Darlington Hall, Wild Card eye Grade wins in Japan

Darlington Hall will be taking part in the Grade 1 Satsuki Sho, the Japanese 2000 Guineas. - Supplied photo

Godolphin's runners will be aiming for more silverware in the Far East when they line up at the post at racetracks in Japan on Sunday.
Darlington Hall will be making a step up in grade when the three-year-old colt takes part in the Grade 1 Satsuki Sho, the Japanese 2000 Guineas at the Nakayama Racecourse.
Elsewhere, at the Hanshin Racecourse, Wild Card is among a full field of 16 runners for the Grade 3 Antares Stakes.
Darlington Hall, the son of New Approach, has so far had two wins from four starts but this will be his biggest test yet when the Tetsuya Kimura-saddled bay colt races against some of the best three-year-olds in Japan.
Darlington Hall had staked his claim for the 2000 Guineas following his Grade 3 victory in the Kyodo News Hai over nine furlongs in February.
His other win came on debut when he won the Newcomer Race Maiden for two-year-olds last year.
Those two triumphs have bookended third-place finishes in the Grade 3 Sapporo Nisai Stakes last August and the Habotan Sho Allowance race last November, only going to show that he holds a lot of promise.
Darlington Hall will have a task on his hands as he races against Group 1 winners Contrail and Salios. But Harry Sweeney, President of Godolphin in Japan, felt that it is still all to play for on Sunday.
"There are six horses in this race with a higher rating than Darlington Hall. But ratings are of course a very imprecise science and there will be much to play for on Sunday," said Sweeney.
"Darlington Hall is approaching the race in very good form. He had a very minor hold up about two weeks ago but is well over that now and has worked very pleasingly during the week. Mirco Demuro, who has relocated from Ritto Training Centre to the JRA facility in Miho, will be riding him for the first time and will be keen to impress," he added.
Meanwhile, Wild Card will be looking to make amends after a disappointing run on debut Grade appearance last time out.
The six-year-old from Street Sense had finished 16th in the Grade 3 Handicap March Stakes last month.
Trained by Kimura, Wild Card will be the mount of apprentice jockey Mirai Iwata, who is a late replacement for regular jockey Hiroshi Kitamura, who has been ruled out after suffering an injury while riding at the training centre.
"His most recent work was acceptable but not spectacular and his bad run last time is certainly in the back of our minds. Nevertheless, on the balance of his career to date, we are hopeful that he can make amends," Sweeney said.

Decent outings for Godolphin's runners