Japanese participation in the Triple Crown, absent last year with the onset of COVID-19, appears set to return in the May 15 Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course.
According to Kate Hunter, the Triple Crown field representative for the Japan Racing Association, Yuji Inaida's France Go de Ina traveled well on a flight from Japan to Los Angeles, the first leg of an itinerary that will bring the 3-year-old son of Will Take Charge to Maryland. Should he compete as planned, he would become the first Japanese horse to contest a Triple Crown race since Master Fencer ran fifth in the 2019 Belmont Stakes (G1), a race that followed a sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).
France Go de Ina will be ridden in the Preakness by Joel Rosario, who was aboard for a sixth-place finish in the UAE Derby Sponsored By Emirates NBD (G2) March 27, his first start of the year. Last year at 2, he twice won 1 1/8-mile races at Hanshin Racecourse.
France Go de Ina, who arrived in Los Angeles from Japan May 5, will be in quarantine there until May 8, when the Kentucky-bred will board a plane for a scheduled flight to Newark, N.J. The Hideyuki Mori-trained colt is expected to arrive at Pimlico Saturday evening following a four-hour van ride.
