Fine Needle goes for G1 double in Sprinters Stakes

DUBAI: Fine Needle attempts to join a select group of horses to win both of Japan’s G1 sprints in the same year when lining up in the Sprinters Stakes over six furlongs at Nakayama, Japan, on Sunday.

Trained by Yoshitada Takahashi and ridden by Yuga Kawada, he quickened strongly to beat Let’s Go Donki by a nose in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen over the same distance at Chukyo in March and now bids to become only the fifth horse to complete the notable double.

The five-year-old Admire Moon horse, finished 12th in last season’s Sprinters Stake. He returns in excellent form following an easy victory in the six-furlong G2 Centaur Stakes at Hanshin on 9 September – a race he also won in 2017.

His only defeat this year came in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize, also over six furlongs, at Sha Tin, Hong Kong, in May, in which he kept on to finish fourth.

He is joined in the Sprinters Stakes by eight-year-old Teehaff (Yusaku Kokubun/katsuichi Nishiura), who has gained seven victories, all over six furlongs including the G3 Hakodate Sprint Stakes at Hakodate in 2015 and the Kurama Stakes at Kyoto in May.

The son of Storming Home has acquitted himself well at G1 level, notably when fourth in the 2017 Takamatsunomiya Kinen, and steps back up in grade after finishing down the field behind Nac Venus in the six-furlong G3 Keeneland Cup at Sapporo on 26 August.