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Result of the 45th Sprinters Stakes (G1)

The 45th running of the SPRINTERS STAKES began with B B Guldan breaking loose as the horses were being loaded into their starting gates—B B Guldan was scratched from the race and the race was delayed for over ten minutes.

When the race finally broke off, it was third favorite Curren Chan who exerted a strong charge before the wire to win by a comfortable 1-3/4-length margin. The four-year-old Kurofune filly claimed her first G1 victory while extending her winning streak to five (four of which are grade races). Coming in second was ninth choice Pas de Trois with A Shin Virgo a nose behind that in third.

The field of 15 broke smoothly with Pas de Trois and Headliner alternating the lead to set the pace, followed by heavy favorite Rocket Man in third. Seventh choice A Shin Virgo broke sharply and was eased back to sixth, while Curren Chan settled ninth from the front, toward the rear of the front pack. As the field turned through the corners, A Shin Virgo followed by Curren Chan edged forward from the outside and entered the homestretch ready to make a bid. With Pas de Trois leading the field at the top of the homestretch, the two fillies drew abreast with the Swept Overboard colt at the 200-meter pole, from where Curren Chan displayed an impressive turn of speed to claim a 1-3/4-length victory. Pas de Trois, dueling fiercely with A Shin Virgo in the last furlong, managed to poke his nose ahead of the filly at the wire to finish second.

Rocket Man from Singapore who was posted heavy favorite settled behind the leaders in third, but was met with traffic turning for home and was unable to launch a bid until too late and finished a disappointing fourth.

Fourth favorite Lucky Nine from Hong Kong broke smoothly from the innermost gate, hugged the around fifth from the front, was pinched back briefly at the stretch but pursued the frontrunners tenaciously in the homestretch to finish a neck behind the race favorite.

Another entrant from Hong Kong, Green Birdie (eighth favorite), breaking from the outermost post, traveled wide in midfield throughout the race and was unable to improve position in the homestretch to finish eighth.

Comments from Felix Coetzee:
He was caught up in traffic. I wouldn't say the delayed start affected him because he calmed down alright. He started well and he was in a good position until I had horses around me. I could have taken him to the outside at the 600m but I wasn't too comfortable to do that because I thought it was a little bit early. So I held him in that position hoping that I could get her out of the way but that wasn't to happen and I was caught up. The uphill was also not the problem. In the end I steered him to the outside but he had lost momentum at that stage.

Comments from Patrick Shaw:
A Shin Virgo came across too quickly than expected at the turn and he got caught in a pocket and the race was over him at that stage. It was an unlucky race and not to be anticipated.

Comments from Caspar Fownes:
Lucky Nine ran extremely well and there was a gap which he could have taken but he was blocked and pinched back which cost him at least a second place… Green Birdie also ran really well from where he was (having to start very wide) and made a terrific effort at the straight.

Other Horses:
6th: (7) Fifth Petal— traveled in midpack behind winner, even paced.
7th: (6) San Carlo— sat near rear after breaking slowly, good effort in homestretch.
9th: (11) Tokai Mystery—2nd from rear, improved position. fastest over last 3 furlongs.
10th: (4) A Shin Rigil— 2W in midfield, met with traffic in homestretch
11th: (8) Dasher Go Go— hugged rail in rear pack, angled out but caught behind traffic.
12th: (15) Sandalphon— sat in rear, unable to reach contention.
13th: (12) Urbanity— 3rd from rear, no factor.
14th: (9) Headliner— led the field, tired and dropped back after last corner.
15th: (2) Keiai Aston— hugged rail in mid-field, faded in stretch.
(13) B B Guldan— broke loose before start. Scratched:

Post race interview of winning connections

Trainer (Takayuki YASUDA):
I was overwhelmed by how strong she had become this season and to have won this sprint G1 against high-profile runners such as Rocket Man. She was rather on the weak side when I started training her so I was careful not to push her too far last season and the results have paid off. Now that she's a G1 winner, I will have to alter her future racing plans—I had a G2 race in mind as her next target in December, but I will pass that up and prepare her towards the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1, 1,200m) next season. The filly is extremely easy to handle and is smart in her racing—easy on the flow and extremely strong at the stretch. I will be discussing other future plans including any possible trips overseas with the owner, but I don't want to ask too much as she is just a filly.

Jockey (Kenichi IKEZOE):
She was a step slow out of the gate as she lost a bit of momentum having to enter the starting gate a second time, so I gave her a little push to make ground to secure our position—otherwise everything went as planned and we were nicely positioned with Rocket Man in view. As we rounded the fourth corner, I took note of A Shin Virgo pinning Rocket Man into the inside and I positioned the filly very close behind A Shin Virgo so as not to leave a gap for Rocket Man to come out for a clear path until I had also completed my turn. Once at the straight, my filly was really strong and accelerated well. She's really matured during this season and I think she still has room for improvement, so I'm looking forward to many more success from the filly.

