RESULT - 2011 SPRINTERS STAKES - G1

1200m / 6f

7th LEG GLOBAL SPRINT CHALLENGE

TRACK: Firm

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.