TOKYO Racecourse is once again the venue for the Group 1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), tomorrow with a greater number of race fans now allowed back at the track.

The Group 1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) winner Geoglyph heads the field for the mile and a half race on the turf track, with that race looking the key to the Derby.

Geoglyph’s trainer Tetsuya Kimura has a strong hand in the race, and there might not be too much to choose between the favourite and Equinox, first and second in the Satsuki Sho last time.

Geoglyph has three wins from his five career starts, but the big question now is if he can see out an extra two furlongs, as a son of the top US sprinter Drefong.

Equinox is a son of Kitasan Black and has only had three starts so far, but he has looked quite impressive, scoring two wins and that second placing in the Guineas.

Connections expect the extra distance to be fine for him. Equinox will be ridden by jockey Christophe Lemaire, who is bidding for a classic double, after his win in last Sunday’s Japanese Oaks.

Do Deuce is a Heart’s Cry colt who won the Group 1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes over a mile at Hanshin late last year. He had to settle for third last time in the Japanese 2000 Guineas over the 10 furlongs at Nakayama in April, but he looks a horse who can only progress.

Danon Beluga is another colt by Heart’s Cry, who is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Japanese 2000 Guineas. He has won both his other races and, what’s more, they were at Tokyo, so it’s looking as if he can run a big race this time too.

Deep Impact

Ask Victor More has three wins from six starts. He is a colt by Deep Impact and that famed sire is responsible for seven of the last 10 Japanese Derby winners, including Contrail and Shahryar in the last two seasons.

With his sire’s record in the race, Ask Victor More would have a good chance on that statistic alone.

Killer Ability, another Deep Impact colt, won last year’s Group 1 Hopeful Stakes over 10 furlongs at Nakayama in December and big things were expected of the colt this year but he finished only 13th in the Japanese 2000 Guineas.

Pradaria, another colt by Deep Impact, is coming off a win in the TV Tokyo Hai Aoba Sho at Tokyo in April, a Derby trial run over the course and distance.