THE 45TH SPRINTERS STAKES (G1) – the 7th leg of Global Sprint Challenge –
3-year-old & up, 1,200 meters (about 6 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, October 2, 2011   Nakayama Racecourse   11th Race   Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 197,600,000 (about US$ 2,470,000 < US$1 = ¥80>)
3-y-o: 55kg (about 121 lbs), 4-y-o & up: 57kg (about 126 lbs),
2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares, 1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere bred born in 2008
Safety Factor: 16 runners

1. Curren Chan (JPN), gray, filly, 4-year-old
   Kurofune / Spring Ticket (Tony Bin)

   Breeder: Shadai Farm	Owner: Takashi Suzuki
   Trainer: Takayuki Yasuda	Jockey: Kenichi Ikezoe
   12 Starts, 8 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 98,360,000	Career earnings: ¥ 297,195,000
   Principal Race Performances:	'11 Hanshin Himba Stakes (G2)   1st
   	'11 Keeneland Cup (G3)   1st
   	'11 Hakodate Sprint Stakes (G3)   1st

   
   
2. Pas de Trois (JPN), bay, colt, 4-year-old
   Swept Overboard / Grand Pas de Deux (Fuji Kiseki)

   Breeder: Shadai Farm	Owner: Teruya Yoshida
   Trainer: Ippo Sameshima	Jockey: Katsumi Ando

   
   
3. A Shin Virgo (JPN), chestnut, filly, 4-year-old
   Falbrav / Kansas Girl (Thunder Gulch)
   

   Breeder: Eishin Bokujo	Owner: Eishindo Co., Ltd.
   Trainer: Ken Kozaki	Jockey: Yuichi Fukunaga

* Sprinters Stakes
The SPRINTERS STAKES, initially established in 1967 as a major 1,200-meter sprint race for three-year-old and up, was designated as a spring G3 event in conjunction with the new grading system implemented in 1984. It was then upgraded to G2 in 1987 before becoming a G1 sprint race in 1990 with the date of fixture also shifted to the latter part of the season to position itself as the highest mark for sprinters together with the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1, 1,200m) held in spring.
As one of the first few races to open its doors to foreign entrees, the race became part of the Global Sprint Challenge, an international sprint series on turf launched jointly by Racing Victoria Ltd., Ascot Racecourse Ltd. and the JRA in 2005. In that year, the race was won by Hong Kong's world-class sprinter Silent Witness (AUS, by El Moxie), who crossed the wire in 1:07.3, just 0.3 seconds short of the race record set by Trot Star (JPN, by Damister) in 2001.
With the addition of the Hong Kong Jockey Club's well-established Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint (G1, 1,200m) in the following year, the 2006 Sprinters Stakes welcomed four outstanding sprinters from Hong Kong, U.K. and Australia. The 2006 series champion, Takeover Target (AUS, by Celtic Swing), who was a runner-up in the Centaur Stakes, proceeded to win the Sprinters Stakes with dominating power.
Another prestigious sprint G1 event, The Darley July Cup (G1) was added to the series in 2008. However the Sprinters Stakes was run without a foreign contender for two years during 2007 and 2008 which was won by Aston Machan (JPN, by Admire Cozzene) and Sleepless Night (JPN, by Kurofune) respectively.
Ultra Fantasy (AUS, Encosta de Lago) became the third foreign contestant to claim the Sprinter Stakes title last year, upsetting a field of powerful G1 sprinters that included Green Birdie (NZ), defending champion Laurel Guerreiro (JPN, by King Halo) and subsequent JRA Award winner Kinshasa no Kiseki (AUS, by Fuji Kiseki).
Top Hong Kong trainer Caspar Fownes returned this year with two runners, Green Birdie and Lucky Nine (IRE) who finished 14th (finished fourth and demoted) and second respectively in their previous step race in Japan, the Centaur Stakes (G2, 1,200m). Patrick Shaw-trained Rocket Man (AUS) representing Singapore made for three foreign contestants participating this year. The multiple G1 title holder that had come into the race unbeaten in 17 and second in four out of 21 career starts was well appreciated by the Japanese fans and sent to post as race favorite in a field of 16.
The runners representing Japan did not include proven G1 winners as 2010's Best Sprinter of Miler, Kinshasa no Kiseki retired to stud after successfully defending his Takamatsunomiya Kinen title earlier in the season while few others G1winners that had raced last year were also retired. Nonetheless, Dasher Go Go (JPN) and San Carlo (JPN) who finished near the leaders in the 2010 Sprinters Stakes returned this year, both with grade-race titles this season and impressive performances in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen in spring. A Shin Virgo (JPN) who beat both these runners as well as the two visitors from Hong Kong in the Centaur Stakes last month also made her G1 debut in the race. Another strong candidate was Curren Chan (JPN) who came off a four-race winning streak for her first G1 challenge and was with a privilege of carrying two kilo less weight than her male counterparts.