Japanese 2000 Guineas: Unbeaten 3-year-olds Kitasan Black, Satono Crown clash

The unbeaten stakes winners Kitasan Black and Satono Crown, and the 2014 champion 2-year-old colt Danon Platina, are among 15 colts in Sunday’s $1,700,824 Japanese 2000 Guineas at Nakayama Racecourse.

Kitasan Black, by the Sunday Silence stallion Black Tide, may go favored on the basis of his win in the Grade 2 Spring Stakes at Nakayama in March, a race in which Danon Platina was third in his first start of the year.

Satono Crown will gain major support, having won the Grade 2 Hochi Hai Yayoi San Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Nakayama in March. Other contenders are Real Steal, who was second in the Spring Stakes, and Bright Emblem, second in the Yayoi San Stakes.

Danon Platina has won 3 of 5 starts. By Deep Impact, Danon Platina won the Grade 1 Asahi Hai Futurity at Hanshin last December, clinching the title.

The Grade 1 Japanese 2000 Guineas, also known as the Satsuki Sho, is run at 1 1/4 miles on turf, a quarter-mile longer than most 2000 Guineas races around the world, which are run at a mile.

The first four finishers of Sunday’s race receive automatic starting berths in the $3,499,915 Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse on May 31.