All eyes will be on defending champion Lord Kanaloa as the fall Japanese Grade 1 season gets underway with this weekend's Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse.

Eighteen horses - none from abroad - have been nominated for the 16 slots in the 1,200-meter race on Sept. 29. Last year, Hong Kong's Little Bridge and Lucky Nine and Captain Obvious of Singapore took part; Lucky Nine finished the highest of the three in fifth place.

The 197 million yen Sprinters Stakes is the eighth leg of the Global Sprint Challenge, which was expanded to 10 races last season with the inclusion of the Dubai Golden Shaheen. The series offers a $1 million bonus to any horse who wins in three different countries outside his native region (none in the Sprinters Stakes is eligible this year).

After the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen, the Sprinters Stakes is the second richest race of the Global Sprint Challenge, paying a handsome 95 million yen to the winner. But to cash in, the 16 contestants of the Sprinters Stakes must maneuver their way through a tough six furlongs at the tight Chiba Prefecture track.

The Sprinters Stakes starts on the backstretch at Nakayama from a downhill of 200 meters to the first turn, which curves to the right for 400 meters before leading into a sharp final bend for the 310-meter straight - punishing to most runners because of a steep rise over the last 200 meters. While Nakayama tends to favor an inside draw, the Sprinters Stakes has proven to be a level playing field with horses from the No. 1 post to No. 16 having finished inside the top five over the last decade.

The Sprinters Stakes was added to the Japan Racing Association program in the spring of 1967 as the nation's only handicapped 1,200-meter race for 3-year-olds & up. It earned Grade 3 status in 1984 and three years later, was bumped up to Grade 2, becoming a major prep race for the 1,600-meter Yasuda Kinen held in June.

The Sprinters Stakes joined Grade 1 company in 1990, when it was fixed a week ahead of the year-ending Arima Kinen in December. The race began taking on entries from overseas in 1994 and was moved again in 2000 to the last week of September/first week of October, where it has remained on the calendar since.

Post time for the 47th Sprinters Stakes is 3:40 p.m. The early favorites are as follows:

DREAM VALENTINO: The 6-year-old Dream Valentino was a distant third to Hakusan Moon and Lord Kanaloa in the Centaur Stakes, and trailed Lord Kanaloa at second by more than a length in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen won in record time. Can the veteran close the gap? That will be a tall order for the Tadashi Kayo-trained horse, who was third in the Sprinters Stakes last year.

GRAND PRIX BOSS: The Yoshito Yahagi-trained 5-year-old is the only other Grade 1 winner in the field apart from Lord Kanaloa, yet isn't being seen as much more than an outsider for the Sprinters Stakes. Sired by Sakura Bakushin O, one of JRA's top sprinters of all time, Grand Prix Boss won the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes and the NHK Mile Cup at 1,600 meters but will run his first race at six furlongs in the Sprinters Stakes - hence, the pessimism. But the 1,200 meters could actually suit Grand Prix Boss, given that he has always had a hard time staying at the mile. The talent is there; with big-race jockey Hiroyuki Uchida in the saddle, he could get the most out of him. "He came back to Ritto on Sept. 10, but had been worked at the farm the whole time. He was struggling to settle at a mile so the distance shouldn't be an issue. The only thing is, he's never raced at 1,200 meters so I can't definitively say one way or the other."

HAKUSAN MOON: Hakusan Moon's jockey Manabu Sakai knows Lord Kanaloa wasn't at his best and gave away 2 kg to his 4-year-old colt in the Centaur Stakes. But Sakai still credits Hakusan Moon, the * Summer Sprint Series champion, for getting the job done, pointing to the quality his partner has as a first-class racehorse. "Beating Lord Kanaloa meant a great deal to us," Sakai said. "Obviously, he wasn't 100 percent and we had a 2 kg handicap, but to finish ahead of him still means something. Hakusan Moon isn't just a pacesetter. He doesn't start particularly well, but he has a second wind like no other. He's been finishing strong lately and if you saw the last race, we waited and waited before I finally hit the switch. It was a plan we had in mind all long because we know what he's capable of." Hakusan Moon, by Admire Moon out of Ciliege, went wire-to-wire to stun the defending Sprinters Stakes champion by a neck in the Centaur Stakes earlier this month, cutting a brisk pace of 33.8 seconds in the first half, 33.7 in the second half. The rest of the field trailed by more than three lengths in what was truly a two-horse race. Hakusan Moon certainly had a few advantages over Lord Kanaloa, but Sakai said his horse would not have been able to capitalize on them not too long ago. Lord Kanaloa is in a class of his own, but the folks at the Masato Nishizono stable are counting on Hakusan Moon to come into his own in the Sprinters Stakes. "When he won his first graded race in the Keihan Hai, I thought a lot of things fell into place for him to get that victory," Sakai said. "I noticed a huge difference in him since this year's Takamatsunomiya Kinen, where he was third. He's learned to switch gears at the right time. He knows when to push and when to pull now. Without question, Kanaloa will be better this time around. We'll be at the same weight, and I expect the likes of Majin Prosper and Forever Mark to be in tiptop condition. But the entire stable has worked hard to get this far. Lord Kanaloa won't be around next year, so winning this year really matters."
Yasuda Kinen (G1)

