CONGRATULATIONS, TAKE-SAN! 
After everyone struggled to find a good line coming out of the last corner, Yutaka Take and Kizuna came through at the last minute to claim Derby honours, and, in all fairness, the classic win couldn't have been handed to a nicer guy. You may remember we profiled Take-san some time ago in the blog, and concluded he was nothing short of a national hero in Japan. Well, after a few years in the wilderness - at least in relative terms to the peak of his career - he's back, and looking at the reaction of the immense crowd watching the race in Tokyo, it was a popular win for the majority of people. My pick for the race came a close second.