Mozu Superflare

A diverse field of 16 short-track specialists converges on Nakayama Racecourse Sunday as Japanese Group 1 racing emerges from a three-month hiatus in the 1200-metre Sprinters' S. Koji Maeda's Gendarme (Kitten's Joy) was a Group 2 winner over a mile and Group 1-placed going 10 furlongs at two, but has gone through a renaissance of sorts since being cut back to distances between six and seven panels about this time last year. A listed winner at Niigata at seven-eighths last October, the homebred son of 2002 Sprinters' heroine Believe (Jpn)...

Danon Co. Ltd.'s Danon Smash (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) makes a much-awaited 6-year-old debut in Sunday's G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo Racecourse, as he goes in search of a top-level victory on home soil. The son of Spinning Wildcat (Hard Spun), whose sire won this event back in 2013 for trainer Takayuki Yasuda, was only 10th behind the promoted Mozu Superflare (Speightstown) in last year's yielding-turf renewal, but would go on to win a pair of races at group level before finishing second to the outstanding Gran Alegria (Jpn) (Deep...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Sapporo Racecourse on Saturday and three runners of note--including a US-bred Group 1 winner this season-Sunday at Kokura. Saturday, August 22, 2020 5th-SAP, ¥13,400,000 ($127k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1200mT ASCALON (c, 2, Speightstown--Coco as in Chanel, by Awesome Again), a $50K...

Mozu Superflare (Speightstown) won the 1200m G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo on Sunday after a game effort on the front end and a timely disqualification. Disregarded at 31-1 in this full 18-horse field, the blinkered chestnut shot straight to the front and quickly opened up several lengths on the chasing pack, clearly relishing the soft going. She clicked off fractions of :22.90 for the opening quarter and :45.60 for the first 800 metres. Rivals began to wind up with their runs inside the final furlong and Kurino Gaudi (Jpn) (Screen...

Godolphin homebred Tower of London (Jpn) (Raven's Pass) and Danon Smash (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), two of the best sprinters the country has to offer, go head-to-head for the third time in their last four appearances in Sunday's G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen (1200m) at Chukyo Racecourse. Group 1-placed over a mile as a juvenile, Tower of London has amassed an imposing resume over 1200-1400m in the last year or so, having set course records when taking out the G2 Keio Hai Spring Cup (1400m in 1:19.4) and the G2 Centaur S....