Tag: G1 Sprinters S.

No Cause For Alarm As Gendarme Wins The Sprinters S.

Koji Maeda's Gendarme (Kitten's Joy) earned a new career high with a neck victory in Nakayama's 1200-metre G1 Sprinters S. on Sunday. The 7-year-old entire captured the race 20 years after his dam, Believe (Jpn) (Sunday Silence), who has thrown a trio of stakes winners including Gendarme.

Sent off at 19-1, the eighth choice in the field of 16, the dark bay argued the early pace, but drifted back to stalk from third on the backstretch as T M Spada (Jpn) (Red Spada {Jpn}) set a harried tempo under pressure from First Force (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}). Rolling up in between that pair on the corner, Gendarme cruised into contention and took up the baton shortly before the 200-metre mark. Quickly opening up two lengths, he kept finding as Win Marvel (Jpn) (I'll Have Another) and Naran Huleg (Jpn) (Gold Allure {Jpn}) unleashed furious late rallies, but it was too little too late. Only three-quarters of a length separated the latter duo for second, and third, respectively.

“We had a good gate and were able to race smoothly as he handled the break smoothly, which was a challenge for him,” said Kiwamu Ogino, who was winning his first Group 1 race and second group race in his career. “The horse responded well in the stretch and I think he was able to show his strength. I was aware of the closing horses behind us but I just concentrated on letting the horse do his best. I'm really happy that I was able to win my first Group 1 title and I'm grateful for Gendarme.”

A winner at Group 2 level and second in the G1 Hopeful S. as a juvenile, Gendarme won the G3 Ocean S. three starts back over course-and-distance in March. Unplaced to Naran Huleg in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen later that month, he was 17th in the G3 Kitakyushu Kinen at Kokura on Aug. 21.

 

Pedigree Notes

Gendarme becomes the 16th Group 1 winner for his late sire Kitten's Joy with Sunday's victory. He is also the seventh and final foal, seventh runner, and sixth winner for the 2003 Japanese Champion Older Mare Believe. A winner of the 2002 edition of the Sprinter S. when it was run under listed conditions, she was also Group 2-placed and earned north of $3.8 million. Her first foal, the 2005 Kingmambo horse Faridat, was a dual listed winner in Japan, and he would ultimately place five times at group level, including a third in the G1 Yasuda Kinen. Believe hit black-type pay dirt once again with her fifth foal, the 2012 Medaglia d'Oro filly Fiducia, who won the Listed Shunrai S. and was second in the G3 Ibis Summer Dash.

From the family of 1986 U.S. Horse of the Year Lady's Secret (Secretariat), Gendarme is not the only descendant of third dam and multiple stakes winner Great Lady M. (Icecapade) to thrive in the Land of the Rising Sun, with no less than eight others earning a black-type win. Anchoring that octet is Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Circle Of Life (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}), who won the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies. American champion Shamrock Rose (First Dude), a winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, is also related to Gendarme.

 
Sunday, Nakayama, Japan
SPRINTERS S.-G1, ¥328,800,000, Nakayama, 10-2, 3yo/up, 1200mT, 1:07.80, fm.
1–GENDARME, 126, h, 7, by Kitten's Joy
                 1st Dam: Believe (Jpn) (Ch. Older Mare-Jpn, MSW &
                                GSP-Jpn, $3,836,758), by Sunday Silence
                 2nd Dam: Great Christine, by Danzig
                 3rd Dam: Great Lady M., by Icecapade
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Koji Maeda; B-North Hills Co. Limited
(KY); T-Yasutoshi Ikee; J-Kiwamu Ogino. ¥173,360,000.
Lifetime Record: 29-7-1-3. Click for the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: B. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Win Marvel (Jpn), 121, c, 3, I'll Have Another–Cosmo
Marvelous (Jpn), by Fuji Kiseki (Jpn). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK
   TYPE. O-Win Inc.; B-Cosmo View Farm (Jpn); ¥68,960,000.
3–Naran Huleg (Jpn), 126, h, 6, Gold Allure (Jpn)–Kelley's
Beauty (Jpn), by Brian's Time. O-Katsushige Muraki; B-Setsuko
Sakato (Jpn); ¥43,480,000.
Margins: NK, 3/4, NK. Odds: 19.30, 19.00, 17.60.
Also Ran: Diatonic (Jpn), Namura Clair (Jpn), Eighteen Girl (Jpn), Travesura (Jpn), Maria's Heart, Schnell Meister (Ger), First Force (Jpn), Vento Voce (Jpn), Meisho Mimosa (Jpn), Taisei Vision (Jpn), Mikki Yell (Jpn), T M Spada (Jpn), Loving Answer (Jpn).
Click for the JRA chart & video.

 

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‘Yell’ing With Joy As Group 1 Action Returns To Japan With Sprinters S.

