Centaur Stakes (G2) - Preview

Centaur Stakes (G2)

* Kinshasa no Kiseki　has been scratched from this race.

The 1,200-meter Centaur Stakes at Hanshin Racecourse is the fifth leg of the Global Sprint Challenge with prize money of 58 million yen awarded to the winner from a purse of more than 122 million yen. It is the only Grade 2 race of the Global Sprint Challenge that spans through four countries and sets up the Grade 1 Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama next month, which is also part of the eight-race series and is the climax of the Japanese sprinting season.

The Centaur Stakes, for 3-year-olds and up, also serves as the final leg of the Japan Racing Association's Summer Sprint Series, pitting the best sprinters in Japan from the summer circuit against the ones from the spring, many of them who restart their season for the fall through this race.

The Centaur Stakes, named after the half-man, half-horse Greek myth character, was created in 1987 as a Grade 3 race at the Hanshin course over 1,400 meters before it was shortened to its current distance of 1,200 meters 10 years ago. The Centaur Stakes was awarded international status in 2005 along with the inception of the Global Sprint Challenge, and was bumped up to Grade 2 status one year later, becoming increasingly important to the JRA's autumn campaign over recent years.

With Japan being promoted to a Part I nation in 2007, the Centaur Stakes now accepts up to eight entries from overseas with the top two finishers qualifying automatically for the Sprinters Stakes. Just one horse from abroad – the 7-year-old Green Birdie from Hong Kong – is expected to take part in the race this year, after the Hong Kong-based Ultra Fantasy and American Kinsale King pulled out. No foreign horses ran in the Centaur Stakes last year.

Hanshin Racecourse

Hanshin Racecourse has a relatively new look and feel, having been renovated just four years ago. It remains mostly a flat course apart from the final 800 meters, where it slopes downward for 600 meters before rising back up over the next 50 meters to the finish line. The old Hanshin track was a much tighter course and as a result partial to some wild results, but the new venue is widely recognized as a fairer track – although it demands far more stamina on the home stretch.

Sadly, none of the Global Sprint Challenge leaders will race in the Centaur Stakes this year, including first-place Starspangledbanner who also withdrew from the Oct. 3 Sprinters Stakes. The Global Sprint Challenge has not produced a champion since 2006, when Takeover Target won the honors; to win the championship, a horse must collect at least 42 points – Starspangledbanner has 23 points after the first four races – and compete in three different countries. The US$1 million bonus goes to the connections of any horse who wins three Grade 1 races in as many jurisdictions, US$750,000 of which goes to the owner, the rest to the trainer.

Post time for the 24th Centaur Stakes is 3:35 p.m. on Sept. 12, with a full gate made up of 16. The race record, set by Believe eight years ago, is 1 minute, 7.1 seconds. The early picks are as follows:

Kinshasa no Kiseki KINSHASA NO KISEKI: The 7-year-old son of Fuji Kiseki should be the red hot favorite for the Centaur Stakes, coming off four straight wins capped by his long awaited first career Grade 1 victory in the 1,200-meter Takamatsunomiya Kinen in late March. Bred in Australia, the Noriyuki Hori-trained horse – out of the Pleasant Colony mare Keltshaan – had been tipped for stardom ever since his debut back in December 2005 but the hardship continued for years until he broke through this spring. The closest Kinshasa no Kiseki, owned by Kazumi Yoshida – Northern Farm president Katsumi Yoshida's significant other – had come to Grade 1 glory was when he finished a narrow second in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen and Sprinters Stakes in 2008 before injuries all but ruined his 2009 season. The comeback trail began last Oct. 31 in the Grade 2, 1,400-meter Swan Stakes at Kyoto, where Kinshasa no Kiseki won his first graded race in more than a year under French rider Christophe Soumillon, nearly a month after he came in 12th out of 16 in the Sprinters Stakes. Kinshasa no Kiseki followed up the Swan Stakes victory with a win in the Grade 2 Hanshin Cup at seven furlongs on Dec. 20 – before going on to capture the Grade 3 1,200-meter Ocean Stakes at Nakayama in early March en route to the Takamatsunomiya Kinen title under big-race jockey Hirofumi Shii, who will ride him again this coming Sunday. How Kinshasa no Kiseki – who took third in the 2007 Centaur Stakes – fares will depend a lot on what kind of physical condition he will be in this weekend, in what will be his first start in nearly six months. He handles Hanshin well and if he's in halfway decent shape, then look out; Kinshasa no Kiseki could easily stretch his winning streak to five this weekend, despite the punishing 59 kilograms he'll be saddled with.

Melissa MELISSA: The 6-year-old mare by White Muzzle can wrap up the Summer Sprint Series title with victory in the Centaur Stakes. Winner of the TV Nishinippon Corp. Sho Kitakyushu Kinen on Aug. 15, Melissa finished 15th in the race last year but should improve on that this weekend. The key for the Masaru Sayama-trained horse will be how she deals with the weight assignment of 55 kilograms against a much improved field from the Grade 3 Kitakyushu Kinen.

Sky no Dan SKY NO DAN: Runnerup to Melissa in the Kitakyushu Kinen, the 4-year-old filly by legendary JRA sprinter Sakura Bakushin O has posted outstanding times in her last couple of races at 1,200 meters. She clocked 1:07.2 in the Kitakyushu Kinen and a 1:06.9 in the July 24 Kitakyushu Tankyori Stakes before that. The fast track this weekend at Hanshin should suit the Ryuji Okubo-trained Sky no Dan, who will be chasing her first graded victory in just her second graded start.

Green Birdie GREEN BIRDIE: The 7-year-old raider from Hong Kong is currently one of the top sprinters in the former British colony and will be the highest rated horse among the field after beating local favorite Rocket Man – who was second in the Dubai Golden Shaheen this year – in the KrisFlyer International Sprint this spring at Singapore's Kranji racecourse. The gelding, by Catbird out of Mrs Squillionaire, won in a time of 1:09.62. The Caspar Fownes-trained Green Birdie will make his first start in the Global Sprint Challenge with the Centaur Stakes, and is headed for the Sprinters Stakes afterward. As with likely first choice Kinshasa no Kiseki, Green Birdie will be assigned with a weight of 59 kilograms, which will be a tough load for any horse to shoulder on the long final straight at Hanshin. The 1,200-meter Sprinters Stakes is the richest race in the Global Sprint Challenge with total prize money exceeding 200 million yen, the winner taking home 95 million yen. Only two horses have won the Sprinters Stakes since the Global Sprint Challenge was incepted: Hong Kong hero Silent Witness in 2005, and Takeover Target the following year.