Connections of Deep Brillante aren't concerned about the prospect of testing ground in Saturday's King George at Ascot.
Japanese raider set to take on titanic test
Connections of Deep Brillante aren't concerned about the prospect of testing ground in Saturday's King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Sponsored By Betfair) at Ascot.
The three-year-old Deep Impact colt is the only representative of the 'Classic generation' in the field though Saturday will be the first time he has raced in Europe.
However, while there's little way of knowing if he is up to the task from a form point of view until he lines up against the likes of Sea Moon, St Nicholas Abbey and Nathaniel, potential soft ground shouldn't be an issue.
Keita Tanaka, Racing Manager to the owners of Deep Brillante, told
At The Races: "He won the Grand Prix last year on very heavy ground at Tokyo racectrack in Japan and he won the Japanese Derby on very fast ground, so conditions don't matter to him.
"We are very much looking forward to Saturday. The horse is nice and fit .The three year olds this year are competitive and it will be interesting to see how he goes against the very best horses in this country.
Excited
"Last year his trainer Yoshito Yahagi brought Grand Prix Boss over for the St James's Palace Stakes against Frankel and he's very excited about having another chance to have a horse run at Ascot."
Deep Brillante is a 16-1 chance for the
King George with Sky Bet.
The colt, who is based in Newmarket at the stables of Clive Brittain, set down earlier this month after a 28-hour journey from Japan and, according to assistant trainer Yasuhiro Shibuta, "Everything went smoothly. There was no hitch at Amsterdam airport when we reloaded. We took a charter plane from Amsterdam and I think that really helped everything go smoothly."
A day after arriving, Shibuta reported on
www.japanracing.jp that the colt was "as lively as he normally is at Ritto" adding that "he didn't spook at anything and walked well. He's in good health. I don't see any fatigue from the journey."
In The Money
Deep Brillante has had only six races in his career and has finished in the money in all of them.
After a successful debut, he impressively landed a Grade Three contest but was only placed on his next three starts, including when third in the 2000 Guineas (Satsuki Sho) which is run over ten furlongs.
That was his first run in a Grade One contest and Yoshito Yahagi's charge was kept to that level for his next start in the Japanese Derby (Tokyo Yushun) for his first run over a mile and a half.
Deep Brillante relished tackling the extra distance, winning the prestigious prize by a nose and has since been prepared with a European campaign in mind.
He will be ridden by regular pilot Yasunari Iwata in a race in which Japan has only previously had a representative on four occasions with the Christophe Lemaire-ridden Heart's Cry achieving their best finishing position when third in 1996, beaten just a length by Hurricane Run.
