Lucky Sweynesse could only manage 11th in this afternoon’s (Sunday, 28 September) G1 Sprinters Stakes (1200m) at Nakayama in Tokyo, Japan for trainer Manfred Man and jockey Derek Leung as evergreen eight-year-old Win Carnelian grabbed his first elite level success in a slick 1m 06.9s – the second fastest winning time of the race after the great Lord Kanaloa set a new track record in 2012 (1m 06.7s).

Breaking from barrier 10 of 16, Lucky Sweynesse – in his bid to become Hong Kong, China’s third winner of the Sprinters Stakes after Silent Witness (2005) and Ultra Fantasy (2010) – broke evenly as Win Carnelian crossed early from the widest draw to settle second behind the leading June Blair. Crowded in heavy traffic down the back straight, Lucky Sweynesse lost ground as Leung asked the question turning for home.

Left with too much work to do as he entered Nakayama’s 310m uphill home straight, Lucky Sweynesse knuckled down late as Win Carnelian and June Blair traded blows, with the former edging to a head victory at odds of 92/1 (in Hong Kong) as the packed crowd of 33,918 people in the grandstand erupted.

Man said: “I think in this race the draw was a little bit wide. I think the pacing was very fast, the winning time, for him it was a little bit difficult. We will let him go back now and see how he is going (before making plans for next start) because he still needs to go into quarantine.”

Leung said: “Our horse didn’t jump bad. When I sat in fourth position, the outside horse kept squeezing him, so he had to come back a bit. The outside horse always gave me pressure, so for a big horse (1,155lb) he never went smoothly in the race.

“At the 500 (metre mark), when they sped up, my horse was struggling because the tempo was quite different compared to Hong Kong – it was quick, that’s why he came home late. I think they just kept rolling and at the 500 they kept turning and sped up again. It was his first time here, so he couldn’t really get used to it. He was squeezed and it was tight, so he never enjoyed it, but he came back and he sounds good, everything is okay.”

Win Carnelian is the second eight-year-old winner of the Sprinters Stakes since 1994, following in the footsteps of only Ultra Fantasy. The triumph is a first at Group 1 level for jockey Kosei Miura, who is now in his 18th year as a JRA (Japan Racing Association) jockey.

“There were times when I thought a G1 title was not meant for me, but I never gave up – never gave up because there were many owners, connections, fans rooting for me – and this is truly a great feeling,” Miura said.

June Blair bravely kept on for second with Yutaka Take up, while third place went to Namura Clair, who has now placed in seven Group 1 races across her 23-start racing career.

Race favourite Satono Reve closed late for fourth. Second in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint (1200m) earlier this year, Win Carnelian – trained by Yuichi Shikato – is now a nine-time winner and has previously raced overseas in the United States of America and twice in Dubai.