Off Trail finishes strongly for G2 Hanshin Cup third

Off Trail produced another excellent performance over Kyoto’s seven-furlong course as he closed powerfully to take third in the G2 Hanshin Cup on Saturday, 21 December. 

The three-year-old colt had flashed home from last to go down by a neck to Danon McKinley in October’s G2 Swan Stakes and was once again held up in 16th of the 18 runners. 

Off Trail only had one rival behind him at the top of the straight but the Farhh homebred started to make rapid progress after being switched inside over a furlong and a half from home. 

Yuji Hishida made another move towards the inner rail entering the final furlong and the Keiji Yoshimura-trained runner continued to bear down on the leaders, edging out Serifos for third near the line. 

Namura Clair, who also had significant ground to make up at the top of the straight, charged home down the outside of field to beat Mad Cool by half a length, with three-quarters of a length back to Off Trail. 

Harry Sweeney, President of Godolphin in Japan, said: “Off Trail, despite being a longshot in the betting, finished in the frame, so we should be happy. However, we were assured before the race that Off Trail would be ridden more prominently, tactics we were enthusiastic about. However, that did not happen and some feel that we could have done better. Take san was scheduled to ride, but we were left scrambling for a jockey less than 24 hours before the start when Take san cried off due to illness. The debate will certainly continue.”