HORSERACING – SAPPORO Kinen winner Top Knife will receive an invitation to compete in this year’s $1million Bahrain International Trophy following an impressive victory in the Group Two race in Japan.
Sapporo Kinen is the first of three events that offers an automatic invitation for the victor to the Bahrain International Trophy. It was held in the Japanese city of Sapporo on Sunday. This year, the race joins the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes and the Strensall Stakes as events in which the winner receives an automatic invitation to the kingdom’s most valuable horseracing spectacle.
Five-year-old Top Knife, ridden by Norihiro Yokoyama and trained by Mitsugu Kon, won the highly competitive race, which drew a maximum field of 16 runners.
The win was Top Knife’s first victory in a Group race, although he had previously finished runner-up in the 2023 Sapporo Kinen as a three-year-old. Held up at the rear of the field in the early stages, Top Knife made smooth progress mid-way through the race before taking the lead in the home straight to win by a length from the strongly fancied Coconuts Brown.
Speaking afterwards, Yokoyama said: “I’m very happy. I’m always glad when we win, but especially with this horse, since I’ve been with him since he was a young colt. “I’m relieved that he’s managed to make a comeback, and if he can stay on track from now, I believe he can blossom into something truly great.”
Run over 2,000 metres on a right-handed track, the Sapporo Kinen mirrors the distance and track of the Bahrain International Trophy. The link up with the Sapporo Kinen is an indication of the growing stature of the Group Two Bahrain race. It follows another significant development in 2024 when the first two runners to travel from Japan to Bahrain, Killer Ability and Yamanin Sympa, lined up for the race.
The next race with an automatic invitation to the Bahrain International Trophy is the Sky Bet Strensall Stakes, a Group Three event scheduled to take place this Saturday as part of York’s Ebor Festival. A previous winner of the Strensall Stakes is Spirit Dancer, the first two-time winner of the Bahrain International Trophy.
The final race is the Group One Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes, to be held at Leopardstown on September 13 and the feature event of Irish Champions Weekend. The winner of the race in 2024 was Economics, owned by Prime Minister’s Court Minister and Bahrain Turf Club chairman Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
This year’s running of the Group Two Bahrain International Trophy takes place on November 14. Entries for the race close on October 1.
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