Date: 4th September 2022
Race Type: Grade 3
Track: Niigata Racecourse
Distance: 1,200m (turf)
Prize Money: ¥66,660,000 (US$580,000)
Kokura Nisai Stakes preview
The Kokura Nisai Stakes is a Grade 3 race reserved for two-year-old thoroughbreds. The race runs over a distance of 1,200m and takes place on the Kokura Racecourse. In 2021, Namura Clair won the Kokura Nisai Stakes.
The Kokura Nisai was held for the first time in 1961 and was promoted to a Grade 3 race in 1984. This year, the Sapporo Nisai is scheduled to take place on 4th September and has prize money of around US$580,000, while the race winner gets $270,000 from the purse.
This year, the 16 entrants’ lineup comprises mostly newcomers, having run one race only. Three horses will be coming from their maiden runs, while five have taken part in listed races earlier in the season, including the Phoenix SHO, Himawari SHO, and Hakodate SHO.
For most runners, it will be their first time on the Kokura racecourse. All the new race entrants and most maiden runners have led their last respective races to qualify for the Kokura Nisai. However, the season veterans have scored previous wins but not in their last runs, with the exception of Mikatte Yondeii, who won the Phoenix SHO in August this year.
During the past five years, the runners in 2nd or third place on the racing odds have delivered in the Kokura Nisai, while the last two times the favourites saluted for the punters were in 2015 and 2016.
