Top-level racing returns in Japan as a field of 16 is scheduled to line up for the Oct. 1 Sprinters Stakes (G1) at 1,200 meters (about 6 furlongs) on the Nakayama Racecourse turf.
The sprint division is open for new stars and the race, one of just two major grade 1 sprints on the calendar, does not have a clear favorite. With a field dominated by relatively young runners, there is room for someone to step up.
Namura Clair, a 4-year-old filly by Mikki Isle, finished second in the first of those two big races, the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1) at Chukyo Racecourse in March, but then failed to stretch out when eighth in the Victoria Mile (G1) at Tokyo in May. She got the summer off and returned to win the 1,200-meter Keeneland Cup (G3) at Sapporo Aug. 27, a key prep for the Sprinters Cup.
Trainer Kodai Hasegawa said Namura Clair seems to be one of those ready to step up in the Sprinters Stakes.
“She knows more what to do now, and I feel she is getting stronger physically and mentally and that a grade 1 is within her grasp,” Hasegawa said.
Sign up for BloodHorse Daily
Another looking to make a big move forward is 4-year-old Jasper Krone, who steps up to the grade 1 level after winning four of his past five starts. The Kentucky-bred colt, by Frosted out of the Kitten’s Joy mare Fancy Kitten , started to show promise after a 10-month break before the 2023 season. After a comeback tightener, he won two straight races but then finished last of 16 when tried for the first time in a graded event, the Hakodate Sprint (G3) June 11.
That, however, was followed by victories in the CBC Sho (G3) and the Nishinippon Corp. Sho Kitakyushu Kinen (G3), the latter one of three major lead-up races to the Sprinters.
Assistant trainer Ryo Shimizu said if Jasper Krone can get a clean run, he can handle the class jump.
“He set a fast pace last time, but things worked out well for him,” Shimizu said. “His last two races have seen him go to the front, even if it has been a little hurried. It’s definitely his best way of racing. It’s probably best if he gets to the front again, and although the opposition is strong, if he gets to run his own race, he can still do well in a grade 1.”
The third major lead-in, the Sankei Sho Centaur Stakes (G3) was upset by T M Spada, a 4-year-old filly who had finished well up the course in her two previous races, both won by Jasper Krone.
Aguri, a 4-year-old colt by Caravaggio out of the War Front mare Old Time Waltz, finished second to Japser Krone in the Centaur Stakes after reporting eighth in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize (G1) in Hong Kong in April and assistant trainer Keiichiro Yasuda said he, too, could play a major role in the division going forward.
“He used up some energy in his last race, but he’s come out of it well and is relaxed, and it was certainly a good trial race for him. His trip to Hong Kong earlier this year was a good experience for him too, as we look to races in the future,” Yasuda said.
Among the older set, First Force, the 7-year-old Takamatsunomiya Kinen winner, is not in the field. And Yoshitada Munakata, trainer of 7-year-old Naran Huleg, noted the 2022 Takamatsunomiya champ is “getting a big lazy with age.
“He’s in amongst the younger generation in the race this time and it’s probably one of his last chances in a grade 1,” Munakata said.
Leave feedback about this