Yayoi Sho: Reasons for the Popularity of Top Horses and Horses to Watch

Introduction

Last week's Nakayama Kinen was won by Hishi Iguaçu, with a win odds of 9.2. This week, the Yayoi Sho, a prelude to the 3-year-old colt classic race, will be held. The top three finishers of this race are given priority to participate in the Satsuki Sho. However, looking at the 3 consecutive winning dividends of the past 18 years, there were 7 races with dividends of less than 10,000 yen. Therefore, in this article, we will consider why the Yayoi Sho is a solid race and the horses to watch.

Low dividends continue in the Yayoi Sho

Looking back at the 3 consecutive winning dividends of the past 18 years, there were 7 years with dividends of less than 10,000 yen. Furthermore, there were two ultra-low dividends of less than 1,000 yen. On the other hand, there were only 4 finishes with a 3 consecutive winning dividend of over 100,000 yen. In other words, it can be said that it is basically a solid race.
However, when looking at the results by the order of the win odds, even unpopular horses have been successful. Limited to the past 3 years, the rate of horses within the top 4 win odds finishing in the top three was 66.7%, while horses with win odds of 5 or lower had a rate of only 5.0%. Considering that many horses that have performed well in the Yayoi Sho have been popular horses, it may be better to focus on the popular horses.

Horses to Watch: Top Knife

Among the horses to watch in the Yayoi Sho, Top Knife stands out. In the previous race, he fought well to finish second behind Duramente, who won the Hopeful Stakes, and he won the Open Special Hagi Stakes three races ago. He is currently expected to be the top pick in the win odds.
Top Knife can be considered a top horse in the Yayoi Sho, where many horses who have performed well in debut or in non-win races. Of the horses that finished in the top three in the past 7 Yayoi Shos, 19 horses had a history of placing in a JRA class one win or higher race. It is difficult to emphasize horses that have only performed well in debut or non-win races, but Top Knife can be evaluated highly as he has solid performance.

Conclusion

The Yayoi Sho is a solid race where the 3 consecutive winning dividends often become low. Looking at the results of the past 3 years, popular horses tend to dominate the top rankings. The horses to watch, Top Knife, has a top performance record, including a second place finish in the previous Hopeful Stakes. While horses that have only performed well in debut or non-win races require caution, Top Knife can be considered a top pick as he has a solid performance record.