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Race Favorite Fine Needle Proves Himself Best Sprinter in Sprinters Stakes

Takamatsunomiya Kinen champion Fine Needle captured this year’s Sprinters Stakes to become the fifth horse in history to claim both JRA-G1 sprint races in the same year—the first since Lord Kanaloa in 2013. The Admire Moon horse was 12th in last year’s Sprinters Stakes after claiming the Centaur Stakes but demonstrated a very prosperous five-year-old campaign with four wins out of five starts—he was fourth in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize in Hong Kong in his first overseas endeavor. This is the first G1 win since the Takamatsunomiya Kinen for both trainer Yoshitada Takahashi and jockey Yuga Kawada, second overall for Takahashi and 12th for Kawada.

With a huge typhoon closing in, the race broke in the rain on a track condition rated good. Once in a Moon gunned for the lead and set the pace. Fine Needle broke from a middle stall and was settled in mid-field and three-wide. Shifting farther out in the last turn to avoid traffic, the five-year-old bay unleashed his trademark turn of foot all the way to the wire while picking off his rivals one by one and finally catching Love Kampf in the final strides to win by a neck.

Sent off 11th favorite, Love Kampf broke sharply and chased the pace in second. Hitting the straight still in second and two-wide, the three-year-old filly took over the lead from the pacesetter while shaking off second favorite Nac Venus 100 meters out and dug in gamely but was pinned by the winner at the wire.

Favored 13th, Rhein Spirit saved ground in third to fourth, struggled for room behind the battling front runners in the stretch, but broke through chasing Love Kampf in the final 50 meters, stretching his neck in front of Daimei Princess to grab third.

Lucky Bubbles broke smoothly under Brett Prebble and was tracking the eventual winner in mid-division and three wide but suddenly broke away from the field approaching the final turn and pulled up with a ruptured suspensory ligament in his left foreleg.

“We were going smoothly and following the winner and felt I was going to have every conceivable chance then I heard something pop which wasn’t a nice thing to hear,” commented Brett Prebble.

Other Horses:
4th: (6) Daimei Princess—saved ground in mid-field, found opening in mid-stretch, dug in strongly last 100m
5th: (10) Let’s Go Donki—moderate break, sat 4th from last, closed in well with fastest stretch drive
6th: (3) Once in a Moon—led by more than 2 lengths early, still led entering stretch, caught with less than 200 meter to go
7th: (12) Nac Venus—chased leaders in 3rd position, tired from early efforts and outrun in the lasts 150 meters
8th: (7) Campbell Junior—rated off pace in mid-pack, advanced approaching turn but wide, no threat
9th: (2) Hiruno Devaro—saved ground in mid-pack, unable to quicken at the stretch
10th: (16) Red Falx—little to show while racing wide throughout
11th: (13) Teehaff—needed urging from the start, raced along the rails but failed to reach contention
12th: (11) Seiun Kosei—sat in 5th, sustained bid, weakened in last 100m
13th: (15) Moonquake—trailed in rear, turned wide, unable to reach contention
14th: (5) Ares Barows—traveled in mid-group, never fired at stretch
15th: (4) Snow Dragon—hugged rails in mid-division, dropped back at stretch

THE 52ND SPRINTERS STAKES (G1)
3-year-old & up, 1,200 meters (about 6 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, September 30, 2018  Nakayama Racecourse     11th Race        Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 238,600,000 (about US$ 2,170,000 <US$1=¥110>)
3-y-o: 55kg (about 121 lbs), 4-y-o & up: 57kg (about 126 lbs),
2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares, 2kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2015
Safety factor: 16 runners

FP=Final Position / BK=Bracket Number / PP=Post Position / B=Blinker / Wgt=Weight / L3F=Time of Last 3 Furlongs (600m)
FF=Fail to Finish

1. 1.Fine Needle (JPN), bay, horse, 5-year-old
   Admire Moon / Needlecraft (Mark of Esteem)
   

   Owner: Godolphin	Breeder: Darley Japan K. K
   Trainer: Yoshitada Takahashi	Jockey: Yuga Kawada
   27 Starts, 10 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 113,360,000	Career earnings: ¥ 491,413,600
   Principal race performances:	’18 Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1, 1,200m)	1st
   	’17&’18 Centaur Stakes (G2, 1,200m)	1st
   	’18 Silk Road Stakes (G3, 1,200m)	1st

