2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic Contenders, Odds, Post Positions: DERMA SOTOGAKE

In the days leading up to the 41st Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar in California, usracing.com is publishing profiles for the horses in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday, Nov. 2. Profiles will be updated following the post-position draw on Monday, Oct. 28.

2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic Contender Profile: DERMA SOTOGAKE

The bettors ignored Derma Sotogake in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), and he surprised them by closing for second at 26-1 odds. He hadn’t run since a troubled sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby (G1), and his Classic performance off a six-month layoff made him a horse to watch for his 4-year-old season.

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much to see, as Derma Sotogake was nowhere in the Grade 1 Saudi Cup (fifth), Grade 1 Dubai World Cup (sixth) and his prep last month in the Nippon TV Hai (fifth). The total margin was 27 lengths, and he’s 0-for-5 since his only graded stakes win, in the UAE Derby (G2) in March 2023. Derma Sotogake is 0-for-4 in Grade 1 and Group 1 company, making his Classic performance an outlier.

Jockey Christophe Lemaire tried to put a positive spin on the colt’s dud in his Classic prep Sept. 25.

“There’s room for improvement,” he said after the race. “I pushed him all the way to the end, and I think it will help going forward. I’m not worried because he can run better on American dirt.”

Betting advice: Derma Sotogake is in a slump entering a race with a much deeper and talented field than last year’s Classic. A sudden reversal of form would be a shock. No bet.

2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic Odds and Post Positions: Derma Sotogake

Post position: 6

Odds: 20-1

Jockey: Christophe Lemaire

Trainer: Hidetaka Otonashi

Owner: Hiroyuki Asanuma

Career record: 13-4-1-2

Career earnings: $3,434,599

Age: 4

Last race: Nippon TV Hai (5th), Oi Racecourse, Oct. 2

Top Equibase speed figure: 115

Pedigree: Mind Your Biscuits-Amour Poesie (JPN), by Neo Universe (JPN)

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Stalker/closer

Notes: Derma Sotogake’s year had a bizarre start when he suffered an eye injury on a flight from Japan to Saudi Arabia. “He and another horse fought on the plane,” trainer Hidetaka Otonashi said … Minor injuries prevented him from having a prep before last year’s Classic. “If he’d had one race, the result would have been changed,” Otonashi said … Derma Sotogake is an odd combination of words. Owner Hiroyuki Asanuma, a dermatologist, uses “derma” in his horses’ names. Sotogake is a sumo wrestling maneuver that hooks an opponent’s lead leg and forces him backwards.