LAST seen on a Japanese racecourse when claiming his first Group 1 race in March’s Takamatsunomiya Kinen. Fine Needle then travelled to Hong Kong finishing a commendable fourth place in the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize.

The winner of the same race 12 months ago, Fine Needle returned to Hanshin Racecourse for the 1200m Group 2 Sankei Sho Centaur Stakes.

As the sole Group 1 winner in the field of 15 runners, he was sent off as the 9/4 favourite to lay claim to the €450,000 first prize.

In the hands of veteran rider Yuga Kawada, the five-year-old horse jumped sharply from stall 14 to race prominently. Forced to race wide throughout, the son of Admire Moon eased to the centre of the track off the final bend.

Quickening smartly under a hands and heels ride, Fine Needle passed the winning post a decisive length-and-a-half winner. Three-year-old filly Love Kampf, in receipt of a 6kg allowance, put in an impressive front running performance to hold on to the runner-up spot.

Fine Needle will now line-up as the likely short-priced favourite for the Group 1 Sprinter Stakes on September 30th. With just two Group 1 sprint races on the JRA’s seasonal fixture list, a return to Hong Kong for the December international meeting could be on the cards for the Godolphin-owned sprinter.

IT is just over five weeks to the final leg of the fillies’ Triple Crown, the Shuka Sho.

Ruthless victories in the Oka Sho (1000 Guineas) and Yushun Himba (Oaks) mean that Almond Eye is still in contention and largely expected to land the much coveted title.

The Group 3 Shion Stakes run over the 2000 metre classic trip acts as a trial race for the Group 1 Shuka Sho., and the 2017 renewal of the classic prep race went the way of Harbinger filly Deirdre, who went on to win the fillies’ classic.

There was a distinct sense of déjà vu in this year’s edition as another Harbinger filly, Normcore, ran out a comfortable winner.

Ridden by Christophe Lemaire, she stalked the pace in fourth position, before easing through and taking the lead entering the final furlong.

The Kiyoshi Hagiwara-trained filly stayed on strongly to win by three lengths, with Mau Lea finishing well -beaten in second place.

The American-bred Randonnee finished a further half-length behind in third.

Mau Lea was placed fifth behind Almond Eye in both of the early season classics, giving the form an ideal benchmark to assess Normcore as a potential contender for the Shuka Sho.

IN the early hours of September 6th, Japan’s most northerly Island of Hokkaido was awoken by a pre-emptive emergency alert siren on all mobile phones.

Moments later Hokkaido endured its most violent seismic event in its history. Two back-to-back earthquakes registering a magnitude of 6.7 at a depth of 40km. The quake instantly caused a blackout for the island of 5.3 million people and crashed the mobile network.

Owing to the blackout, the Tomari three-reactor nuclear plant, which has been shut since 2012, based on Hokkaido was forced to rely on diesel generators to cool its fuel rods for 10 hours before power was restored. It was a situation reminiscent of the onset of the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The epicentre of the quake was located near the small town of Atsuma in the southerly Hidaka region of Hokkaido. This is an area instilled in the Japanese breeding industry with numerous small stud farms along with Northern Farm, Shadai Farm and also Shadai’s Stallion Station which are all located in the vicinity.

In a largely mountainous region with farms being based in fertile valleys, the earthquake triggered a series of catastrophic landslides.

With heavy rain and gale force winds in the days before, it has been estimated that up to 800 landslides occurred in the locality of Atsuma. Over 100 smaller aftershocks have been registered in the days after the earthquake.

At the time of writing, the current confirmed death toll is 44 with over 600 injured and over 1000 people residing in evacuation centres. The total figure for loss of equines is yet to be confirmed. Northern Farm have announced that the mare, Miss Encore, was found in the paddock on the morning of the sixth stricken with a hind limb injury. She was subsequently euthanised. The 12-year-old mare was the dam of 2018 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) winner Wagnerian.