On hiatus for the past several months, Group 1 action returns to the Land of the Rising Sun in Nakayama's 1200-metre Sprinters S. on Sunday. Sixteen horses have stood their ground, among them last out G2 Sankei Sho Centaur S. heroine Meikei Yell (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}). Leaving from gate 13, the 4-year-old filly and 2-1 morning line pick is aiming to become the first horse to complete the Centaur/Sprinters S. double since Tower Of London (Jpn) (Raven's Pass) in 2019. Trained by Hidenori Take, the Nagoya Keibo Co. Ltd colourbearer will have Kenichi Ikezoe in the irons.

Assistant trainer Kaname Ogino said, “Everything went to plan in her last race, and the jockey got the best out of her. She has returned to training again and seems relaxed, which is a good thing. There doesn't seem to be any change in her condition.”

 

Brilliance Their Stock In Trade

Something of a novelty in Japan, Sunday Racing's German-bred Schnell Meister (Ger) (Kingman {GB}), who scored his Group 1 win in the G1 NHK Mile Cup in 2021 and was runner-up in the G1 Yasuda Kinen all the way back in June, will fly the flag for his Juddmonte sire. Connections did take a gamble and send him to Dubai to start his season in March, but it did not pay off. Half a world away, others looking to give their Juddmonte sire a fruitful weekend at the highest level include 'TDN Rising Stars' Habana (Ger) (G1 Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac, 1400mT), and Kinross (GB) (G1 Qatar Prix de la Foret, 1400mT) on Arc Day. The day prior, fellow Rising Star Laurel (GB) and Mrs Fitzherbert (Ire) go to the post in Newmarket's one-mile G1 Royal Bahrain Sun Chariot S. for the 11-year-old, who sits ninth on the TDN Europe General Sires List this year. A victory by the 4-year-old entire at Nakayama would nudge Kingman up to seventh, after the $1,198,977 was added to his progeny earnings.

Trainer Takahisa Tezuka said, “His condition wasn't so good after Dubai, even though he did manage to finish second in the Yasuda Kinen. After his usual summer break at Northern Farm Tenei, he returned to the stable early in September. He looks his usual self, if not a little bigger, but has moved well enough in recent work.”

 

Age Before Beauty?

Second choice is Mutsuhiro Namura homebred Namura Clair (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}) at 3-1, who sneaks into the field under a flyweight of just 117 pounds. Classic-placed over 1600 metres in the G1 Japanese 1000 Guineas this spring, the June 12 G3 Hakodate Sprint S. victress was third over this trip in the G3 TV Nishinippon Corp. Sho Kitakyushu Kinen on Aug. 21.

If she prevails, she would be the sixth Group or Grade 1 winner tracing to 1993 G1 Prix Morny/G1 Prix de la Salamandre heroine and blue hen Coup De Genie (Mr. Prospector) and first in Japan. Appropriately considering the international stakes on offer this weekend, one of that sextet, the now Japanese-based sire Bago (Fr) (Nashwan), claimed the 2004 G1 Prix de l'Arc de Tromphe among his many Group 1 victories.

Trainer Kodai Hasegawa said, “She has had a break at the farm with this race in mind. She has recovered well, and has been able to handle her training workload since. It has also been good to have had some time between races.”

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Gran Alegria Tries for Third Group 1 in Sprinters

One of two Group 1 sprints on the Japan Racing Association calendar, the 1,200-meter G1 Sprinters S. draws a full field of 16 for Sunday’s 54th renewal. Heading the morning line at 2-1 is dual Group 1- winning Gran Alegria (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), out of Tapitsfly (Tapit), a two-time Grade I winner on the turf in the United States.

Victorious in last season’s G1 Japanese 1000 Guineas and G2 Hanshin Cup, the filly finished runner-up in the 1,200-meter G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen over soft ground at Chukyo in March before returning to best champion Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the G1 Yasuda Kinen over 1,600 meters at Tokyo Racecourse June 7.

“She ran a strong race in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, which was her first time at the trip,” explained assistant trainer Masaru Oehara. “In the Yasuda Kinen, she put in a good late spurt from the fourth corner, so in both races she ran very well. She’s had a summer break and has come back to the stable looking bigger and stronger.”

Gran Alegria, who will be making her first start at Nakayama, will be accompanied by Christophe Lemaire, who has a 25% strike rate at the oval.

Attempting to record his first win at the Group 1 level, Danon Smash (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) has shown consistency this season, winning on three occasions and finishing in the top three in five starts. Additionally, six of his nine career wins have come over the Sprinters’ distance of 1,200 meters.

Third in this test last year, he kicked off 2020 with a win over this course in the 1,200-meter G3 Yukan Fuji Sho Ocean S. Mar. 7 before a flat 10th in the Takamatsunomiya later that month. Back in the winner’s circle following Tokyo’s G2 Keio Hai Spring Cup May 16, the 5-year-old was eighth in the Yasuda Kinen before rebounding to score in the Sept. 13 Sankei Sho Centaur S. over 1,200 meters at Chukyo.

“He drew an outside gate last time [in the Centaur S.], but by the third corner had got himself into a good position and went on to win well,” said trainer Takayuki Yasuda, who has won the race three times. “I feel he’ll come on quite a bit for that run.”

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