Cesario Captures Japan’s Attention

The Hollywood Park press box will have a lot more occupants than it usually does today when the track offers the $750,000 American Oaks and four other graded stakes.

Many of those in attendance high above the grandstand will be representatives of Japanese newspapers and television ready to report on the fortunes of Cesario, the 5-2 second choice in the Oaks, a 1 1/4 -mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies that is being run for the fourth time.

Owned by Carrot Farm and trained by Katsuhiko Sumii, Cesario is a daughter of Special Week, who is a son of 1989 Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Sunday Silence. She arrived in the U.S. almost perfect.

She has won four of five, with her only loss coming by a head against Rhein Kraft in the $1,559,000 Japanese 1000 Guineas on April 10 at Hanshin. Most recently, Cesario won the $1,708,000 Japanese Oaks, prevailing by a neck over Air Messiah and 16 others as the 1-2 favorite. She has already earned $2,128,568, a tribute to the size of the purses in Japan. When she broke her maiden by 1 1/2 lengths on Christmas Day, the purse was $129,000. A maiden race for 2-year-old fillies Wednesday at Hollywood Park had a purse of $46,200.

The consensus among those who made the trip to California is that Cesario is superior to Dance In The Mood, the Japanese-bred filly who was second to Ticker Tape in last year’s American Oaks.

Some two dozen journalists and photographers are here to cover Cesario’s attempt to become the first Japanese-bred horse to win a Grade I in this country. The race will be televised live as part of a one-hour show on Monday morning in Japan.

Naohiro Goda, an executive producer for the Green Channel, a Japanese racing network, said the channel has approximately 340,000 subscribers. He couldn’t give an estimate on how many fans will be watching, but the audience may be lessened because the program will air when most people are headed to work or already are there.

“Dance In The Mood was a very good filly, but this filly is better and she’s a lot more relaxed,” said Junichi Hasegawa, a representative from the Japan Racing Assn. “Cesario has good speed, but she doesn’t have to have the lead. Her trainer wants her to be in the race early and outside of horses.”

Yutaka Take was aboard Dance In The Mood in 2004; Yuichi Fukunaga is the regular rider for Cesario. Ranked third in the Japanese standings, he has won four Group I races in his homeland this year.

Fukunaga got a taste of Hollywood Park on Thursday when he rode Cafe Katy to a fourth-place finish -- in a field of five -- in a $51,000 optional claimer for California-bred fillies and mares. That race was on the main track, so Fukunaga has no experience riding in a race on the local turf course.

With Fukunaga aboard, Cesario did have an easy half-mile breeze Thursday morning. She was timed in 52 seconds and finished well after going slow early. “She came here in good condition,” Toshi Kiyota, the spokesman for Sumii, told the Daily Racing Form. “We don’t need a fast time to show the horse what the game is here. We want her to be more relaxed.”

If the desire is to have Cesario outside horses, that shouldn’t be a problem. She is breaking from the outside in the field of 13 that is almost certain to be reduced before post time. Louvain, the second of trainer Bobby Frankel’s entrants, is scheduled to scratch in favor of a softer spot Monday, the $100,000 Flawlessly at one mile on the turf.

The firmness of the Hollywood Park turf course is also not a concern, according to Hasegawa. “This is very similar to Japan,” he said. “Melhor Ainda [the 2-1 favorite on Russ Hudak’s morning line] is the horse to beat. We’re not that familiar with the fillies coming from Europe.”

If Cesario does win, she would become the first Japanese bred to win a race in the U.S. since Hakuchikara, a 44-1 longshot, won the $60,400 Washington’s Birthday Handicap under jockey Ray York on Feb. 23, 1959, at Santa Anita. The beaten favorite in the race? Round Table, who finished last at 1-2, apparently unable to handle the soft turf while carrying 134 pounds, 23 more than Hakuchikara.