Tag: Sprinters’ S.

Sodashi Sis Spectacular In Sprinters

From an aesthetic perspective, the only similarity between Sodashi (Jpn), the world's most recognizable and talented white galloper, and her year-younger full-sister Mama Cocha (Jpn) (Kurofune) is the latter's broad blaze, but they now have something else in common, namely Group 1 winner, after Mama Cocha dove across the line to narrowly best Mad Cool (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in Sunday's Sprinters S. at Nakayama Racecourse. Favoured Namura Clair (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}) was a further length back in third.

“This filly is a completely different type of horse comparing to her famous sister, but she has good potential in her own right to become a good sprinter,” said winning jockey Yuga Kawada. “While still winless in grade-level race coming into this, I felt she had a good chance.”

The third betting choice at just under 4-1, Mama Cocha bounced away beautifully from gate six and raced fairly handy as the fleet-footed American-bred Jasper Krone (Frosted)–who defeated Mama Cocha in the Aug. 20 G3 Kitakyushu Kinen–showed the way early from T M Spada (Jpn) (Red Spada {Jpn}). Mad Cool was also forwardly placed, with Namura Clair off his flank and Mama Cocha in the three-wide line as they approached the turn. Kawada allowed his mount to roll up three wide leaving the 600-metre peg and was more or less on even terms at the top of the straight, but despite having gone the opening half-mile in :44.5, Jasper Krone was still battling hard at the fence. Mama Cocha finally got the better of that tussle, but Mad Cool emerged from between rivals and looked to perhaps nose in front in the dying strides, but was on the losing end of a tight photo. It was the second straight win in the race for trainer Yasutoshi Ikee, who saddled Gendarme (Kitten's Joy) to an upset victory 12 months ago.

Whereas Sodashi was an instant hit, securing championship honours in her first two seasons at the races, Mama Cocha had been slower to come around. Group 3-placed at age two, the filly strung together three wins in the lower grades late last year, but was found out in a pair of group efforts over the 1600 metres. She recorded her first black-type success in a 1400-metre contest at Kyoto in May and ran on well to just miss behind all-the-way winner Jasper Krone last time out.

Kawada feels there is better still to come.

“She still has a lot of room for improvement and there were moments where I had to be careful in keeping her in good rhythm while she was forced out slightly by pressure from the horses in the inside between the last two corners,” the leading rider commented. “She did respond well though when challenged at the straight and I am glad that she was able to sustain her bid to the wire to claim the win.”

Pedigree Notes:

Mama Cocha is the 20th winner at group level for the French Deputy stallion Kurofune, who also counts 2008 Sprinters heroine Sleepless Night (Jpn) among his now seven elite-level scorers. The late King Kamehameha (Jpn) has now accounted for 30 individual group winners as a broodmare, including 10 G1SWs, among them Dubai World Cup hero and GI Breeders' Cup Classic-bound Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}).

Though she never earned black-type, Mama Cocha's dam Buchiko had a cult following of her own, based mostly on her physical appearance, but she was something other than an abject failure at the races, with four wins and three minor placings from 16 starts. Buchiko's half-sister Yukichan (Jpn) (Kurofune) was a three-time listed winner on the dirt, while her half-sister Marshmallow (Jpn) (Kurofune) produced dual Group 3 winner Hayayakko (King Kamehameha {Jpn}). Shirayukihime is also the third dam of Meikei Yell (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}), fifth in Sunday's race.

Buchiko is the dam of the white 2-year-old colt Kalpa (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}), third on Hakodate debut July 9, a yearling dark bay colt by the same sire and foaled a white Maurice filly Feb. 9.

 

 

 

