Puro Magic has spent most of her career going as fast as she can for as long as she can, and on Sunday at Nakayama the mare finally carried that speed all the way to a Group 1 win in the Sprinters Stakes.
It was enough for Masamichi Hashimoto, president of owner Three H Racing, to start dreaming of December’s Hong Kong Sprint and a meeting with Ka Ying Rising, even if his target is not quite the one most owners would set.
“If we’re able to go to Hong Kong, then we will probably go there, and after that, given her age, I imagine she will head to the breeding shed,” Hashimoto told Tospo Keiba. “I think we will decide what to do in consultation with the trainer. I just want her to beat Ka Ying Rising for the first 800 metres.”
The joke landed because there is truth in it. Drawn in the widest gate, the five-year-old crossed the field in the opening strides, went through the first 600 metres in 33.6 seconds and turned for home three lengths clear. World’s End and Sound Moryana came at her late, but Puro Magic had just enough left to hold on by a neck.
She was winning at her sixth attempt at Group 1 level. Nobody has ever doubted her speed, and she arrived as the Summer Sprint Series champion after winning the Hakodate Sprint Stakes and the Ibis Summer Dash and running second in the Centaur Stakes. What had let her down in the biggest races was the composure to use it, and jockey Mirai Iwata felt the difference on Sunday.
“I was a bit worried about the ground condition, but thanks to her ability and speed, we were able to take the lead,” Iwata said, according to the JRA. “She was more composed than in her last race and managed to hang on in the stretch.”
The win gave her sire Asia Express, the 2013 Asahi Hai Futurity winner, his first Group 1 as a stallion. It also gave trainer Shogo Yasuda his second JRA Group 1 after Danon Decile’s 2024 Tokyo Yushun and Iwata his second after Arma Veloce in the 2024 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies.
She left a trail of big names in her wake. Favourite Star Anise, the Oka Sho winner, hit traffic at the top of the straight and ran on for fourth, second favourite Panja Tower never fired and finished 15th, and defending champion Win Carnelian weakened late to run sixth.
For Hashimoto’s plan to come off, Puro Magic will have to get past a horse who has won 21 races in a row. If Ka Ying Rising wins The Everest at Randwick on October 17 and the Jockey Club Sprint in November, he will line up in the Hong Kong Sprint on a streak of 23.
David Hayes has the gelding at Canterbury, where he has settled in well ahead of a Randwick barrier trial on October 6, and says he is handling his second Sydney trip far better than his first.
“Last year he was getting a little bit uptight and he came good about two days before the race,” Hayes said. “This year he’s come good three weeks before the race. He’s a different horse.”
That leaves Puro Magic’s connections with a race plan that barely needs explaining. She will jump, she will go, and for 800 metres at Sha Tin, at least, Hashimoto and his club members can have 40-odd seconds of joy. ∎