LORD KANALOA: To see Lord Kanaloa lose for the first time in six starts on Sept. 8 in the Centaur Stakes was undoubtedly a surprise, but neither trainer Takayuki Yasuda nor jockey Yasunari Iwata are worried for the Sprinters Stakes. And why should they be? They have on their hands the most successful sprinter in Japanese racing history, and their confidence in the 5-year-old defending champion remains bulletproof. "We had Hakusan Moon marked and I thought we'd get him at the end," Yasuda said, referring to the Centaur Stakes winner by a neck. "Kanaloa finished strong but the other horse was tough. We've won on the world stage and we're not in a position to lose so yeah, it was a little disappointing. Obviously the weight difference had an impact but I think the main thing was, they raced during the summer and we'd been off for three months, not having run since June. We pin it down to fitness. We were second in the Centaur Stakes last year, too, when we went directly from the race to the Hakodate Sprint Stakes in June." In the Centaur Stakes, the big prep 1,200-meter race at Hanshin, Lord Kanaloa was under 58 kg as opposed to Hakusan Moon's 56 kg. As Yasuda pointed out, his King Kamehameha son hadn't competed since June 2, when he won the 1,600-meter Yasuda Kinen for his fourth consecutive Grade 1 title. Hakusan Moon, on the other hand, raced twice over the summer with his sights set on the Centaur Stakes - and the * Summer Sprint Series crown, which he duly won. With all due respect to Hakusan Moon, he had a clear edge in terms of conditioning and preparation over Lord Kanaloa, who has always been relatively dull in his first race after a layoff. "I didn't think we would lose...," Iwata said. "In hindsight, I probably should have made my move a little sooner. There were a lot of reasons for the defeat, like the fact that he was coming out of a break. There was also the pace, the going at the time which favored the horses in front as well as the 58 kg he had to shoulder. But I'm not down about it. He was slightly on the heavy side, so I'm glad he got one race under his belt, and it will boost his performance for his next start." Added Yasuda, "I wasn't sure how he'd handle the pace since his previous race was a mile, but he got into position effortlessly, which I was really impressed by. He didn't quicken like he always does but I'm confident we'll see improvement from him next time." Lord Kanaloa, out of the Storm Cat mare Lady Blossom, has already won three Grade 1 sprint races - and successively, too - an unprecedented feat by a JRA horse. He has won 11 of 17 starts for his career, never having missed a top three finish. And here's a warning shot for anyone who thinks he has a remote chance of stealing the show in the Sprinters Stakes: Lord Kanaloa is a better racehorse than he was last season, when he won the race in a record 1 minute, 6.7 seconds, according to Iwata. "I didn't get the impression he's grown any more, but he's in better shape than he was in the spring. Compared to the first time I rode him in the Centaur Stakes last year, he's a lot stronger and he's so sure of himself, so composed all the time. He's always been a fairly relaxed horse but now he can adjust to any situation. The fact that in the spring, he won the Hankyu Hai at 1,400 meters and then the Yasuda Kinen at 1,600 meters is proof of his evolution as a racehorse." The trainer is in full agreement with his jockey. "Since his previous race, he's been infinitely better in mind and body, and his basic fitness is at another level compared to last season," Yasuda said. "I have every reason to believe he'll be in even better form than he was in last year's Sprinters Stakes, when he won his first Grade 1 title." It remains to be seen what path Lord Kanaloa - who has every chance of being the first short-distance runner to be named the JRA's Horse of the Year this season - will follow this autumn; he has the option of heading to the Mile Championship in November or to Hong Kong for the Sprint or the Mile, even. But be it six furlongs or eight, the distance shouldn't be an issue for the legend in the making, so much so that Iwata, who has ridden his fair share of big races, isn't feeling any pressure ahead of Sunday when Lord Kanaloa will be the prohibitive favorite. "Even before the race, I felt he could last a mile," the multi-Grade 1-winning Iwata said, looking back on the Yasuda Kinen. "Whether it's the sprint or the mile, he can race from any position. I don't feel an ounce of pressure when I ride this horse because there is so much certainty with him. I know I can rely on him. He's sturdy - both physically and mentally - and is incredibly easy to maneuver. He breaks well, and I can position him wherever I want during the trip. And once he's in position, he responds as soon as you give him the green light. I've got no worries with this horse whatsoever, which is why I don't feel any pressure. But first things first, we want to bounce back and win the Sprinters Stakes. We can't afford to lose at Grade 1, especially after we lost the Centaur Stakes. From here on, I expect us to win every race this fall." Says Yasuda, "The Mile Championship is one of our targets, but we'll see what's what after the Sprinters Stakes. We'll decide whether to go to Hong Kong again and if we do, are we going after the Sprint again or the Mile? It all depends on his performance here.

SAKURA GOSPEL: The Sprinters Stakes will be Sakura Gospel's fourth Grade 1 start, and trainer Tomohito Ozeki's team is hoping its 5-year-old horse can spring a surprise. The Sakura President son has raced in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen twice (ninth in 2012, fourth this year) and this year's Yasuda Kinen, at which he turned a lot of heads by finishing fifth as the 16th choice. Norihiro Yokoyama's mount launched his fall campaign by taking second in the Aug. 24 Toki Stakes at 1,400 meters, which, according to assistant trainer Nishizuka, has quickly whipped Sakura Gospel into form for the Sprinters Stakes. The Sakura Gospel camp had been concerned about his running during what was a scorching summer in Japan, but has come out fine. Free of pressure and in the hands of a proven rider, Sakura Gospel - who has run the 1,200 meters at Nakayama twice and won both times - could make things interesting come Sunday. "I think a Grade 1 race at Nakayama suits him; the conditions are perfect," Nishizuka said. "Up until now, he'd always stayed at the training center during the summer, so I was worried how a race in the heat would affect him. But he handled it well. He hasn't shown any sign of exhaustion. He's been easier to train, a lot looser since his last race. It's getting cooler, and I think it's really helped him. He has a good track record at Nakayama. I hope everyone at the stable can work together and work hand in hand."