Sunday, Nakayama, Japan
SPRINTERS S.-G1, ¥328,860,000, Nakayama, 10-1, 3yo/up, 1200mT, 1:08, gd/fm.
1–MAMA COCHA (JPN), 123, f, 4, by Kurofune
1st Dam: Buchiko (Jpn), by King Kamehameha (Jpn)
2nd Dam: Shirayukihime (Jpn), by Sunday Silence
3rd Dam: Wave Wind, by Topsider
1ST GROUP WIN. 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co Ltd; B-Kaneko Makoto Holdings Inc; T-Yasutoshi Ikee; J-Yuga Kawada; ¥173,402,000. Lifetime Record: 13-6-2-2, ¥284,449,000. *Full to Sodashi (Jpn), Ch. 2yo & 3yo Filly, MG1SW-Jpn, $5,346,186. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.
2–Mad Cool (Ire), 128, c, 4, Dark Angel (Ire)–Mad About You (Ire), by Indian Ridge (Ire). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK-TYPE. (€225,000 Wlg '19 GOFNOV). O-Sunday Racing; B-Moyglare Stud Farm Ltd; ¥68,972,000.
3–Namura Clair (Jpn), 123, f, 4, Mikki Isle (Jpn)–Sun Queen, by Storm Cat. O/B-Mutsuhiro Namura; ¥43,486,000.
Margins: NO, 1, 1. Odds : 3.90, 13.00, 1.90.
Also Ran: Jasper Krone, Meikei Yell (Jpn), Win Marvel (Jpn), Aguri (Jpn), Pixie Knight (Jpn), Naran Huleg (Jpn), Kimiwa Queen (Jpn), A Shin Spotter (Jpn), Dolce More (Jpn), All at Once (Jpn), T M Spada (Jpn), Jubilee Head (Jpn), Mozu Meimei (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart.

 

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Namura Clair Drawn Cosily For Sprinters’ As Group 1 Racing Returns to Japan

After a break of just over 100 days, elite-level racing returns to the Japanese racing scene, as a full field of 18 is set to face the starter in Sunday's Sprinters' S. at Nakayama Racecourse.

Five of the entrants are making a repeat appearance in the 1200-metre test, including Namura Clair (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}), who was a sound fifth in last year's running in what was her final appearance as a 3-year-old.

After besting First Force (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the G3 Silk Road S. in January, the filly was runner-up to that rival in a soggy-turf renewal of the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen Mar. 26.  An even eighth to the GI Breeders' Cup Mile-bound Songline (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) in the G1 Victoria Mile in May, she most recently overcame a wide trip from a double-digit barrier to take out the G3 Keeneland Cup at Sapporo Aug. 27. She has drawn the inside stall for this return to Group 1 competition.

“She's filled out a lot more and is able to concentrate better on what's needed in a race, whether it's speed or closing well at the finish,” said jockey Suguru Hamanaka. “She's certainly in good condition, and she should run well if everything goes her way.”

Aguri (Jpn) (Caravaggio), a grandson of GISW Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), cost nearly $1 million at the 2020 JRHA Select Sale and is battle tested for a relatively lightly raced horse. Victorious in a Group 3 test over 1400 metres on seasonal debut Feb. 26, he weakened to seventh in the easy ground in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen and was fifth behind Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse {Aus}) in the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize in Hong Kong Apr. 30. Resuming as a 3-1 chance in the G2 Centaur S. Sept. 10, he fell far behind, but whooshed home to be second to front-running T M Spada (Jpn) (Red Spada {Jpn}) while covering his final 600m in a race-fastest :32.4.

Jasper Krone (Frosted) looks to become the second American-bred winner of the Sprinters' in succession after Gendarme (Kitten's Joy) pulled off a 19-1 surprise last fall. Possessed of blistering speed, he'll try to outfoot them from a high alley and go as far and as fast as he can. The 4-year-old has employed all-the-way tactics in consecutive Group 3 scores at this distance, including a half-length defeat of Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune)'s full-sister Mama Cocha (Jpn) in the Kitakyushu Kinen at the end of August.

Pixie Knight (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) won this as a 3-year-old in 2021 and was a sneaky good eighth in the Centaur, and All at Once (Jpn) (Makfi {GB}) also has longshot claims, as he weaved his way through traffic under deft handling to upset the G3 Ibis Summer Dash down the 1000-metre straight at Niigata first off a year layoff July 30.

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Pixie Knight First Group 1 Winner For Maurice

Pixie Knight (Jpn) became the first Group 1 winner for Japanese Horse of the Year Maurice (Jpn) when coming home a smooth winner of Sunday's G1 Sprinters S. at Nakayama Racecourse. He likewise became the first 3-year-old since 2007 to take the coveted six-furlong prize, and just the sixth since the race was promoted to Group 1 status in 1990.

