It was only a matter of time till the sons and daughters of the mighty sprint master Lord Kanaloa made their way into the highest levels of Japanese sprint racing, and there will be three such offspring hoping to carry on their sire’s legacy in the G1 Sprinters Stakes (1200m) at Nakayama this Sunday, 29 September.

Danon Smash headlines the group as a multiple Graded stakes winner and one of the likely favorites come post time. The four-year-old, despite having a hit or miss three-year-old campaign, ended the year on a high note when capturing the G3 Keihan Hai against older horses, then turning around early in 2019 and winning the G3 Silk Road Stakes as well. Why he didn’t fire in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen in March is relatively unknown and saw him finish fourth in his third try at the G1 level, but after coming back to impressively win the G3 Keeneland Cup in August, he looks poised to right that wrong on Sunday.

There are two more Lord Kanaloa offspring in the race, both three-year-olds with high-class performances to their names: a colt name Fantasist and a filly named Iberis. Fantasist captured the G3 Kokura Nisai Stakes and the G2 Keio Hai Nisai Stakes last year and has finished second in a pair of G2s this year, including the fully-loaded Sprinters Stakes prep the G2 Centaur Stakes. While still young and with loads of places to go, the young colt seems to thrive over six furlongs.

Iberis is another promising young sprinter who won the G3 1600m Arlington Cup in April against males her age. While she didn’t perform well in her G1 debut in the NHK Mile Cup back in May, she ran a strong third in the G2 Centaur Stakes, earning her a spot in this weekend’s main event. While anything can happen in horse racing, it would be no surprise to see a Lord Kanaloa finishing in the top three this weekend.

Danon Smash will have two main rivals in the big event, multiple Graded stakes winner Tower Of London and G1 winner Mr Melody. Tower Of London secured his spot as rival favorite earlier this month when he won the G2 Centaur Stakes in record-setting style. The son of Raven’s Pass left no doubt who was best that day when he flew past the wire a comfortable three lengths ahead of Fantasist and Iberis. The four-year-old has only been worse than third twice in his career and with his usual rider, Christophe Lemaire, in the irons, he will make for a formidable opponent. His owner, Godolphin Japan, won this race last year with Fine Needle.

Mr Melody took home the other of Japan’s two 1200m G1 prizes back in March, claiming his first top-flight win in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen over a strong field of sprinting rivals. When in peak form, the son of Scat Daddy will almost always finish first or second, however in the G2 Centaur Stakes he turned in his worst performance to date, finishing eighth. This shouldn’t be too discouraging for his connections as the month before he snagged his first G1, he had finished seventh in the G3 Hankyu Hai.

Dirndl, a three-year-old daughter of Rulership, also shouldn’t be overlooked. With her weight allowance and having never finished worse than second in any of her seven starts, she loves to sprint and has won at Nakayama twice before. Her most significant drawback is that this will be a major step up for her in class, having only run in one other Graded race, the G3 Kitakyushu Kinen, where she finished second.

Linate is a five-year-old daughter of Stay Gold, and despite having a stayer for a sire, has proved a successful sprinter. While she has never won a Graded contest, she has finished second and third in three different attempts, most recently the G3 Keeneland Cup behind Danon Smash.

The Japanese sprint division is full of young blood this time out and this year’s Sprinters Stakes should make for an exciting predictor of the future.