Takamatsunomiya Kinen Preview: One of Japan's Top Turf Events

The 56th running of the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, one of the Japan Racing Association's top turf events, will be held on Sunday, March 29.

A sprint over 1,200 meters at the counter-clockwise Chukyo Racecourse, this race and the Grade 1 Sprinters Stakes in the autumn are decisive in determining the year's top sprinter.

There were 22 nominees, and 18 will go to the gate on Sunday. Those elected range in age from 4 to 9, and experience abounds with eight horses 7 and up. Only two colts are in the mix, five mares and one gelding, and the 2-kg weight advantage of 56 kg will go only to the mares.

The trio of 2025 winner Satono Reve, three-time runner-up Namura Clair, and the up-and-coming Panja Tower, 2025's Grade 1 NHK Mile Cup winner, is expected to carry the greater weight of fans' expectations. 2023 Sprinters Stakes winner Mama Cocha, who shares the weight advantage with Namura Clair, is also seen as a serious threat.

About the Takamatsunomiya Kinen

The race has always been difficult to predict. And due to the current situation in the Middle East, horses that were previously expected to take part in the races in Dubai have been switched to this one.

Spring rains often turn the ground heavy or even sloppy for this race. The past 10 runnings have seen the race favorite win only once and figure in the top 3 a total of four times. Meanwhile, the second choice of the fans has finished in the top an astounding eight times, and the third choice four times. Double-digit outsiders have made the top 3 five times.

Chukyo's 1,200-meter turf race starts on the backstretch, with about 300 meters to the first turn. The ground rises for about 100 meters from the gate, then begins a long, steady downward slope that drops about 3 meters. About 350 meters from the finish line, the ground rises sharply, then continues with a gentler upgrade to the finish. History shows the race tends to favor the inside gates and those horses racing close to the pace.

The Takamatsunomiya Kinen is Chukyo's No 11 race on the Sunday card of 12. Post time is 3:40 PM.

Here's a look at some of the field's likely top choices:

Satono Reve Vying for Repeat Win

Eyeing his second Takamatsunomiya Kinen victory in a row is Satono Reve, recognized as JRA's Best Sprinter of 2025.

Last year, the Lord Kanaloa-sired 7-year-old topped Namura Clair by 3/4 length, then jetted off for what by year's end would be three top-level events abroad. He scored a second in Hong Kong's Chairman's Sprint two lengths behind the incredible Ka Ying Rising, followed by a runner-up finish at Ascot in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes in England. Then he returned to Japan and placed fourth in the Sprinters Stakes.

Then, he was off again to Sha Tin for December's Hong Kong Sprint. Unable to show his best amid a heated pace, Satono Reve finished in ninth place out of 13 runners.

Ridden by Joao Moreira in 2025, new partner Christophe Lemaire is expected to be up on Sunday. Lemaire has captured all but three of the JRA's 24 Grade 1 events thus far. This race still eludes him (as do the Osaka Hai and the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes).

Trainer Noriyuki Hori, who won back-to-back editions of the Takamatsunomiya Kinen with Kinshasa no Kiseki in 2010-11, is eyeing his second streak with Satono Reve.

Namura Clair to Make 4th Straight Appearance

Now 7 years old, the Mikki Isle-sired Namura Clair takes on her fourth Takamatsunomiya Kinen, and most likely this will be her final run. She's finished second in this race for three consecutive years.

Expected on the saddle is Suguru Hamanaka, who had ridden 16 of her 24 starts up until Takeshi Yokoyama took over in the 2024 Sprinters Stakes, followed by Lemaire over the next five rides.

In the same rotation as in 2025, Namura Clair was prepped with the Grade 2 Hanshin Cup over 1,400 meters at Hanshin in late December and finished a nose behind the winner in a race won in record-setting time for the course.

Trainer Kodai Hasegawa says her work is looking good.

"She's showing no signs of aging, and her balance has shifted a bit more forward," Hasegawa commented. "Hamanaka, too, says she's feeling good."

Panja Tower Set to Race at His Best Distance

Standing out as the youngest of the expected top picks is the 4-year-old colt Panja Tower, a son of Tower of London, winner of the 2019 Sprinters Stakes. Following his win in the 2025 NHK Mile Cup, Panja Tower captured the Grade 3 Keeneland Cup over 1,200 meters. He then scored fifth place in two races overseas ― the 1,500-meter Golden Eagle at Australia's Royal Randwick in late October and February's Grade 2 1351 Turf Sprint in Riyadh.

"The ground was quite poor in his last outing," said trainer Shinsuke Hashiguchi. "I think the distance (1,351 meters) was just a bit too long."

After returning to Japan and completing four weeks of quarantine, Panja Tower's tight schedule will give him only the required 10 days in Ritto, Shiga Prefecture, before race day.

"He came out of his last race with no damage, and things have gone well since. The 1,200 meters is his best distance and he has had good results racing to the left," Hashiguchi said.

Read the rest of this article about the Takamatsunomiya Kinen and the Japanese horses in contention on JRA News.

Author: JRA News