Japanese Derby Winners Face Off in Osaka Hai

The April 5 Osaka Hai (G1T) at Hanshin Racecourse brings together some of Japan's top middle-distance runners, including Danon Decile (JPN) and Croix du Nord (JPN), winners of the last two runnings of the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1). The 2,000-meter (about 1 1/4-mile) Osaka Hai is the second straight major race in Japan, providing local connections an alternative to traveling to Dubai during the Middle Eastern armed conflict. Among those that stayed put in Japan is Danon Decile, who won the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1T) on Dubai World Cup (G1) night a year ago and would have been aiming to become the first back-to-back winner of that race. Danox Co.'s Danon Decile, a 5-year-old son of Epiphaneia (JPN), instead makes his 2026 debut at home. He won the 2024 Derby and finished third in the Arima Kinen (G1T) at year's end. After winning a local prep to start 2025, he traveled to Dubai and captured the Sheema Classic, relegating Calandagan (IRE) into second. Calandagan more than returned the favor by winning the Japan Cup (G1T) in November with Danon Decile third. "It hasn't been a disadvantage not going to Dubai, as this race comes at about the same time," said Danon Decile's trainer, Shogo Yasuda. "He tried a little too hard in the Japan Cup, compared to the Arima Kinen, when he was calm in the paddock and ran a better race." Meisho Tabaru (JPN) finished fifth in the Dubai Turf (G1T) last year and returned home to capture the Takarazuka Kinen (G1T). His performance tailed off in the second half of the season, and he, too, stayed at home this year. The Osaka Hai will be his first start at age 5, and trainer Mamoru Ishibashi is looking at a "horse for the course" angle with him. "He's three wins from three runs at Hanshin, and we'll rely on (jockey) Yutaka Take to get the best out of him this time, too," Ishibashi said. Croix du Nord, by Kitasan Black (JPN), won the 2024 Hopeful Stakes (G1T) at age 2, finished second in the 2025 Satsuki Sho (Japanese Two Thousand Guineas, G1T) at 3 before winning the Derby, and won the Prix du Prince d'Orange (G3) at ParisLongchamp in a prep for that Japanese albatross, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1). He continued the decades-long misery by finishing 14th in the Arc but then was an honorable fourth in the Japan Cup. Trainer Takashi Saito cited Croix du Nord's travel as a plus. "It'll be his first time at Hanshin, but I don't worry about him running at different tracks," Saito said. There's a bit of a form drop off to the rest of the field. Despite his third-place finish in the 2025 Derby, Shohei (JPN) hasn't had quite the level of success enjoyed by his baseball-playing namesake. The Saturnalia (JPN) colt finished 14th in his only other grade/group 1 try, the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1T) in October and was put away for the winter. He showed promise with a 4-year-old debut win in the American Jockey Club Cup (G2T) Jan. 25. Lebensstil (JPN) captured the Mainichi Okan (G2T) last year and has been running shorter races recently. He took the Nakayama Kinen (G2T) in his first start of 2026.