| Location | Nakayama Racecourse |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1967 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred |
| Website | japanracing.jp - Centaur Stakes & Sprinters Stakes |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1,200 meters (About 6 furlongs) |
| Track | Turf, Right-handed |
| Qualification | 3-y-o+, Thoroughbreds |
| Weight | 3-y-o 55kg / 4-y-o+ 57kg[1] |
| Purse | ¥202,350,000 (as of 2007)[1] |
The Sprinters Stakes (スプリンターズステークス) is a Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan open to thoroughbreds which are three-years-old or above. It is run over a distance of 1,200 metres (approximately 6 furlongs) at Nakayama Racecourse, and it takes place annually in late September or early October.
It was first run in 1967, and was given Domestic Grade 3 status when race grading was introduced to Japan in 1984. This was elevated to Domestic Grade 2 in 1987, Domestic Grade 1 in 1990, and to its present level in 2006. Horses trained outside Japan have been eligible to run in the race since 1994. Prior to 2000 the race was run in December, the week before the Arima Kinen (Grand Prix).
It is now the seventh leg in the nine race Global Sprint Challenge series, preceded by the July Cup and followed by The Age Classic.
| Year |
Winner |
Age |
Jockey |
Trainer |
Owner |
Time |
| 1994 | Sakura Bakushin O | 5 | Futoshi Kojima | Katsutaro Sakai | Sakura Commerce | 1:07.1 |
| 1995 | Hishi Akebono | 3 | Koichi Tsunoda | Masaru Sayama | Masaichiro Abe | 1:08.1 |
| 1996 | Flower Park | 4 | Seiki Tabara | Shouichi Matsumoto | Katsumi Yoshida | 1:08.8 |
| 1997 | Taiki Shuttle | 3 | Yukio Okabe | Kazuo Fujisawa | Taiki Farm Co. | 1:07.8 |
| 1998 | Meiner Love | 3 | Yutaka Yoshida | Ryuichi Inaba | Thoroughbred Club Ruffian | 1:08.6 |
| 1999 | Black Hawk | 5 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Sakae Kunieda | Makoto Kaneko | 1:08.2 |
| 2000 | Daitaku Yamato | 6 | Teruo Eda | Sei Ishizaka | Kazuo Nakamura | 1:08.6 |
| 2001 | Trot Star | 5 | Masayoshi Ebina | Eiji Nakano | Minoru Takano | 1:07.0 |
| 2002 | Believe [1] | 4 | Yutaka Take | Shigeki Matsumoto | Koji Maeda | 1:07.7 |
| 2003 | Durandal | 4 | Kenichi Ikezoe | Masahiro Sakaguchi | Teruya Yoshida | 1:08.0 |
| 2004 | Calstone Light O | 6 | Naohiro Onishi | Hiroyuki Oneda | Sadamitsu Shimizu | 1:09.9 |
| 2005 | Silent Witness | 6 | Felix Coetzee | Tony Cruz | Archie & Betty da Silva | 1:07.3 |
| 2006 | Takeover Target | 7 | Jay Ford | Joe Janiak | Joe & Ben Janiak | 1:08.1 |
| 2007 | Aston Machan | 3 | Eiji Nakadate | Sei Ishizaka | Mayumi Tosa | 1:09.4 |
| 2008 | Sleepless Night | 4 | Hiroyuki Uemura | Kojiro Hashiguchi | Sunday Racing Co. Ltd. | 1:08.0 |
| 2009 | Laurel Guerreiro | 5 | Shinji Fujita | Mitsugu Kon | Laurel Racing | 1:07.5 |
| 2010 | Ultra Fantasy | 8 | Alex H W Lai | Ricky P F Yiu | The Hon T F Lam | 1:07.4 |
| 2011 | Curren Chan | 4 | Ken'ichi Ikezoe | Takayuki Yasuda | Takashi Suzuki | 1:07.4 |
1 The 2002 race took place at Niigata Racecourse.
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