Sakaki Ness Watches Tenno Sho on Birthday as Danon Decile Wins From Outside Gate

NIJISANJI — Danon Decile won the autumn Tenno Sho from the outermost gate on Sunday, ending a birthday race-watching stream for Sakaki Ness, who was joined by Day1, his usual viewing partner, and guest Amamiya Kokoro. One of the participants turned a 100,000-yen stake into 450,000 yen on the result.

The stream opened with a race of its own. A Banei race, a form of racing in which heavy draft horses clear two hurdles at a walking pace, had been named the Sakaki Ness 111 Birthday Cup, and the group watched it before turning to the main event. The winner was a horse named Mirai ni Tsuzuke, while the race’s favorite finished last. The trifecta paid roughly 2,000 times the stake, and the group, none of whom had hit it, called it a fitting race for gamblers. The only horse from their picks to place was No. 6, the number Amamiya had named when asked for a favorite.

“My 100,000 yen became 450,000. It’s a birthday!” — Sakaki Ness, Day1 and Amamiya Kokoro, after the Tenno Sho payout

Before the Tenno Sho, the group worked through a field they described as unusually strong. They weighed Masquerade Ball, Regaleira and other leading contenders, and one participant said he would put 100,000 yen on the day, more than usual. Amamiya, whom the others had invited as a goddess of victory, was asked to read the horses in the paddock. The group liked how calm Danon Decile looked there, even from the outside gate, and several of them put him in their bets.

In the race, a horse the group had backed as a longshot went to the front early and was cheered on before fading. Danon Decile came through to win, with Regaleira third. Masquerade Ball and another of the leading contenders did not figure in the finish. Participants said afterward that Amamiya’s paddock reading had proved right, and one said he would not have bet on Danon Decile without it. Chat filled with congratulations for the winner and for Ness’s birthday.

The group said they planned to keep watching the big autumn races together, with the Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen still to come. One participant said he had cleared his Sundays for racing, and Amamiya was welcomed in as one of the regulars.