   
   
2. 2.Love Kampf (JPN), dark bay or brown, filly, 3-year-old
   Shonan Kampf / Love Heart (Meiner Love)
   

   Owner: Yoichi Masuda	Breeder: Yoichi Masuda
   Trainer: Naoyuki Morita	Jockey: Ryuji Wada

   
   
3. 3.Rhein Spirit (JPN), dark bay or brown, horse, 7-year-old
   Swept Overboard / Ribbon Stripe (Tony Bin)
   

   Owner: Shigemasa Osawa	Breeder:Fujiwara Breeding Stud
   Trainer: Masahiro Matsunaga	Jockey: Yutaka Take

Post race interview of winning connections:

[Trainer: Yoshitada Takahashi]
“I am relieved to have been able to come up with the best results as the race favorite. I knew by the look of Fine Needle’s eyes at the saddling area that he had switched into racing mode. He was positioned exactly where I had imagined and I was a little concerned when the jockey was urging the horse on at the third corner, but the horse got into gear and then geared up again once entering the stretch so from there I was just hoping with all my heart that he would reach the leader in time. Fine Needle is such a professional, he seems to know exactly what it takes and executes it at the right time. He was 12th in the Sprinters Stakes last year, and coming off his break during the winter, he came back to the stables a different horse—so strong—and he’s shown that since his first time up in the Silk Road Stakes. We’ve used him over a mile before but the sprint is what he’s best at, so we’ll be sticking to 1,200 meters or 1,400 meters at the most. I’ll have to see how he pulls up from this race to determine his future starts including a choice to run in the Hong Kong Sprint, but if we do I hope to show the fans there (in Hong Kong) how much stronger he’s become.”

[Jockey: Yuga Kawada]
“He wasn’t as sharp in the first half of the race and we had to race further out than we’d hoped, but despite the unideal trip, he really made up for it with his legs at the straight and we just managed to clinch our victory at the wire. He sure validated his win in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen with this JRA-sprint-G1 double and two other grade-race victories which undoubtedly places him as the top sprinter in Japan.”

* Sprinters Stakes (G1)
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. The race now positions itself as the highest mark for sprinters together with the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1, 1,200m) held in spring.
One of the first few JRA races to open its doors to foreign entries, the Sprinters Stakes has enjoyed the participation of many outstanding sprinters from North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Hong Kong raiders have taken home the title twice so far—Silent Witness (AUS, by El Moxie) was the first foreign contender to win the title in 2005 along with Ultra Fantasy (AUS, by Encosta de Lago) in 2010—while Australia’s Takeover Target (AUS, by Celtic Swing) won the 2006 version. While foreign contenders have not been seen in the winner’s circle since, the race has continued to enjoy the company of some of the top sprinters from overseas in recent years.
This year’s only foreign runner, Hong Kong’s 2017 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (G1, 1,200m) champion Lucky Bubbles, kicked off the 2018/19 season in Japan after finishing the previous season with a close third in the Premier Cup (G3, 1,400m; Jun.24).
The Japanese line-up featured defending champion Red Falx aiming for his third consecutive Sprinters Stakes triumph after finishing his spring campaign in ninth in the Yasuda Kinen (G1, 1,600m; Jun.3), and this year’s Takamatsunomiya Kinen victor Fine Needle and 2017 champion of this race Seiun Kosei, who came off their wins in the Centaur Stakes (G2, 1,200m; Sep.9) and the Hakodate Sprint Stakes (G3, 1,200m; Jun.17), respectively. Ares Barows was entered after claiming back-to-back grade-race wins—the CBC Sho (G3, 1,200m; Jul.1) and the Kitakyushu Kinen (G3, 1,200m; Aug.19)—while Nac Venus also came off a graded win in the Keeneland Cup (G3, 1,200m; Aug.26). The Ibis Summer Dash (G3, 1,000m; Jul.29) winner Daimei Princess was second in the Kitakyushu Kinen, while Let’s Go Donki, who has marked three runner-up efforts in JRA’s sprint G1 events, came off a fifth in the Keeneland Cup.
The race record of 1:06.7 was set by Lord Kanaloa (JPN, by King Kamehameha) in the first of his consecutive victories in this race in 2012 and 2013.