Croix du Nord seeks third straight Group 1 win in Takarazuka Kinen
Fan support put Croix du Nord under Grand Prix pressure at Hanshin, where a third straight Group 1 would also open an international path.
Croix du Nord carried the weight of public expectation into Hanshin, where the Takarazuka Kinen assembled an 18-horse field and offered far more than a domestic prize. As Japan’s fan-voted Grand Prix, the race also carried a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf, or alternatively a path to Australia’s Cox Plate, turning one Group 1 into a possible global launch point.
For Croix du Nord, the race was a referendum on whether popularity matched performance. The 4-year-old son of Kitasan Black arrived on a two-race Group 1 streak, having taken the Osaka Hai and the Tenno Sho (Spring) earlier this year. A third straight top-level win would have pushed him beyond promising contender status and deeper into the conversation about the division’s standard-bearer.
Trainer Takashi Saito had admitted concern that the colt might feel the strain after back-to-back major tests at 2,000 meters and 3,200 meters, but the horse still came into the 2,200-meter Takarazuka looking bright and manageable. That mattered at Hanshin, where the first corner comes quickly and position can be decisive. Croix du Nord drew gate 5, with Yuichi Kitamura taking the mount, a favorable setup for a horse expected to be prominent from the start.
The opposition gave the race real teeth. Last year’s winner Meisho Tabaru returned after rebounding from a slightly disappointing prior run, while Danon Decile brought international credentials of his own after winning the Dubai Sheema Classic over Calandagan. Danon Decile has also been in the thick of matters in recent Group 1 attempts, making him a serious threat to spoil the favorite’s bid for a third straight score.
Croix du Nord’s résumé already stretches well beyond the Japanese turf scene. He won the Prix du Prince d’Orange in France, finished 14th in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and came home fourth in the Japan Cup to close out 2025. That cross-continental record is part of why this race carried so much weight: the Takarazuka Kinen was not just about another trophy, but about whether the horse the public chose could convert that belief into elite proof on one of Japan’s biggest stages.
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