Fine Needle looking sharp ahead of Takamatsunomiya Kinen

Fine Needle tries for a first G1 victory in one of Japan’s premier sprint races, the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, on turf at Chukyo on Sunday, 25 March.

The five-year-old Admire Moon horse heads into the six-furlong contest on the back of a decisive win over the same distance in the G3 Silk Road Handicap at Kyoto on 28 January, when he quickened strongly to score by two lengths over Seiun Kosei.

He faded to 12th behind Red Falx in the six-furlong G1 Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama in October, but had previously shown an impressive turn of foot for a comfortable victory in the G2 Centaur Stakes over the same trip at Hanshin in September.

Fine Needle, trained by Yoshitada Takahashi and ridden by Yuga Kawada, takes on 17 rivals in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen including the first three home in 2017 – Seiun Kosei, Let’s Go Donki and Red Falx – plus Dance Director, a dual winner of the Silk Road Stakes.

Harry Sweeney, President of Godolphin in Japan, commented: “Fine Needle is in good form and has been pleasing his trainer.

“However, it will be a tough test for him with six previous G1 winners in the race including last year’s champion sprinter Red Falx.

“With 18 runners in the field and one turn to navigate, it was important to get a good draw and we are pleased with stall nine.”