Japan: Star Anise takes on older males in Sprinters Stakes
At a mile on turf, Star Anise is undefeated in Japan, winning the Grade 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies last December, and the Grade 1 1000 Guineas in April.
She failed in the Grade 1 Japanese Oaks at 1 1/2 miles at Tokyo Racecourse in May, finishing 12th of 18.
Distances races are not in Star Anise’s future.
On Sunday at Nakayama Racecourse, Star Anise starts against males and against older horses for the first time in the Grade 1 Sprinters Stakes at six furlongs.
In early betting on Friday, Star Anise was the 2-1 favorite in a field of 16 that includes two well-regarded 4-year-olds colts in the Grade 1 winner Panja Tower and Flicker Jab, who has won his last three starts.
Star Anise, trained by Tomokazu Takano, has won 3 of 6 starts. A unanimous choice as the champion 2-year-old filly of 2025, Star Anise has not raced since the loss in the Japanese Oaks.
The $2.09 million Sprinters Stakes is her first start at six furlongs since a win in a maiden race at Kokura Racecourse in July 2025 in her second career race. She closed from third of 10 to win by seven lengths.
Star Anise won her two Grade 1 races from off the pace.
Panja Tower won the Grade 1 NHK Mile for 3-year-olds at Tokyo in May 2025. A winner of 4 of 11 starts, Panja Tower returned from an 11-week gap to finish second by 1 1/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Keeneland Cup at six furlongs at Sapporo Racecourse on Aug. 23.
Panja Tower was fourth by 2 1/2 lengths in the six-furlong, Grade 1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen, the country’s only other Grade 1 sprint aside from the Sprinters Stakes, at Chukyo Racecourse in March. The March race was won by Satono Reve, the 2025 champion sprinter in Japan who was retired to stud earlier this month.
Flicker Jab starts in his first Grade 1 in his 12th start in the Sprinters Stakes. A seven-time winner, Flicker Jab won the Grade 2 Sankei Sho Centaur Stakes at six furlongs at Hanshin Racecourse on Sept. 6 by a length over Puro Magic, who drew the outside post in the Sprinters Stakes and will be a longshot.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.