Can Japanese raider win the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes?
Horses from Ireland and France have made the journey to Royal Ascot to contest the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (1200m) but Satono Reve has travelled over 13,000km from Japan.
No horse has made the journey and won but no Japanese contender has been as good as Satono Reve.
The six-year-old is a Group 1 winner in Japan but better known for finishing second to Ka Ying Rising in the HK$22 million G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) at Sha Tin in April. That is a strong recommendation because Ka Ying Rising is the best sprinter in the world.
Satono Reve arrived in Newmarket on 2 May to give him plenty of time to prepare and has been stabled at James Horton’s yard. He is the 4.50 equal favourite with betting sites, with Inisherin on the same line of betting.
“After arriving from Hong Kong, Satono Reve had some time to recover before steadily building up his training. He had his final gallop on 11 June, a five-furlong (1000m) piece of work on the July Course at Newmarket, ridden by Ryan Moore,” Trainer Noriyuki Hori said.
“Although it’s a different environment from what he’s used to, he’s been coming along well thanks to the warm support of James Horton, his team and everyone involved.”
Satono Reve will be ridden by the ‘Magic Man’, Joao Moreira, one of the top jockeys in the world. He was in the saddle when Satono Reve won March’s Group 1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen (1200m) at Chukyo in Japan.
“He’s such a good horse,” Moreira said. “I’m excited about riding him at Ascot. He just needs to bring that type of form here to be competitive.”
The French-trained Lazzat leads the opposition. Trainer Jerome Reynier is confident of a good performance.
“He has such a high cruising speed. His last run was his first over as short as 1200 (metres), but he can take a good grip but stay on well. I think he is the perfect match for the race,” he said.
Last year, Inisherin was the easy winner of a Group 1 sprint at Royal Ascot on fast ground. He was subsequently rather disappointing but returned to win a Group 2 race last month. Afterwards trainer Kevin Ryan said: “That’s a relief. I was nervous but it went well. He’ll improve for that run. I’m delighted because he’s such a loveable, sensible horse.”
Trainer Aidan O’Brien and jockey Ryan Moore are a formidable team and their representative, Storm Boy, has to be respected. The only three-year-old in the race, Storm Boy moved from Australia to Ireland this year and is priced at 11.00 to win the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. Last year he won sprints up to Group 2 level but finished last when favourite on his stable debut last month in Ireland.
He will surely do better as O’Brien would not run him if he was not confident of a better performance. The race in which Storm Boy was last was won by James’s Delight, a live outsider at Ascot.
