Territorial back on song with G3 third in Nakayama Kimpai

Territorial returned to form with a closing third in the G3 Nakayama Kimpai over a mile and a quarter at Nakayama, Japan, on Sunday, 5 January.

The Katsuichi Nishiura-trained six-year-old, last on his only previous G3 appearance in the Challenge Cup at Hanshin in November, broke on terms from stall one and soon disputed sixth of the 17 runners on the inside rail.

Territorial was slightly impeded as Kota Fujioka angled out the Teofilo entire at the top of the straight but stayed on well to take third on the line, going down by just under a length in total.

Harry Sweeney, President of Godolphin in Japan, said: “Territorial ran a fine race to take third. As expected, he saved ground on the rail on the way around but paid somewhat of a price for that as he faced substantial traffic turning in to Nakayama’s short home straight.

“However, he rallied really well when he had space and was doing really good work at the end. We can now be hopeful that he can win a Group race this year. He is a very consistent colt and has won or made the frame in eight of his last nine starts. Overall, it was a good start to 2020.”