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Fuji Kiseki mare Straight Girl recorded her second G1 win for the year when she landed the Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama following her victory in the Victoria Mile in May.
Straight Girl avenged her runner-up effort in the same race last year to give her trainer Hideaki Fujiwara his seventh career JRA G1 title.
It was the fifth JRA G1 win for her jockey Keita Tosaki, who also partnered the mare in the Victoria Mile.Coming off a fourth in the Centaur Stakes, Straight Girl broke smoothly from stall two and settled in mid-field before she exerted a powerful turn of foot for a clear cut win.
“Winning a G1 sprint race is really special for us because I think she deserves it,”Tosaki said.Fujiwara said he was grateful Straight Girl’s owners had kept her in training.
“I owe it to the owner who has been so understanding as to let me keep her in training towards this long-awaited goal, and the stable staff that had put in every effort to make this happen,” he said.“She’s such a special mare to be able to win a sprint G1 at six years old.
“Now that she has accomplished this victory in her last run in Japan, I hope to be able to condition her and prove her ability against the world’s top sprinters in Hong Kong - that would be so cool.”Hong Kong sprinter Rich Tapestry proved he had no problem handling the turf at Nakayama but the inside draw forced him to race further back than his connections had hoped.
He finished strongly in the last 200m to finish sixth less than two lengths behind the winner.