Japan: Pixie Knight takes step forward with Sprinters' Stakes victory

Pixie Knight, a well-beaten sixth in his Grade 1 debut at a mile earlier this year, won the richest and most prestigious race of his career in Sunday’s Grade 1 Sprinters’ Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse in Japan, easily beating a field of prominent older horses.

In the $2.27 million Sprinters’ Stakes, Pixie Knight ($13.10 in American pools) stalked the pace to the final quarter-mile before pulling away to win by two lengths over 7-5 favorite Resistencia, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2019 in Japan.

Shivaji (40-1) finished third in the field of 16. Shivaji, a 6-year-old Kentucky-bred horse by First Samurai, was beaten a head by Resistencia. Shivaji, who sold for $540,000 at a 2-year-olds in-training sale in Ocala, Florida, in 2017, won a Grade 3 at six furlongs in Japan in January.

Resistencia has been second in four Grade 1 races since a win at that level in the 2019 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies.

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Resistencia and Pixie Knight finished 1-2 in the Grade 2 Sankai Sho Centaur Stakes at six furlongs at Chukyo Racecourse on Sept. 12.

Pixie Knight was one of two 3-year-olds in a field of 16 in the Sprinters Stakes.

A Japanese-bred by Maurice, Pixie Knight has won 3 of 8 starts, including a Grade 3 race at a mile in January. Owned by Silk Racing Co., Ltd., and trained by Hidetaka Otonashi, Pixie Knight finished sixth in the Grade 1 NHK Mile for 3-year-olds at Tokyo Racecourse in May.

Pixie Knight was ridden by his regular rider, Yuichi Fukunaga, who said the colt’s future is in sprints.

“I never thought he would give such a strong performance and in a Grade 1 this fast,” Fukunaga told Japan Racing Association publicity. “He’s still not physically balanced yet, but he will improve, mature and definitely become a target to beat in numerous sprint races in or outside the country.”