By Heather Anderson
Sprinting is the order of the day at Chukyo on Sunday, as the 1200-metre G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen drew a full field of 18. The first two home last year, Dark Angel (Ire)'s Mad Cool (Ire) and Namura Clair (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}), lock horns again after being separated by just a neck in the 2024 edition.
The former was unplaced in the G1 Chairman's Sprint Cup in April and in the G1 Sprinters Stakes behind Lugal (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) in September. He found Namura Clair too good in the G2 Hanshin Cup upped to 1400 metres at Kyoto on Dec. 21 and makes his 6-year-old bow here from the rail with Ryusei Sakai aboard.
“He's looking almost too good,” said trainer Manabu Ikezoe of his horse, who will be attempting to be the second horse to win the race in consecutive years after Kinshasa No Kiseki (Aus) in 2010/11. “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.”
One of his chief rivals, the 6-year-old mare has fared better since running second to the grey last March and is currently favoured in the ante-post markets. Fifth to subsequent G1 Hong Kong Sprint third Satono Reve (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the G3 Keeneland Cup in August, she was third–with Mama Cocha (Jpn) (Kurofune) fifth–in the aforementioned Sprinters Stakes later that year prior to her Hanshin Cup tally. Sunday is her third attempt at the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, and she leaves from gate 14 under Christophe Lemaire.
Trainer Kodai Hasegawa has yet to win at the Group 1 level but delivered a positive bulletin on his charge and said, “I have no worries this time. At six years old, she seems to have finally come into her own. It's rare to meet a horse like this and I am so very much hoping she can land a big title.”
Fellow mare Mama Cocha is looking for her second Group 1 win in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen. A winner of the G1 Sprinters Stakes — beating Mad Cool no less — back in 2023, the 6-year-old has encountered mixed fortunes since. Fourth to Lugal in the 2024 Sprinters Stakes, she dropped a spot in the Hanshin Cup but enters this contest with a stalking half-length win of the G3 Ocean Stakes at Nakayama on March 1. Yuga Kawada is at the controls and the duo will leave from gate 15.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
