Japanese shipper Red Desire settles in ahead of Flower Bowl

RED DESIRE (Jpn) (Manhattan Cafe), the Japanese Group 1 winner who will make

her next start in the October 2 Flower Bowl Invitational (G1) at Belmont Park,

completed the lengthy journey from her native country to New York when she

arrived at Aqueduct Thursday. The Mikio Matsunaga trainee will be transferred to

Belmont Saturday once she completes her time in quarantine.

"She had a very long trip, about 24 hours," said Nobutaka Tada, racing

manager for Yoko Yamamoto's Tokyo Horse Racing. "She was tired last night for

sure, but she seems OK. This morning she was fine."

Tada said that Red Desire's connections decided to send her to the United

States for the Flower Bowl and the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) after

she bled following a workout in June. By running her in the Flower Bowl, they'll

have the chance to see how she performs with the addition of Lasix prior to the

Breeders' Cup on November 5 at Churchill Downs.

"We can't give her Lasix in Japan," Tada said. "We don't know how she'll

behave. It's a long trip, and she'll be racing with Lasix for the first time."

Red Desire defeated her nemesis Buena Vista (Special Week) by a nose in the

2009 Shuka Sho (Jpn-G1), having previously finished second to that two-time

champion in the Oka Sho (Japanese One Thousand Guineas) (Jpn-G1) and the Yushun

Himba (Japanese Oaks) (Jpn-G1).

Following a third in the Japan Cup (Jpn-G1), Red Desire went to Dubai,

winning the Maktoum Challenge Round 3 (UAE-G2) and finishing 11th in the Dubai

World Cup (UAE-G1). She'll enter the Flower Bowl off a fourth in the Victoria

Mile (Jpn-G1) back at Tokyo on May 16.

Tada believes that the Flower Bowl's 1 1/4-mile distance is perfect for Red

Desire, who has won at distances ranging from 1600 meters (approximately one

mile) to 2000 meters (approximately 1 1/4 miles) and has come close over 2400

meters (approximately 1 1/2 miles) in the Japanese Oaks and Japan Cup.

"We like a mile and a quarter to a mile and a half," Tada said. "She won

going a mile and a quarter in Dubai. That race gave us much confidence in her

ability."

Yoko Yamomoto's husband, Hidetoshi Yamamoto, owns Casino Drive (Mineshaft),

who came from Japan to win the 2008 Peter Pan S. (G2) at Belmont, and that

experience was a factor in the decision to have Red Desire come to Belmont Park

to prep for the Breeders' Cup.

"We like the track and the people in New York," Tada said. "There are other

places we could have gone, but we like the people there."