World Racing Weekly: Native Approach, Kazeno Runner & Always A Runner

Born Again Sprinter: Native Approach Takes Up The Ka Ying Rising Challenge

If anyone says this year’s Champions Day at Sha Tin could be the best line-up there’s ever been at the April fixture, don’t dismiss it as the usual overblown marketing hype, this one’s for real.

The seemingly unconquerable Ka Ying Rising, the relentless champion Romantic Warrior, the Tenno Sho Autumn winner Masquerade Ball, an Arima Kinen hero, no less, in Museum Mile, plus Japan’s top miler Jantar Mantar and champion sprinter Satono Reve are all names that add a massive dose of class and with it, excitement.

And there’s more. Whereas many would look at Ka Ying Rising on his home 1200m patch – 18 wins at the course and distance – and duck the very thought of challenging Hong Kong’s incredible champion, the sporting connections of the recent G1 Al Quoz Sprint winner Native Approach are happy to take him on.

“Look, it’s a challenge,” trainer Ahmad bin Harmash told Idol Horse. “But if you have a good horse, like Native Approach has proved himself to be … I know my horse: since we dropped his distance, in two races, he has won, in Super Saturday and in the Dubai World Cup day, so now I would like to see what the level of our horse is.”

The five-year-old Native Approach – ex-Godolphin and now in the colours of Hamdan Harmash – was a decent competitor at seven furlongs and a mile, a strong-pulling, high-end handicapper/Listed horse that had been found out in a couple of attempts in Group 2 and 3.

But in late February of this year, a change occurred. He was dropped to 1200m, found the speedier test to his liking, and a top-class sprinter emerged, winning the G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint at 50-1 and the Al Quoz at 28-1.

“He’s got a lot of class,” said jockey Connor Beasley, who will be heading to Hong Kong for the first time. “But he doesn’t help himself in the morning, he’s very enthusiastic and I galloped him one morning, early part of the season, and I said to the boss, ‘You know, he feels like he’s got plenty of speed.’

“But we were just going down the same program that he was already on and he just wouldn’t give himself a chance, he was too keen the first half of the race at a mile and at seven, so then he wasn’t seeing out the business end. So it was a good move to drop him back to sprint distances. His last two runs, he’s had some proper hardened sprinters there, quality sprinters, leading him away or trying to lead him away, and they haven’t had the legs to do so.”

Bin Harmash believes racing at Sha Tin might suit Native Approach, given his need for speed to enable him to settle.

“I think in Hong Kong there will be a lot of speed,” the trainer said. “This is also why we took the decision, because there’s a lot of pace there.

“In the Al Quoz Sprint there was no speed, it wasn’t helping the horse much. Nobody was going in front so he got in front, he made the pace and then when the horse came beside him, then he took the bridle again and kept going. This is why we think Hong Kong could suit very well, he needs speed on to settle, he has a good turn-of-foot.”

Ka Ying Rising has a turn-of-foot too, though, a high cruising speed as well, and home track advantage. But the Native Approach team wants to see where they stand before the gelding heads back to Dubai for a summer rest.

“He’s against the best sprinter in the world, really,” Beasley said. “But at the same time, to be running up against him, the boss obviously feels we’re going there with some sort of chance, or they wouldn’t be making the trip.

“We’ve got to roll the dice, so we’re going over there confident, because you have to be. We’re all looking forward to it and hopefully we do ourselves justice.”

Bin Harmash and Beasley will also team up with Andreas Vesalius – a deep closer who also wants speed on – in the G1 QEII Cup after the seven-year-old’s third behind Ombudsman in the G1 Dubai Turf.

“We took the horse from rating 82 to Group One, it’s fantastic,” Bin Harmash said. “Don’t forget, this is the first time we increase his distance to 2000 metres and the jockey thinks more distance could suit. He likes to travel between horses, he has a turn-of-foot.”

Big Time Beckons Kazeno Runner After Kawasaki Kinen Win

Atsuya Nishimura had a train to catch on Wednesday night, the last one home to Ritto. Maybe that’s why he jumped and led from the gate in the Jpn1 Kawasaki Kinen, the National Association of Racing’s (NAR) first elite feature of the year.

It worked, anyway. Nishimura made all on the Mikio Matsunaga-trained Kazeno Runner: in a measured display of pacing, unchallenged until pressed by Dura Erede on the home turn, horse and jockey kept it all together down the home straight to win by a couple of lengths.

