Croix du Nord Claims Osaka Hai Glory, Emulating Father Kitasan Black

From gate 15, the widest draw in a field of fifteen, Croix du Nord did what his father once made look inevitable. The 4-year-old colt trained by Takashi Saito swept past two established G1 champions at Hanshin Racecourse on Sunday to claim the $3.6 million Osaka Hai, replicating Kitasan Black's victory in the race's inaugural G1 running nine years earlier.

The task was anything but straightforward. Pace-setter Meisho Tabaru, who won last year's Takarazuka Kinen, burned through the opening 1,000 metres in 58.01 seconds and had opened a four-to-five length advantage at the halfway mark. Jockey Yuichi Kitamura settled Croix du Nord three-deep in midfield and began his move entering the final bend, grinding past the tenacious leader to prevail by three-quarters of a length. Danon Decile, the 2025 Dubai Sheema Classic winner and 2024 Japanese Derby champion, finished a further length back in third. The winning time of 1:57.6 over 2,000 metres of good-to-firm turf trailed the race record of 1:56.2 set by Bellagio Opera last year, but context sharpens the reading: hauling down a sub-58-second opening half-mile from the widest gate in the field represents a performance of unambiguous top-class quality.

"To be honest, I'm relieved that we were able to win and live up to the expectations as race favorite," Kitamura said. "The going was tough to handle and the incredible speed of the pacesetter, Meisho Tabaru, was also tough to beat but I gave my all to drive the colt to the wire in which he responded beautifully. I'm confident that this season will be all about Croix du Nord and that he will play the leading role in all of his starts."

It was Croix du Nord's third G1 title, one collected in each year of his career: the Hopeful Stakes at two, the Tokyo Yushun at three, and now the Osaka Hai at four. His record stands at six wins from nine starts, with career earnings reaching ¥967,711,102, barely ¥32 million short of the ¥1 billion threshold. The result also gave trainer Saito his tenth career JRA-G1 title and Kitamura his eighth, both milestones achieved with the same horse that delivered their last top-level win at the Tokyo Yushun last June.

The summer campaign now comes into clear view. The Takarazuka Kinen in June returns Croix du Nord and Meisho Tabaru to the same Hanshin track for a rematch, while the Tenno Sho Autumn in October provides a natural second target. Further out sits the Irish Champions Stakes at Leopardstown, for which Osaka Hai winners have held automatic complimentary entry since the race's 2017 G1 elevation; no Japanese stable has yet accepted the invitation, but Croix du Nord's European credentials, including a win over future Arc champion Daryz in the G3 Prix du Prince d'Orange at Longchamp last September, make the case more compelling than it has ever been.

The Kitasan Black parallel carries commercial as well as sentimental weight. The sire banked seven G1 victories and nearly ¥1.9 billion in earnings before retirement, then watched his stud fee fall to ¥3,000,000 in 2021 before Equinox reversed the narrative. Croix du Nord, from Kitasan Black's fourth crop, is now building a three-G1 dossier at age four that makes the succession argument harder to ignore. For Sunday Racing Co. and breeder Northern Farm, a colt approaching ¥1 billion in earnings, out of a dam who finished second in the 2007 Epsom Oaks, is already a stud asset in the making. The conversation about what he becomes after racing has already begun.