PDF(197kb)

First Force Lands Upset Victory in Takamatsunomiya Kinen

Coming off a runner-up effort in the Silk Road Stakes (G3, 1,200m) in his kick-off start in January and sent to post 12th favorite, First Force grinded his way over the rain sodden turf to capture his long awaited G1 victory in this year’s Takamatsunomiya Kinen. Winless in six starts since his three-year-old debut, he was transferred to NAR’s Hokkaido where he scored three wins out of four starts on dirt. Returning to JRA racing from the latter half of his four-year-old campaign and focusing on short-distance racing, the son of Lord Kanaloa landed his first grade-race title in July, 2021, in the CBC Sho (G3, 1,200m) and made three G1 attempts in which he was best at ninth in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen last year. Trainer Masayuki Nishimura, who opened his yard in 2015, scored his first G1 title with the win and tenth graded victory overall. It was also the first G1 victory and fourth graded title for jockey Taisei Danno, who debuted in 2019.

First Force broke smoothly from stall 13 and was pushed along by his rider to secure an outside position in mid-field, not too far behind from the pace setter. Closing in gradually with 600 meters to the wire, the seven-year-old dark bay went into gear while splitting horses along the homestretch, pinned the leader in the last 100 meters and pulled away for a length victory.

“I thought our gate number turned out for the better as the track today seemed to work better for those on the outside. The trip went smoothly for us, much better than I had expected, I was able to give him a short breather before the fourth corner and he responded well at the homestretch,” commented jockey Taisei Danno.

Second pick Namura Clair was unhurried after a good break, settling a little further back from the eventual winner on the outside. Following that foe into the straight then opting to shift more to the outside for the stretch run, the Mikki Isle filly showed a good turn of speed to make up ground to reach contention from the widest route, overtaking Travesura, a few strides before the wire for second place.

Thirteenth favorite Travesura was unhurried after the break, hugged the rails throughout the 1,200-meter trip from stall No.1 and positioned in mid-division up to the final turn. Staying to the inside while most of runners searched for better footing further away from the rails, the son of Dream Journey found plenty of space to increase his speed and gain a brief lead after the furlong pole but was soon outrun by the top two finishers while holding on well for the share.

Race favorite Meikei Yell was keen early while positioned between horses around fourth or fifth from the leader. Using up too much energy over the heavy surface, the Mikki Isle mare was unable to demonstrate her usual powerful speed at the stretch and finished 12th.

Other Horses:
4th: (6) Naran Huleg—broke poorly, raced around 15th, showed belated charge between horses
5th: (16) Grenadier Guards—trailed in rear, showed fastest late speed but had too much ground to make up
6th: (8) Lotus Land—ran 3-wide around 10th, passed one by one but no match for top finishers
7th: (12) Aguri—chased pace around 3rd, took brief lead 300m out, weakened when path narrowed in last 200m
8th: (7) Vento Voce—traveled around 7th, showed effort up to 200m marker
9th: (3) Kir Lord—set pace, maintained lead until 300m out, outrun thereafter
10th: (18) Win Marvel—advanced to around 7th from widest stall, checked 200m out, dropped position
11th: (4) Daddy’s Vivid—tracked leader around 3rd, remained in contention until 300m out
13th: (11) Pixie Knight—sat 3-wide around 13th, failed to respond at stretch
14th: (9) Divination—settled around 15th, unable to reach contention
15th: (14) Toshin Macau—ran 3-wide around 14th, showed little at stretch
16th: (2) Water Navillera—raced around 5th on rails, dropped back after 200m pole
17th: (10) Opal Charme—stalked pace in 2nd, faded after final corner
18th: (17) Buon Voyage—traveled second from rear, no factor

THE 53RD TAKAMATSUNOMIYA KINEN (G1)
4-year-olds & up, 1,200 meters (about 6 furlongs), turf, left-handed
Sunday, March 26, 2023         Chukyo Racecourse          11th Race         Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 368,200,000 (about US$ 2,811,000 <US$1=¥131>)
4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs),
2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares, 1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2019
Course Record: 1:06.2            Race Record: 1:06.7 [Big Arthur (JPN, by Sakura Bakushin O), 2016]
Safety factor: 18 runners        Going: Soft                       Weather: Drizzle

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 15,079,211,300       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 22,289,745,300       Attendance: 21,129

Winner= 29 starts: 7 wins, 5 seconds & 1 third / Added money: ¥ 173,780,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 313,847,000

* Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1)

The Takamatsunomiya Kinen, one of two G1 championship events for sprinters held by the JRA together with the Sprinters Stakes (G1, 1,200m) in autumn, was formerly named Takamatsunomiya Cup in honor of Prince Takamatsunomiya who presented the trophy to the winner in 1971. The race was shortened from 2,000 meters to 1,200 meters and granted a Japanese G1 status in 1996, then renamed Takamatsunomiya Kinen in 1998. The first of flat turf G1 events held annually, the race was temporarily shifted to Hanshin Racecourse in 2011 and was contested over the newly renovated track back at Chukyo in the following year with added challenges of an uphill and a longer homestretch exceeding 400 meters.
The Takamatsunomiya Kinen was designated an international race in 2001 and welcomed its first two foreign participants—Disturbingthepeace (13th) and Echo Eddie (17th)—from the U.S. in 2003 and was part of the Global Sprint Challenge, the international championship series for sprinters between 2011 and 2017. Aerovelocity (NZ, by Pins) from Hong Kong became the first foreign horse to win the race in 2015 and Blizzard (AUS, by Starcraft), also from Hong Kong, finished fifth in 2018.
Defending champion Naran Huleg kicked off this season with the Ocean Stakes (G3, 1,200m, Mar.4) but finished a disappointing ninth while Vento Voce won the race to claim his second graded title. Namura Clair scored her third graded victory in the Silk Road Stakes (G3, 1,200m, Jan.29) with last year’s Keihan Hai (G3, 1,200m) victor Toshin Macau in fourth. Aguri extended his winning streak to four in the Hankyu Hai (G3, 1,400m, Feb.26) in which the 2020 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1, 1,600m) winner Grenadier Guards was seventh. The Takamtsunomiya Kinen field also included six-time graded victor Meikei Yell, 2021 Sprinters Stakes champion Pixie Knight and last year’s Sprinters Stakes runner-up Win Marvel as well as Lotus Land and Kir Lord, who finished second and third, respectively, in last year’s edition of this race.