Kazeno Runner has now won seven of 13 starts and this win – his first start in the grade – made it three on the bounce, following on from his win in the Jpn3 Saga Kinen.
“At the backstretch before the final turn, I had big trust in the horse’s ability, and I believed he would make it all. I think he will definitely, definitely become stronger in the future,” Nishimura said.

Matsunaga won the Nakayama Kinen twice in his days as a jockey but the trainer – best known for his handling of the top-class mare Lucky Lilac – is looking forward to plotting assaults on Japan’s big dirt track contests – and possibly beyond – with Kazeno Runner.

“That was a dominant performance,” Matsunaga said. “His opponents in this race were a completely different level compared to any of his previous races, so I wasn’t so confident in how well he could do.

“I can’t yet talk about his next race,” he continued. “But I believe he will have a big year ahead and I would like to take him to all of those big races. To be honest, if you look at his training videos, he never gives you the feeling that he is great or he can run, but whenever you take him to the actual race, he will show up. All a sudden he is a G1-level horse now, and I’m really excited about his future.”

Dura Erede raced second throughout and finished second, and the same can be said for Outrange in third – the same position he filled last time in the G1 Tokyo Daishoten – and Diktaean who raced in fifth and finished in that berth. Diktaean – the Tokyo Daishoten and Korea Cup winner last year – was rerouted here after his planned Dubai World Cup trip was aborted, but never looked at ease and was well beaten.

Dura Erede won the G1 Hopeful Stakes as a juvenile and has not won since, but was having his first start since joining the NAR and the Oi stable of Terunobu Fujita.

This Week In Horse Racing History

On April 7, 1979, North American champion jockey Steve Cauthen won his first race in England, aboard Marquee Universal at Salisbury. The previous year, Cauthen had become the youngest jockey to win the US Triple Crown when successful with Affirmed and he would go on to be champion jockey in Britain three times in the 1980s, winning the Derby at Epsom twice, after making a full-time move across the Atlantic. 

The legendary Citation was foaled on April 11, 1945 at Calumet Farm, and exactly three years and one day later he suffered a shock defeat. Citation had won seven in a row when on April 12, 1948 he lost to Saggy in the Chesapeake Trial Stakes, but then went on a 16-race unbeaten streak which included that year’s Triple Crown.

Reads of the Week

Adam Pengilly was trackside and behind the scenes at Royal Randwick last weekend for the Doncaster Mile and produced this engaging read about the bargain filly Sheza Alibi and her owner Fred Noffke, a Queensland cattle man from the remote area outside of the town of Goovigen, population 349.

Adam Pengilly

Sheza Alibi: The $10,000 Gamble Behind The Rocket From Rockhampton

Shane Dye makes an incisive argument in this week’s Idol Thoughts column as to why ‘a good filly will always beat a good colt in this era’ as he looks at the reasons Australia’s superstar horses always seem to be fillies and mares these days, and suggests change is long overdue.

Shane Dye

Sheza Alibi, Autumn Glow, Winx: Why Is Every Modern Australian Superstar A Filly Or Mare?

Joao Moreira is back in Hong Kong for a late-season stint through to mid-July, so here’s a look back to last year and David Morgan’s account of the sliding doors moment back in 2013 that could have altered the Brazilian legend’s career path and taken him far away from Hong Kong before he ever got there.

David Morgan

“I Often Wonder”: Joao Moreira’s ‘Sliding Doors’ Moment That Took Him To Hong Kong Instead Of America

It’s the G1 Oka Sho this weekend, the first classic of Japan’s year and Kohei Matsuyama will ride the leading chance Star Anise. In this article from late last year, Michael Cox and Shuhei Uwabo look at the jockey’s philosophy towards riding horses and the understated yet notable successes this attitude is bringing.

Shuhei Uwabo, Michael Cox

For Kohei Matsuyama, It’s All About The Horse

Racing Photo Of The Week

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8 April, 2026

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Happy Valley

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The Brazilian ace would go on to ride four winners on return, with each of those provided by trainer Caspar Fownes who has brought him in as his stable jockey in a bid to enhance his own push for the champion trainer title.

