France Go de Ina ‘Well’ on His Way from Japan to Pimlico

Yuji Inaida’s France Go de Ina is reported to have travelled well on a flight from Japan to Los Angeles, the first leg of an itinerary that will bring the 3-year-old son of Will Take Charge to Pimlico Race Course, where he is scheduled to run in the May 15th Preakness Stakes (G1).

France Go de Ina, who arrived in Los Angeles Wednesday, will be in quarantine there until Saturday, when the Kentucky-bred colt will board a plane for a scheduled flight to Newark, N.J. The Hideyuki Mori-trained colt is expected to arrive at Pimlico Saturday evening following a four-hour van ride.

“The horse seems to have handled the trip well and has settled into quarantine well. We fly to Baltimore on the 8th,” said Kate Hunter, the Triple Crown field representative for the Japan Racing Association.

France Go de Ina will be ridden in the Preakness Stakes by Joel Rosario, who was aboard for a sixth-place finish in the UAE Derby on the March 27 Dubai World Cup undercard. Following a fourth-place finish in his career debut at 6 ½ furlongs, France Go de Ina won back-to-back 1 1/8-mile races at Japan’s Hanshin Racecourse to conclude his 2020 campaign. The UAE Derby, in which he was compromised by a slow start, was his first race of 2021.