By Daithi Harvey
A field of 16 go to post for the G1 Sprinters S. over 1200m at Nakayama on Sunday and the race, a 'Win and You're In' contest for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint certainly has an open look to it. Last year's winner Red Falx (Jpn) (Swept Overboard) returns to defend his crown under Mirco Demuro and the 6-year-old entire is having his first start since June when he ran a fine race to be third, beaten just half a length in the G1 Yasuda Kinen over a mile at Tokyo. Dropping back to six furlongs is of no concern to his trainer Tomohito Ozeki who said. “This has been his target race since his last run and despite the layoff, he's the type to come back strongly.” Another Group 1 winner lining up off the back of a layoff is Seiun Kosei (Jpn) (Admire Mon {Jpn}) who was also last seen in June when finishing fourth in the G3 Hakodate Sprint S. The 4-year-old had previously won the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo over six furlongs in March with Red Falx in third and another of Sunday's runners Let's Go Donki (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) picking up the runner up position.
The sole international challenger on Sunday is the Hong Kong runner Blizzard (Aus) (Starcraft {NZ}). Trainer Ricky Yiu was hoping for a low to mid draw for his Group 3 winning 6-year-old and upon learning of his stall 12 allocation he said, “We have to be positive, they haven't run the race yet.” Blizzard's gate position has Yiu leaning towards prominent tactics and he added, “From there we will have to go forward. He's a horse that jumps quickly and has some speed, so hopefully he can cross them. We want him up near the front – I think that's the best place for him to be.”
The Manabu Ikezoe trained Melagrana (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) brings both smart course and distance form and a recent outing to the table and she should give her supporters a good run for their money. However she will need to have come forward from her recent comeback fourth in the G2 Sankei Sho Centaur S. to reverse form with the winner of that race Fine Needle (Jpn) (Admire Moon {Jpn}).
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