Japan: In expected final start, Namura Clair eyes first Grade 1 in Takamatsunomiya Kinen
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In what is expected to be her final start, the brilliant Japanese mare Namura Clair will attempt to win the first Grade 1 race of her career in her 11th attempt in Sunday’s $2.05 million Takamatsunomiya Kinen at six furlongs at Chukyo Racecourse.
The Takamatsunomiya Kinen, one of two Grade 1 sprints in Japan each year, is a race Namura Clair knows well. A 7-year-old, Namura Clair has been second in the last three runnings. She was third in the country’s other Grade 1 sprint, the Sprinters Stakes, from 2023 to 2025.
A winner of 6 of 24 starts, Namura Clair starts from post 13 in a field of 18 on Sunday. Namura Clair has yet to start this year. She was second in the Grade 2 Hanshin Cup at seven furlongs at Hanshin Racecourse in December.
Namura Clair has been beaten in her last start four starts, since the 2024 Hanshin Cup, which that year was run at Kyoto Racecourse.
Namura Clair is a closer. On Sunday, she will be joined in that running style by the race’s other two leading contenders – Panja Tower and Satono Reve, the winner of the Takamatsunomiya Kinen in 2025.
Panja Tower, and the outsider Rapier, are the only 4-year-olds in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen. Panja Tower won the Grade 1 NHK Mile for 3-year-olds last May, and won the Grade 3 Keeneland Cup at six furlongs at Sapporo last May.
Panja Tower has been fifth in his last two starts, both overseas – the Golden Eagle Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Australia in November, and the Group 2 1351 Turf Sprint in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 14.
After returning from Saudi Arabia, Panja Tower underwent four weeks of quarantine before resuming training.
Satono Reve was the 2025 champion sprinter in Japan. He is winless in four starts since the 2025 Takamatsunomiya Kinen, including a fourth behind Win Carnelian in the Sprinters Stakes in September, and a ninth-place finish in a field of 13 in the Group Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin in Hong Kong in December.
Sunday’s race is Satono Reve’s first start of 2026.
Post time is 2:40 a.m. Eastern on Sunday or 11:40 p.m. Pacific on Saturday.
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