Japan: Resistencia goes for second Grade 1 in Sprinters' Stakes

With the benefit of a recent win in a Grade 2 sprint, the 4-year-old filly Resistencia will be favored to win her second Grade 1 race in Sunday’s $2.27 million Sprinters’ Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse.

The champion 2-year-old filly of 2019 in Japan, Resistencia won the Grade 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies at the end of that season. In five subsequent starts in Grade 1 races, Resistencia has been second three times, most recently in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen at six furlongs at Chukyo Racecourse in March.

:: Get free Past Performances for the Grade 1 Sprinters' Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse here.

Resistencia won the Grade 2 Sankai Sho Centaur Stakes at six furlongs at Chukyo on Sept. 12 in her first start since a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Victoria Mile for fillies and mares at Tokyo Racecourse in May.

The Sprinters’ Stakes is the first of 12 Grade 1 races in the final three months of the year in Japan and the only one for sprinters. Resistencia is part of a field of 16. Post time is 2:40 a.m. Eastern on Sunday, or 11:40 p.m. Pacific on Saturday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

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Resistencia has won 5 of 11 starts for U Carrot Farm and trainer Takeshi Matsushita. Christophe Lemaire, the runaway leading rider at Japan Racing Association tracks, has the mount on Resistencia. Lemaire rode Resistencia in the recent win at Chukyo.

The Sprinters’ Stakes is familiar territory for Danon Smash, the 6-year-old who was third in the 2019 running and second last year. Danon Smash won the Takamatsunomiya Kinen by a neck over Resistencia in March and followed with a sixth-place finish in the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong on April, his only subsequent start.

Danon Smash, who tends to run from off the pace, won the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin last December.

Resistencia may have an edge over that rival with the benefit of a recent start.

The Sprinters’ Stakes will be the second consecutive matchup between Resistencia and the promising 3-year-old Pixie Knight, who was second in the Centaur Stakes. Pixie Knight won a Grade 3 race at a mile in January, and has shown improvement in recent starts without winning.