Japanese Derby: key runners for a race live on Racing TV

Set your alarms on Sunday because Racing TV will be screening the Yushun (Japanese Derby). The big race is off at 7.40am with our build-up, hosted by Nick Luck, starting at 7.15am.

The 91st running of this great mile and a half contest will feature 18 runners and hopes are high that Justin Milano will follow up his success in the Japanese 2000 Guineas and stay on course to be the ninth horse to win the Triple Crown. 

He has a British link, too, as his dam, Margot Did, landed the 2011 Nunthorpe under Hayley Turner. Here are three key runners to look out for. 

Veteran trainer Sakae Kunieda is seeking a belated first Japanse Derby triumph but he already has one Japanese Classic in the bag this year – his Stellenbosch landed the 1000 Guineas in April – and the man who guided the career of the outstanding Almond Eye could have another superstar on his hands in Sixpence.

The colt is is unbeaten in three starts and is a son of Kizuna, the 2013 Derby winner, who is the sire of five of Sunday's field. 

Sixpence looked something out of the ordinary when breezing to an emphatic success in the Spring Stakes under Christophe Lemaire over 9 furlongs at Nakayama on his latest start on March 17, when most of us were still glued to events at the Cheltenham Festival.

He won by 3½ lengths with plenty left in the tank and several of the also-rans were subsequently not disgraced in the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas).

Like virtually all of the field, he’s unproven over the Derby distance but the way he settles offers optimism on that score. If he does get the trip then his potent turn of foot may prove decisive. 

Yuga Kawada, the leading rider in Japan this season and successful on Makahiki in 2016, has come in for the ride.  He had 35 rides in Britain in 2018 and 2019, chalking up four wins. 

Like Sixpence, he’s won each of his three starts and is a son of Japanese champion Kizuna – with his dam being 2011 Nunthorpe winner Margot Did.

Emotions ran high when he won the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas run over 10 furlongs) under Keita Tosaki as he had previously been ridden by the late Kota Fujioka. The 35-year-old  died from injuries sustained in a fall at Hanshin on April 6.

Justin Milano won the Guineas in a record time and many expect him to be suited by the longer trip, even though his dam was all about speed.

There were certainly no hiding place in the Guineas - the trail-blazing front-runner clocked 57.5sec for the first five furlongs – and he stayed on stoutly to repel Cosmo Kurando by a neck after pegging back Jantar Mantar, who had looked sure to win when sweeping clear two furlongs from home. Jantar Mantar has since dropped back to a mile and won the Grade One NHK Mile Cup at . 

Keita Tosaki will be aboard Justino Milano. He has twice ridden the Japanese Derby runner-up but never won the race in nine previous attempts.  He had five rides at the Shergar Cup at Ascot in 2017 but failed to make an impact. 

If you like the prospects of Justin Milano, then you’ve got to also have at least half an eye on Cosmo Kurando, who was just a neck behind him in the Japanese 2000 Guineas.

Furthermore, he came from further back than the winner after his jockey navigated a wide route around the final bend.

The bay colt, trained by Shizuya Kato,  will this time be reunited with Mirco Demuro, who had previously guided him to a shock success in the Grade Two Hochi Hai Yayoi Sho Deep Impact Kinen at Nakayama.

He was strong at the finish that day and won with a bit to spare from Shin Emperor, who had previously chased home the exciting filly Regaleira (who also runs on Sunday) and went on to finish a close fifth in the Guineas. Demuro had 20 winners from 144 rides in Britain in 2012 but has not ridden on these shores since.