest race at the time – worth US$1,049,725 – and Canadian jockey Sandy Hawley rode the Gary Jones-trained Fali Time to victory.

Ten years earlier, on December 15, 1973, Hawley became the first jockey in history to achieve 500 wins in a year.

On December 15, 1991 the Dermot Weld-trained Additional Risk won the Hong Kong Invitation Bowl – precursor to the Hong Kong Mile – and so became the first European-trained horse to land a victory at the Hong Kong International Races.

December 21, 2014 saw Danon Platina win Japan’s top two-year-old race, the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, at its new home, Hanshin. Prior to 2014 the race was held at Nakayama racecourse.

Idol Horse Reads Of The Week

Shane Dye’s latest must-read gives us his insights into Romantic Warrior’s ‘workaholic’ trainer Danny Shum, a man he knows well from his time riding as stable jockey to the former assistant to the legendary trainers John Moore and Ivan Allan.

Shane Dye

Danny Shum And The Life’s Work Behind Romantic Warrior

Ka Ying Rising is a sprinter of exceptional talent whose record puts him right up there with Hong Kong’s two great sprint champions of the past, Silent Witness and Sacred Kingdom. David Morgan spoke to their trainers and a couple of their jockeys to get their views on all three of the greats before last weekend’s Hong Kong Sprint.

David Morgan

Hail Hong Kong’s Three Great Sprint Kings

Silent Witness’s trainer Tony Cruz is himself one of the all-time greats of the Hong Kong racing scene and as we roll off the back of another Hong Kong International Races, this Michael Cox feature from a year ago is well worth revisiting.

Michael Cox

'Just Win': Tony Cruz Still Wants More After 50 Years In Front

Racing Photo Of The Week

Date
14 December, 2025

Photographer
@eclipse__first

Location
Nakayama Racecourse

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Global Blackbook

T O Elvis is one to keep a close watch on in the coming months as a dirt track sprinter that could make his presence felt in the lucrative Middle-East features in the early part of the year, and maybe even the Breeders’ Cup at the back-end.

The exciting three-year-old is likely to have his next run in the G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint after showing he’s ready for the step up to international competition with an impressive win in the G3 Capella Stakes over 1200m at Nakayama last weekend. That was his fourth win on the bounce and first in Pattern grade, but this latest win suggested the top level is within his scope.

T O Elvis was not quickly away, but travelled strongly, and the burst of acceleration he delivered in the home straight carried him sharply away from the field to a five-length score from Yamanin Cerchi, who had won three Group races on the bounce at NAR tracks.

The Daisuke Takayanagi-trained colt had been third in the Cattleya Stakes over a mile as a juvenile behind Natural Rise – winner of the first two legs of Japan’s Dirt Triple Crown this year – but has progressed with each start since dropping to sprint distances.

World Horse Racing Calendar: What’s Coming Up

Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes
Hanshin, December 21

Admire Quads, Realize Sirius and Ecoro Alba are unbeaten Group race winners going into Sunday’s race. Admire Quads narrowly held the reopposing Cavallerizzo in the G2 Daily Hai Nisai Stakes last time in two-year-old track record time. Realize Sirius was an impressive  four-length winner of the G3 Niigata Nisai Stakes in August. Ecoro Alba claimed the G3 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup at Tokyo in early October. Meanwhile, the race that often decides Japan’s champion two-year-old is also set to feature the G2 Keio Hai Nisai Stakes winner Diamond Knot who would be a first Group 1 winner as a trainer for former star jockey Yuichi Fukunaga. 

Hopeful Stakes
Nakayama, December 27

The Hopeful Stakes over 2000 metres for two-year-olds has been won by some future champions since it was given its current name and conditions in 2014: these include the Triple Crown hero Contrail, fellow Derby winners Rey De Oro and Croix Du Nord, Satsuki Sho winner Saturnalia, and current star filly Regaleira. This year’s contest could feature Mitsumasa Nakauchida’s exciting Saturnalia colt Anduril, winner of the Listed Ivy stakes over 1800m at Tokyo last time. 

Arima Kinen (The Grand Prix)
Nakayama, December 28

Regaleira will attempt to become the seventh two-time winner of the fan voted G1 Arima Kinen and the first filly or mare to achieve the feat. The four-year-old has hit rich form this autumn, winning the G2 All-Comers and G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup. She is expected to face last year’s third and subsequent G1 Dubai Sheema Classic winner Danon Decile, as well this year’s G1 Satsuki Sho hero Museum Mile, the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe fifth Byzantine Dream, and the reliable Justin Palace who will attempt to end his racing career with a first win since the 2023 G1 Tenno Sho Spring. 

Tokyo Daishoten
Oi, December 29

The Tokyo Daishoten is the National Association of Racing’s (NAR) great end of year feature and brings together some of the top dirt track runners from the JRA and NAR to compete at Oi racecourse. Forever Young won this race last year before going on to triumph in the G1 Saudi Cup and the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic. Past heroes also include the incredible four-time Tokyo Daishoten winner Omega Perfume, and Ushba Tesoro, who also won the G1 Dubai World Cup. ∎

David Morgan

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Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Misery For Japan, But The Fans Keep It Real

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Japan’s Wait Goes On After Another Heartbreaking Arc