Both systems produced interesting races to finish off the year.

At Nakayama the JRA hosted the Hopeful Stakes which was won in fine fashion by Croix du Nord, who maintains his unbeaten status and surely will be 2yo colt of the year.  Giovanni raced close to the front and this paid off with second – he was on 19.1 and third home Faust Rasen was on 303.3!!  Good luck to you if you had the trifecta or the QP.  Croix du Nord looks very promising and should develop into a top 3yo.

At Ohi the Tokyo Daishoten was G1 for the dirt horses over 2000m and went to Forever Young who had a brilliant 2024 and they plan to continue in 2025.  Wilson Tesoro ran his usual honest race and was second with Ramjet third.  Ushba Tesoro was 4th and this may have been his last start.  He won this race in 2022 and 2023 and of course won the Dubai World Cup.  With many races overseas with top 3 finishes plus all his winnings at home he has become the biggest money earner in Japanese racing with over Au$20,000.000 in the bank.  He's now and 8yo and one of Orfevre's top progeny.