Al Ain (horse)
Al Ain, is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. After winning two minor races in the autumn of 2016 he made significant improvement in the following spring to take the Mainichi Hai and the Satsuki Sho. Later that year he finished fifth in the Tokyo Yushun and second in the St Lite Kinen. As a four-year-old in 2018 he failed to win in six starts but ran well in several major races, finishing third in the Osaka Hai and the Mile Championship and fourth in the autumn edition of the Tenno Sho. In 2019 he recorded his first victory in almost two years when he won the Osaka Hai.
Background
Al Ain is a bay colt with a white star and two white socks bred in Japan by Northern Farm. The horse entered the ownership of Sunday Racing and was sent into training with Yasutoshi Ikee. He was named after a city in Abu Dhabi.He was from the seventh crop of foals sired by Deep Impact, who was the Japanese Horse of the Year in 2005 and 2006, winning races including the Tokyo Yushun, Tenno Sho, Arima Kinen and Japan Cup. Deep Impact's other progeny include Gentildonna, Harp Star, Kizuna, A Shin Hikari, Marialite and Saxon Warrior. Al Ain's dam Dubai Majesty was a top class performer on dirt in the United States, recording her biggest win when taking the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint as a five-year-old in 2010. Two days after her Breeders' Cup win the mare was put up for auction at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November select breeding stock sale and bought for $1,100,000 by Northern Farm's Katsumi Yoshida. She was a descendant of the Virginia-bred mare Knight's Gal who was the female-line ancestor of many good winners including Palace Malice and Mutafaweq.
Racing career
2016: two-year-old season
Al Ain began his racing career with a win in an event for previously unraced juveniles over 1600 metres at Kyoto Racecourse on 29 October. On 13 December at Hanshin Racecourse he followed up by taking the Senryo Sho over the same distance, beating Kyohei and thirteen others.2017: three-year-old season
On his three-year-old debut, sixteen days after his final run of 2016, Al Ain was moved up in class to contest the Grade 3 Shinzan Kinen at Kyoto on 8 January and sustained his first defeat as he came home sixth of the fifteen runners behind Kyohei, Taisei Starry, Persian Knight, Trust and My Style. After a break of two and a half months the colt returned for the Grade 3 Mainichi Hai over 1800 metres at Hanshin in which he was ridden by Kohei Matsuyama and started the 6.7/1 second favourite behind Satono Arthur in an eight-runner field. After racing in second place he took the lead in the straight and won by half a length from Satono Arthur with Kiseki half a length back in third.On 26 April, with Matsuyama again in saddle, started a 21.4/1 outsider in an eighteen-runner field for the 77th running of the Satsuki Sho over 2000 metres at Nakayama Racecourse. The filly Fan Dii Naa started favourite while the other contenders included Suave Richard, Cadenas, Persian Knight, Rey de Oro, Win Bright and Satono Ares. After tracking the leaders in the early stages Al Ain turned into the straight in fifth place behind Clincher and began to thread his way to the front. Fan Dii Na took the lead, before giving way to Persian Knight but Al Ain maintained his run, gained the advantage in the final strides and won by a neck. Matsuyama, who was winning his first Grade 1 race said "I can't believe we won! He ran a strong race last time so I was quite confident today. He wasn't responding well in the last two corners but stretched really well in the straight. He's easy to ride so I think he'll have no problem with the extra distance in the Derby."
Six weeks after his win at Nakayama Al Ain was stepped up in distance and started the 5.3/1 fourth choice in the betting for the 2400 metre Tokyo Yushun. After being slightly hampered early in the straight he stayed on well on the outside without ever looking likely to win and came home fifth behind Rey de Oro, Suave Richard, Admirable and My Style, beaten just over two lengths by the winner.
Christophe Lemaire took the ride when Al Ain returned from his summer break to contest the Grade 2 St Lite Kinen over 2200 metres at Nakayama on 18 September. He started odds-on favourite but after taking the lead in the straight he was overtaken and beaten into second place by Mikki Swallow. The Kikuka Sho over 3000 metres at Kyoto on 22 October was run in heavy rain on soft ground. Starting the 3.9/1 second choice Al Ain moved to the outside to deliver his challenge in the straight but could make no headway and came home seventh of the eighteen runners behind Kiseki.
In the 2017 World's Best Racehorse Rankings, Al Ain was given a rating of 118, making him 90th best horse in the world, the eighth best horse in Japan, and the seventeenth best three-year-old colt.
2018: four-year-old season
Al Ain began his third campaign in the Grade 2 Kyoto Kinen on 11 February when he finished second to Clincher with Rey de Oro in third place. In the Grade 1 Osaka Hai at Hanshin on 1 April he was ridden by Yuga Kawada and started second favourite at odds of 2.6/1. After tracking the leaders he took second place behind Suave Richard in the straight but lost the runner-up spot to Persian Knight in the final strides. Four weeks later the colt was sent to Hong Kong for the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse and finished fifth of the eight runners behind Pakistan Star.Al Ain returned from the summer break on 23 September at Nakayama when he finished second by a neck to Rey de Oro in the Sankei Sho All Comers. In the autumn edition of the Tenno Sho at Tokyo on 28 October he raced in second place for most of the way but was unable to quicken in the closing stages and camehome fourth behind Rey de Oro, Sungrazer and Kiseki. In November the colt was dropped back in distance to contest the Mile Championship over 1600 metres at Kyoto. Ridden by Kawada, he tracked the leader Aerolithe before taking the lead in the straight but was overtaken in the last 100 metres and finished third behind Stelvio and Persian Knight.
In the 2018 World's Best Racehorse Rankings, Al Ain was again given a rating of 118, making him 78th best horse in the world.
2019: five-year-old season
On 10 March 2019 Al Ain made his first appearance as a five-year-old in the Grade 2 Kinko Sho over 2000 metres at Chukyo Racecourse and came home fifth of the thirteen runners behind Danon Premium, Lys Gracieux, Air Windsor and Persian Knight. Ikee felt that the horse was unsuited by the "shifty" ground but admitted "He does have a difficult side and, mentally, things won't change". On 31 March at Hanshin Al Ain was ridden by Yuichi Kitamura when he started at odds of 21.2/1 in his second attempt to win the Osaka Hai. Blast Onepiece started favourite in a fourteen-runner field which also included Kiseki, Persian Knight, Wagnerian, Air Windsor, Stelvio, Sungrazer, Epoca d'Oro and Makahiki. Kitamura settled the horse on the inside behind the leaders as Epoca d'Oro set a steady pace from Kiseki. As the field entered the straight Al Ain made a forward move to take the lead 200 metres from the finish and kept on well to win by a neck from Kiseki with Wagnerian another neck away in third. After the race Kitamura commented "We had a good draw and everything worked to our advantage. He was able to focus using the blinkers and he responded well so I just concentrated on keeping him comfortable".Al Ain's next appearance saw him made the 7.4/1 fifth choice in the betting for the Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin on 23 June. He ran in third place for most of the way in a strongly-run race but was unable to make any significant progress in the straight and finished fourth behind Lys Gracieux, Kiseki and Suave Richard. He returned for an autumn campaign but made no impact in three races. He finished fourteenth behind Almond Eye in the Temmo Sho, sixteenth to Indy Champ in the Mile Championship and eleventh behind Lys Gracieux in the Arima Kinen.