Japan has rarely failed to make an impact on Hong Kong’s international racing stage whether it be December’s four race extravaganza or Sunday’s now three race Champions Day.
From multiple Group 1 winner Eishin Preston at the start of the millennium to the more recent exploits of Maurice, Lord Kanaloa and A Shin Hikari, some of the very best of Japan’s thoroughbreds have blitzed local rivals and other visitors on the Sha Tin turf.
However, one race of the seven International Group 1s run at the two meetings has escaped the country. That’s the HK $16 million G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) which, this year, sees the Yoshitada Takahashi-trained Fine Needle attempt to set the record straight for Japan.
Fine Needle joins the UAE’s Blue Point in taking on a raft of high-class Hong Kong trained sprinters and while the task appears daunting, on paper at least, the five-year-old arrives in form and impressed with his gallop on the course proper this morning.
Race day jockey Tommy Berry, this morning, rode Fine Needle who worked over 800 metres in 51.9 seconds, zipping home the last 400 metres in 22.7 seconds.
“Felt good. He was really strong through the line and pulled up very well in the wind. He switched into gear quickly when I asked him. He moved nicely and was breathing well. He’s fit and in good form. I’m very much looking forward to Sunday,” Berry said.
Fine Needle has won the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen (1200m) and the G3 Silk Road Stakes (1200m) at his two starts in 2018 – both races which, incidentally, appear on the winning resume of Japan’s dual G1 Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) winner Lord Kanaloa.
