Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1) - Preview

Namura Clair

Mama Cocha

Mad Cool

Satono Reve

Lugal

Toshin Macau

Big Caesar

Kangchenjunga

Japan’s first turf Grade 1 event of the year is set for this Sunday, as Chukyo Racecourse hosts the 55th running of the Takamatsunomiya Kinen. Twenty sprinters, from the field’s youngest, the two 4-year-olds Pair Pollux and Off Trail, to the field’s eldest, the 10-year-old Travesura, have been nominated for the March 30 1,200-meter event.

Eighteen of those nominees will go to the gate on Sunday in pursuit of fame and a cut of the overall purse of nearly JPY370 million. First place lands JPY170 million.

Seven horses from last year’s version of the G1 are back, including the Top 2 finishers - Mad Cool and Namura Clair. They, along with two other 6-year-olds, 2023 Sprinters Stakes champion Mama Cocha and Satono Reve, are seen as the horses to beat. Lugal, winner of the 2024 Sprinters Stakes, rounds out the trio of Grade 1 sprint champions set to appear in Sunday’s big event.

Fourteen other expected participants, however, are determined to have their moment in the limelight. Not a race clinched solely on speed, the race is known to surprise with hidden or latent talent suddenly whisked into the limelight.

The Takamamatsunomiya Kinen starts in the Chukyo backstretch and climbs briefly before a long drop of over three meters until about 350 meters out. At that point, there’s a sharp two-meter climb over 100 meters until the fairly level remaining furlong home. That said, an inside draw and the ability to race forward of midfield are definite pluses.

The Takamatsunomiya Kinen is Chukyo’s No. 11 race on the Sunday card of 12. Post time is 15:40 p.m.

Here is a look at some of the field’s likely top choices.

Namura Clair: Runner-up by a length, then a neck in her prior two bids in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, Namura Clair is gunning for her victory in her third bid. Though Namura Clair has failed to win at the top level in her eight G1 bids thus far, the 6-year-old daughter of Mikki Isle has never missed the board. She has posted a fifth and two thirds in the Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama, and two seconds in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, while having won five graded races over 1,200-1,400 meters. Returning after a spell of three months, the Ritto-based mare excelled under new partner Christophe Lemaire to win last out on Dec. 21 in the Grade 2 Hanshin Cup over 1,400 meters at Kyoto. Trainer Kodai Hasegawa, who received his trainer’s license in 2019, has yet to win at the Grade 1 level. “I have no worries this time. At six years old, she seems to have finally come into her own,” the 41-year-old Ritto-based trainer says. “It’s rare to meet a horse like this and I am so very much hoping she can land a big title.”

Mama Cocha: Winner of the 2023 Sprinters Stakes and named top sprinter of that year, Mama Cocha heads into her second Takamatsunomiya Kinen. Last year, the daughter of Kurofune followed the Sprinters Stakes with a fifth-place finish in the Hanshin Cup, then returned three months later to go directly to the Takamatsunomiya Kinen. This year, trainer Yasutoshi Ikee has given her one more start as a sharpener. After a fourth in the Sprinters Stakes a mere 0.1 seconds off the winner, she posted another fifth in the Hanshin Cup. Then, showing no signs of slowing down at six years of age, she notched her first win in a year and five months (her first since the 2023 Sprinters Stakes), displaying top form in the Grade 3 Ocean Stakes, over 1,200 meters at Nakayama. Although her wins at the graded level have all come over right-handed tracks, she did post a second in the Grade 2 Centaur Stakes over 1,200 meters) at Chukyo last September.

Mad Cool: Winner of last year’s Takamatsunomya Kinen, the Irish-bred son of Dark Angel followed his first top-level win with a considerable fall from grace. He turned in two double-digit finishes after his Grade 1 victory at Chukyo, first in Hong Kong’s Chairman’s Prize, then the 2024 Sprinters Stakes. Three months on, Mad Cool redeemed himself with a second in the Hanshin Cup, but his position three from the front failed to see him draw on late speed. If Mad Cool can win on Sunday, he would become only the second horse to win back-to-back versions of the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, following Kinshasa no Kiseki in 2010 and 2011. “He’s looking almost too good,” says trainer Manabu Ikezoe. “I think his rotation this year is better than last year’s. I’m able to give him one more fast workout and he’s working well. He’s not one to be bothered by the course, but the draw will be a factor.”

Satono Reve: The Miho-based Satono Reve, a son of champion sprinter Lord Kanaloa (third in the 2012 Takamatsu, winner in 2013), returns from a third-place finish under Joao Moreira in the Hong Kong Sprint on Dec. 8. In the race prior (the Sprinters Stakes last year) he was backed to race favorite, but uncharacteristically missed the break and finished in seventh place. Notwithstanding his Sprinters Stakes result, Satono Reve has proven himself a consistent winner and has aced seven of his other nine starts (six of them over 1,200 meters, two of those at the G3 level) and finished second in another (also over 1,200 meters). His run in Hong Kong showed he has the potential of winning at the top level and he does not require a sharpener. Last week, trainer Noriyuki Hori said, “I brought him back to the training center early with this race as our target. He has gotten solid work and, above all, his lungs are in excellent shape and he’s just about at peak.” Hori is aiming for his third win of the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, which would tie the overall record for wins of the race since and before it was promoted to Grade 1 status in 1996. Satono Reve has won over heavy going, but he will be racing to the left for his first time.

Lugal: A striking black 5-year-old by Duramente, Lugal finished in disappointing 10th place as the Takamatsunomiya Kinen favorite last year. The mystery was soon solved, the culprit a fracture apparently suffered during the race. Quickly recovered, he claimed the Sprinters Stakes six months later, but then finished only three off the rear in the field of 14 in the Hong Kong Sprint. Back without a prep, Lugal’s Sprinters Stakes run indicates he can handle it. If he can ace this Sunday’s big event, he’ll become the first Sprinters Stakes winner after Lord Kanaloa in 2013 to go on to win the Takamatsunomiya Kinen the following year. Jockey Atsuya Nishimura, who scored the first G1 victory of his career paired with Lugal in the Sprinters Stakes last year, is set for the ride.

Toshin Macau: This six-year-old son of Big Arthur (2016 Takamatsunomiya Kinen champion) returns from a ninth-place finish in the Hong Kong Sprint after finishing second a neck behind Lugal in the Sprinters Stakes. Fifteenth over the line in the 2023 Takamatsunomiya Kinen, he improved to sixth place last year. With four graded stakes wins at this distance, including the Grade 2 Centaur Stakes run over the Chukyo 1,200 meters, Toshin Macau is not to be dismissed, especially if the going is good.

Others to watch include:

Another Big Arthur progeny, the 5-year-old Big Caesar took on this race as his first G1 and finished less than a second off the winner. Since then he has won a listed race and returns four months after scooping the Grade 3 Keihan Hai. With good excellent speed, a fast track this year could work in his favor.
The third of three runners by Big Arthur, Kangchenjunga will be competing in his first top-level event. With his usual exemplary late speed, he won the Grade 3 Hankyu Hai over 1,400 meters at Kyoto in February.

Comments credit: Keiba Book