Japan’s top hope in the Hong Kong Sprint is Straight Girl. The daughter of Fuji Kiseki (Sunday Silence) is again in top form. Her sire will be familiar to Australian breeders as he stood here, without a great deal of success, between 1998 and 2002. He was one of several Japanese stallions that that made their way here at the time. The fact that none are coming now indicates the lack of success of that experiment.

Straight Girl finished third in the Sprint last year. Starting at generous price of $550, her good performance was clearly a surprise to Hong Kong punters. From a wide gate she managed to get cover behind the speed, however was not able to pass the locals Aerovelocity and Peniaphobia in the run home. There’s no Aerovelocity this year, however her task is no easier with an in form Gold-Fun heading the Hong Kong team.

Since last years event she’s been sparingly raced, having started four times, for two wins. One of those was at the mile, where she was successful at Group 1 level. Her first appearance for the year, in March, saw her run into Aerovelocity again in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen. Run on a deteriorating track she didn’t let down as she normally does and finished well back in the field.

Next up was the Victoria Mile in May, a race she’d finished placed third in 2014. As seems a regular thing in Japanese racing, a long shot set a hot speed and she was able to finish off well to get just there on the line.

Back to a sprinting trip in September she went to the Centaur Stakes. Caught a bit wide she battled away well for forth, missing a dividend by a short margin.

Her last run was a winning effort in the Sprinters Stakes, where she’d finished second last year, prior to her trip to Hong Kong. The two previous editions had been taken out by the freak Lord Kanaloa. So in recent times it has been a key form race going into the Hong Kong Sprint.

Every indication is that her form is better than this time last year, so she ranks as a top chance in the race. I’m looking forward to seeing her again.

Thanks to the JRA website for the ability to download the feature image.