Moreira was champion jockey in Hong Kong four times from the time he arrived in the city in 2013 and his departure in late 2022 under a cloud that included the pain of a degenerative hip condition. He has since undergone treatments to manage his injury and has flown in several times to ride on Hong Kong’s big race days, but this is his first time locating himself in the city since his dramatic departure.

Global Blackbook

This week’s Blackbooker caught the eye at Aqueduct last Saturday. Always A Runner headed into that day’s G3 Gazelle Stakes over nine furlongs with just one race under her belt, a maiden success at Tampa Bay back in early February. This time the Chad Brown-trained three-year-old was in against more experienced fillies with black type form already alongside their names.

Always A Runner settled two-back on the rail, fifth in the eight runner dirt track contest, almost four lengths off the front-running Pashmina. But when an opening came as the field took the turn, Dylan Davis asked Always A Runner to advance and she did so fairly easily, shifting outside the leader to deliver a challenge. 

The Gun Runner filly showed her lack of race experience, though, when Davis urged her to pass Pashmina, a filly who placed third behind the G1 Debutante Stakes winner Bottle Of Rouge in the Sunland Oaks the time before. Always A Runner, ears cocked and unbalanced, began to close once on an even keel in the home straight yet looked defeated when Pashmina dug into her reserves. 

But when Always A Runner changed her legs a furlong out, she grabbed the ground and passed the tiring leader, only to change her lead again close to home. That all-round greenness and lack of racing know-how suggests there’s yet more to come from the winner, a US$1.05 million yearling purchase out of Keeneland September. 

World Horse Racing Calendar: What’s Coming Up

Queen Elizabeth Stakes Day
Randwick, Australia, April 11

Autumn Glow is Australia’s latest wonder mare, and fresh from an impressive, eased down win in the G1 George Ryder Stakes, she will attempt to take her winning streak to 12 when she lines up in the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes over 2000m. Only seven rivals will take her on, including her stablemates Aeliana, Lindermann and Wooton Verni. British raider Dubai Honour won this in 2023 and was second last year, and he’s there with his stablemate Caviar Heights, while Light Infantry Man and Sir Delius complete the line-up. The day also includes the G1 Sydney Cup, G1 Australian Oaks and the G1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes featuring Pride Of Jenni and Treasurethe Moment. Meanwhile, recent Global Blackbooker Satono Glow is engaged in the G2 Percy Sykes Stakes.  

All Aged Stakes Day
Randwick, Australia, April 18

Yulong’s 2024 All Aged Stakes heroine Magic Time could make her career farewell in this year’s race as Sydney’s Autumn Carnival continues with the 1400m G1 contest. She could face last year’s winner Jimmysstar, as well as the 2023 winner Giga Kick, both of which finished behind the victorious Joliestar in last weekend’s G1 T J Smith Stakes, as did the G1 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes winner Tentyris who also holds an entry.

Champions Day 
Sha Tin, Hong Kong, April 25

This year’s Champions Day promises to be the best there has been with Hong Kong’s best set to be taken on by some strong international raiders. Ka Ying Rising will go for a 20th straight win in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize, while the G1 Champions Mile will feature last year’s winner Voyage Bubble and the top-class Japanese miler Jantar Mantar. The G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup is especially strong with local champion Romantic Warrior chasing a fourth win in the race, up against the likes of last year’s G1 Japan Cup second and G1 Tenno Sho Autumn winner Masquerade Ball.  

South Australian Derby Day
Morphettville, Australia, May 2

The South Australian Derby is a 2500m contest with a long history going back to 1860. Having said that, it is one of Australia’s lesser Group 1 contests, albeit a big occasion in South Australia. Among recent winners, Russian Camelot progressed from his 2020 win to take the following season’s G1 Underwood Stakes at Caulfield, while the 2009 winner Rebel Raider had already won the G1 Victoria Derby and went on to win the G1 Spring Stakes. 

2,000 Guineas Day
Newmarket, England, May 2

The 2,000 Guineas is the first of the English classics and is run on the straight Rowley Mile at Newmarket. It has been won by many of the sport’s great horses, notably two of the absolute best, Brigadier Gerard and Frankel. This year’s race could feature antepost favourite Bow Echo, winner of the G2 Royal Lodge Stakes last year, as well as Juddmonte’s colt Publish, and the G1 Dewhurst Stakes first and second Gewan and Gstaad. ∎

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