A debut winner going seven furlongs last September, Pixie Knight finished third in allowance company before being put away for the winter. Stepping up to pattern company to take the one-mile G3 Shinzan Kinen on seasonal debut on Jan. 10, Pixie Knight slipped to fourth in the G3 Arlington Cup and was soundly beaten in eighth in the G1 NHK Mile Cup on May 9. Dropping back to this trip thereafter, Pixie Knight was second after a summer holiday in the G3 CBC Sho on the fourth of July and filled the same position in the G2 Centaur S. at Chukyo on Sept. 12.

Traveling just off the pace on the rail, Pixie Knight was in tight at the top of the stretch but soon found daylight in the two path. Put to a drive two furlongs out, he soon found the lead and was a comfortable two-length winner. Former champion juvenile filly Resistencia (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) was second, while race favourite Danon Smash, winner of the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen and G1 Hong Kong Sprint, was sixth.

Sunday, Nakayama, Japan
SPRINTERS S.-G1, ¥252,860,000, Nakayama, 10-3, 3yo/up, 1200mT, 1:07.10, fm.
1–PIXIE KNIGHT (JPN), 121, c, 3, by Maurice (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Pixie Hollow (Jpn), by King Halo (Jpn)
                2nd Dam: Rhein Regina (Jpn), by Sakura Bakushin-Oh (Jpn)
                3rd Dam: Shinko Angel, by Ogygian
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Silk Racing; B-Northern Farm;
T-Hidetaka Otonashi; J-Yuichi Fukunaga; ¥133,402,000.
Lifetime Record: 8-3-2-1. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Resistencia (Jpn), 121, f, 4, Daiwa Major (Jpn)–
Malacostumbrada (Arg), by Lizard Island. O-Carrot Farm;
B-Northern Farm; ¥52,972,000.
3–Shivaji, 126, h, 6, First Samurai–Indian Bay, by Indian Charlie.
O-Kanayama Holdings; B-Hinkle Farms; ¥33,486,000.
Margins: 2, HD, 2HF. Odds: 4.30, 2.40, 46.50.
Also Ran: Mikki Yell (Jpn), Mozu Superflare, Danon Smash (Jpn), Bien Fait (Jpn), Kurino Gaydi (Jpn), Miki Brillante (Jpn), Loving Answer (Jpn), Gendarme, Taisei Vision (Jpn), Eighteen Girl (Jpn), A Will a Way (Jpn), First Force (Jpn), Lord Aqua (Jpn).
Click for the JRA chart and video or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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Gendarme Set For Arresting Performance in Sprinters’

A diverse field of 16 short-track specialists converges on Nakayama Racecourse Sunday as Japanese Group 1 racing emerges from a three-month hiatus in the 1200-metre Sprinters' S.

Koji Maeda's Gendarme (Kitten's Joy) was a Group 2 winner over a mile and Group 1-placed going 10 furlongs at two, but has gone through a renaissance of sorts since being cut back to distances between six and seven panels about this time last year. A listed winner at Niigata at seven-eighths last October, the homebred son of 2002 Sprinters' heroine Believe (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) was third to Resistencia (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) in the G3 Hankyu Hai (1400m) this past February before landing the Listed Shunrai S. in his first try over 1200 metres in April. Seventh and running on in the  G2 Kitakyushu Kinen Aug. 22, he bombed the start of the G2 Centaur S. Sept. 12, setting himself a near-impossible task, but finished his final 600 metres in a race-quickest :32.6. They should fly early and Gendarme can be a late threat.

Danon Smash (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), third in this event in 2019 and runner-up last term, tries to complete Japan's Group 1 sprint double, having just defeated Resistencia in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen in March. Prior to that effort, the son of Spinning Wildcat (Hard Spun) caused a 21-1 upset of the G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint, but he was a flat sixth to the progressive Wellington (Aus) (All Too Hard {Aus}) when most recently returned to Sha Tin for the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize Apr. 25.

Though Resistencia made the running in the Hankyu Hai and was part of the pace in the Centaur S., she has shown the ability to take a trail and come with a late run, as she did in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen. Hold-up tactics might be the flavour of the day, with the likes of the speedy 2019 runner-up Mozu Superflare (Speightstown) and Bien Fait (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) guaranteed to set a breakneck tempo.

Pixie Knight (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) was a Group 3 winner over a mile earlier this year, but has run well at this trip in his last two appearances, finishing runner-up to First Force (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the July 4 G3 CBC Sho and to Resistencia last time. He typically settles midfield and will be run off his feet early, but can get first run on those coming from farther behind.

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