The dark bay colt won his debut start over 2,000 meters by three lengths at Kyoto on November 9 and has now become the first horse to claim the Hopeful Stakes coming off just one career start since the race was promoted to G1 status in 2017.
This victory gave trainer Haruki Sugiyama his seventh JRA-G1 title and first success since the 2024 Sprinters Stakes triumph with Lugal. Jockey Kohei Matsuyama registered his eighth JRAG1 victory following his win with Star Anise in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies just two weeks earlier.
The colt gave his sire World Premiere (JPN, by Deep Impact), the 2019 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) and 2021 Tenno Sho (Spring) winner who stands at stud since 2022, his first G1 victory.
Breaking from stall no. 4, Lovcen was unhurried, settling on the rails in mid-division while T O Al Ain set the pace and led the field into the lane. Buried on the rails, the son of World Premiere was shifted out sharply at the 200-meter pole for clear sailing and displayed an incredible closing kick to overtake the front in the final strides for a 3/4-length victory.
“I was hoping that he would break well, run in good rhythm and have plenty left in the tank, which I’m happy that he did. He had shown a remarkable turn of foot in training so I knew he would have the strength to catch the leaders. Since his first win was over yielding ground, the colt has proven his versatility today so we have a lot to look forward to in his future starts,” commented Kohei Matsuyama.
Fourth pick Forte Angelo travelled in fourth to fifth, in close pursuit of the race favorite up to the final corner. Finding himself behind a wall of horses in the straight, the Fierement colt switched lanes to the outside and dug in furiously but was overtaken by the winner while beating Ask Edinburgh before the wire to secure second.
Breaking sharply from a wide stall, ninth choice Ask Edinburgh traveled behind Forte Angelo in fifth to sixth, made a strong bid into the straight and took command 100 meters out but was first caught by the fastclosing winner and then the runner-up right at the finish line for a 1-1/4-length third.
Race favorite Anduril broke well and, gradually from the outside, improved position to sit in third from the front in the backstretch. The Saturnalia colt remained a factor in the straight but ran out of steam in the last 100 meters and gave way to the fast-closing runners to finish seventh.
THE 42ND HOPEFUL STAKES (G1)
2-year-olds, Colts & Fillies, 2,000 meters (about 10 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Saturday, December 27, 2025 Nakayama Racecourse 11th Race Post time: 15:45
Total prize money: ¥ 152,900,000 (about US$ 974,000 <US$1=¥157>)
2-y-o: 56kg (about 123-124 lbs), 1 kg allowance for Fillies, 3 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2023
Course Record: 1:58.2 Race Record: 2:00.2 [Regaleira (JPN, by Suave Richard), 2023]
Safety factor: 18 runners Going: Good to Firm Weather: Cloudy
FP BK PP Horse Jockey S&A Color Wgt Odds (Fav) Margin (L3F) Sire Dam (Dam’s Sire) Owner Breeder Trainer
1 2 4 Lovcen (JPN) Kohei Matsuyama C2 d.b. 56.0 19.8 (7) 2:01.0 (34.5) World Premiere Songwriting (Giant’s Causeway) Forest Racing
Northern Farm Haruki Sugiyama
2 6 11 Forte Angelo (JPN) Tom Marquand C2 b. 56.0 6.4 (4) 3/4 (34.9) Fierement Lady Angela (Dark Angel) Silk Racing Co., Ltd. Shunsuke Yoshida Yuki Uehara
3 8 15 Ask Edinburgh (JPN) Yasunari Iwata C2 br. 56.0 32.9 (9) 1/2 (34.9) Leontes Honey Trip (Manhattan Cafe) Toshihiro Hirosaki
Toshihiro Hirosaki Yuichi Fukunaga
Other Horses:
4th: (2) Aurum Ares—saved ground mid-division, good effort
5th: (6) Badrinath—along rails behind leaders in 3rd, held on well at stretch
6th: (16) Olufsen—trailed in last, passed tired rivals from outside bid
8th: (3) Justin Vista—well off pace near last, made ground with good speed from wide turn belatedly
9th: (7) T O Al Ain—made pace, tired from early effort going uphill
10th: (1) Noche Cerrada—2-wide in mid-pack, belated effort
11th: (8) Matenro Zero—further back than mid-field, outrun early
12th: (14) Gene King—pressed pace in 2nd, faded in last 100m
13th: (10) Winners Nine—near rear, never a factor
14th: (13) Shonan Gulf—failed to reach contention
15th: (5) Nowhere Man—further back from mid-field along backstretch, last entering stretch
16th: (9) Meisho Hachiko—mid-pack, came up empty when needed
Fractional time (sec./furlong): 12.3 – 10.9 – 12.3 – 13.0 – 12.8 – 12.3 – 12.2 – 11.7 – 11.7 – 11.8
Last 4 furlongs: 47.4 Last 3 furlongs: 35.2