Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

On September 27, the Sprinters Stakes (G1) at Nakayama Racecourse was won wire-to-wire by 9th-favorite Puro Magic. Jockey Nozomi Iwata picked up his second career G1 win aboard the horse. The upset victory over the top favorites sparked a wave of surprised reactions on 5ch — comments like “Autumn’s first G1 already turned into chaos” and “I bet ¥100 and it came back ¥2,400” — while others focused on the race itself, questioning the riding through the race, the use of the whip before the start, and the severity of the penalty points for interference.

The Sprinters Stakes, contested by five G1-winning horses vying for the title of fastest sprinter, was won by Puro Magic.

Puro Magic is by sire Asia Express, out of dam Mejeruda.

▼About the Sprinters Stakes: Established in 1967 as the only graded stakes race for 4-year-olds (now categorized as 3-year-olds) and up run over 1,200m on turf. It was upgraded to G1 status in 1990 and became an international race in 1994. After becoming a G1, it was initially held at Nakayama in late December, before being moved to the final week of Nakayama’s autumn meet in 2000.

Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here

78AnonymousSep 27, 2026 16:42

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HTMv7pua4AAzRBL.jpg
https://x.com/piro550520/status/2104078158714765674

85AnonymousSep 27, 2026 16:51

Here's my take (´^ω^｀)
Box bet paid out 9x the stake
Once Sound barely grabbed 3rd,
yeah, that was that
Track condition was worse than expected

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Breaking News+) thread “[Horse Racing] Sprinters Stakes (Nakayama, G1): 9th-favorite Puro Magic wins wire-to-wire! Jockey Nozomi Iwata’s second career G1 win.”

On the 27th, at the press conference held the day before the match against Venezuela, Japan national team manager Hajime Moriyasu criticized a report by some media outlets claiming that Ritsu Doan and Kento Shiogai had a heated clash during individual training at the World Cup, saying “the players themselves are getting hurt by this,” and made an unusual request to the assembled press. The report was reportedly based not on the source’s own eyewitness account but on secondhand information. Opinions on the forum thread split into two camps: those who felt the more the manager denies it, the more it seems true, and those who saw it as a legitimate request to stop reporting built on flimsy hearsay. Views also differed over just how much influence the reporter behind the story really has.

Japan national team manager Hajime Moriyasu attended the pre-match press conference on the 27th ahead of the Venezuela match (28th, at E Peace [stadium]). At the end of the conference, Moriyasu opened with, “I have one request,” and denied a report from some media outlets that hinted at a rift between Ritsu Doan and Kento Shiogai.

“I know you all have freedom of the press, but there’s a report from a certain outlet singling out these players, and it’s ending up hurting the players themselves. I really wish you’d stop publishing things that hurt the players,” the manager said. He continued, “It’s been reported that during individual training at the World Cup, Doan and Shiogai got heated, with Doan supposedly saying something pretty harsh to Shiogai. I’d like you to verify that, but the report was published as secondhand information — the source didn’t witness it themselves, they heard it from someone else. When we train, there are times players do clash with each other. In those moments there’s constructive back-and-forth, but neither side has ever intimidated the other or used abusive language,” he explained, laying out his request.

He also noted that in this case, it wasn’t the players who raised the issue — the request to the press was made at Manager Moriyasu’s own discretion. The manager said, “There’s a lack of respect for the players,” and asked for more consideration going forward.

Source: hochi.news / Original article here

5AnonymousSep 27, 2026 17:19

Don't go spreading this around, Moriyasu, lol

7AnonymousSep 27, 2026 17:21

Re: #5
This actually matters.
It's on Moriyasu too for letting that up-close media coverage happen in the first place.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HG1CkUAbgAEPI24?format=jpg

14AnonymousSep 27, 2026 17:22

Re: #7
This reminded me of that.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geino/Sports News+) thread “[Soccer] Manager Hajime Moriyasu Denies Rift Between Ritsu Doan and Kento Shiogai, Says “The Players Themselves Are Getting Hurt by This” — Makes Unusual Request to Press.”