Basketball: Nakamura has hot hand in Kyoto Hannaryz's rout over Five Arrows
Date: 28/11/2010
Source: Japan Times (Ed Odeven)
The Kyoto Hannaryz had lost four of their previous five games entering this weekend's series against the Takamatsu Five Arrows, including a pair of lopsided defeats to the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix last week.
Led by veteran sharpshooter Naoto Nakamura's season-high 24-point performance, Kyoto bounced back with a comprehensive 103-71 win over the Five Arrows on Saturday in the bj-league.
Nakamura, whose previous season high was 12 points, canned 5 of 10 3-point shots and helped the Hannaryz improve to 5-8.
Kyoto star Wendell White, a former UNLV player, contributed 23 points, 16 rebounds and four assists and Reggie Warren had 18 points, 16 boards and six assists. Michael Fey and Yusuke Inoue scored 14 points apiece, while Kyosuke Setoyama distributed the ball effectively, picking up seven assists.
Takamatsu fell to 4-7.
Terrance Farley paced the Five Arrows with 16 points and Hiroyuki Kikuchi scored 13.
Soccer: Kashima beats Kyoto 2-1 in J-League
Date: 28/11/2010
Source: Associated Press via Taiwan News
Takuya Nozawa and Fellype Gabriel scored first-half goals to lead Kashima Antlers to a 2-1 win over Kyoto Sanga in the J-League on Sunday.
Nozawa opened the scoring with a left-footed shot from 10 meters and Gabriel doubled the lead with a header in the 30th minute. Takumi Miyayoshi replied midway through the second half for relegated Kyoto.
Yusuke Maruhashi, Amaral and Martinez all scored in the second half to lead Cerezo Osaka to a 4-0 thrashing of relegated Shonan Bellmare. A late own goal from Shonan midfielder Ryota Nagaki completed the scoring.
Nagoya Grampus claimed its first J-League title with a 1-0 win over Bellmare last week.
[Kyoto News]
Kyoto Sanga FC (京都サンガFC is a Japanese professional football (soccer) club based in Kyoto. The word "Sanga" is a Sanskrit term meaning "group" or "club", often used to denote Buddhist congregations. This reflects Kyoto's tradition of Buddhist temples (see sangha).The club was formerly known as Kyoto Purple Sanga with "purple", the colour of the team uniforms, an imperial colour reflecting Kyoto's status as Japan's ancient imperial capital city. It was decided however that, from 2007, the team will simply been known as "Kyoto Sanga". They are the oldest club competing in the J. League.
Horse racing: New York-bred wins in Kyoto
Date: 22/11/2010
Source: Daily Racing Form (Alan Shuback)
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| A SHIN FORWARD Masakazu Takahashi photo |
A record-setting performance by the 5-year-old New York-bred A Shin Forward propelled the Masoto Nishizono-trained son of Forest Wildcat to victory in the $2.3 million Mile Championship at Kyoto on Sunday. The 51-1 shot shaved .30 of a second off the track mark, getting the mile on a firm turf course in 1:31.80 while defeating the 2.70-1 favorite Danon Yoyo by a neck.
Bred in New York by Edition Farm, A Shin Forward chased the blistering pace of Jo Cappuccino in eighth place before surging to the lead under Yasunari Iwata at the sixteenth pole. He held off the late rally of Danon Yoyo as Gorski came home third, a nose behind the runner-up. The lone foreign entry in the Grade 1 contest, the Rodolphe Collet trained two-time Sun Chariot Stakes winner Sahpresa, was outpaced early but got up late for fourth, a nose behind Gorski as the 3.60-1 second choice. Last year Sahpresa had finished third in this same race behind Company.
Out of Yaddo Handicap winner Wake Up Kiss, A Shin Forward had won a pair of listed races at Hanshin last December, but his best previous effort had come in October when he landed Hanshin’s seven-furlong, Group 3 Hankyu Hai. He was originally sold by his breeders at Edition Farm at the Saratoga Select Yearling Sale to John Kimmel acting for Rayzin the Bar for $125,000. He was later purchased by Hirotsugu Hirai, owner of Eishindo Co., Ltd. in February 2007 at the Calder Selected 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale for $290,000. Owned by Eishindo Co., Ltd., A Shin Forward has now won six of 23 career starts for earnings of $3,302,052.
*Japan’s leading dirt horse Espoir City will not defend his title in the $3 million Japan Cup Dirt at Hanshin on Dec. 5. Tenth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 6 after leading into the stretch, he has been deemed not fully recovered from his exertions that day by trainer Akio Adachi. There will be no foreign-trained runners in the 1 1/8-mile Grade 1 contest this year.
Horse racing: Snow Fairy conquers Japan
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| Snow Fairy |
Date: 15/11/2010
Ed Dunlop's dual Oaks winner Snow Fairy landed a huge pot in Japan by winning the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup.
Ryan Moore's mount scooped a bonus totalling over £1.4million at Kyoto racecourse when turning in a performance of supreme authority.
Snow Fairy failed to stay the St Leger trip on her last start, but was in her element in this one-mile-three-furlong Grade One encounter and had four lengths in hand of Meisho Beluga at the line, with local favourite Apapane third, another length and three-quarters adrift.
The filly was poised in mid-division as TM Precure set a frenetic pace, and she was sixth turning for home. Moore made his move passing the three-furlong marker and Snow Fairy exhibited a ruthless turn of foot on the far rail.
The victory was then never in doubt as she cleared away on the firm ground, with Meisho Beluga and Apapane giving chase in vain.
Moore said: "She put the race to bed in a couple strides. She jumped smoothly and she was in a nice position and she travelled very well. I was drawn beside (Apapane) and I thought she was the best filly, so we kept an eye on her.
"We got there sooner than I thought - it just opened up, a big gap. She just looked for help so she went to the rail to help her."
Dunlop added: "She has a good brain and a very big heart. She quickened incredibly well, and Ryan gave her the most brilliant ride in the right position.
"The great thing from this trip is that we can have the confidence to travel her around the world. She seems to enjoy it and she seems happy doing it. If we don't run in the Japan Cup this year, we will certainly consider coming next year."
Patrick Cooper, representing owners Anamoine Limited, said: "It would be a great honour to be able to run her in the Japan Cup. I will be back in London on Monday afternoon and we'll talk to the owner, and with the trainer and the jockey."
Copyright © 2010 The Press Association. All rights reserved.
Horse racing: Snow Fairy chases lucrative Kyoto prize
Nicholas Godfrey
Date: 12/11/2010
Kyoto: Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup (Grade 1) 1m3f, turf, 3yo+ f/m
Dual Oaks winner Snow Fairy (Ed Dunlop/Ryan Moore) faces a Triple Tiara winner as she bids for what would be by far the biggest prize of her career in Japan on Sunday.
Europe's leading three-year-old filly by virtue of her victories at Epsom and The Curragh, the daughter of Intikhab faces 17 rivals in the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup, the first of series of richly endowed Grade 1 events in Japan over the next few weekends.
Ryan Moore is on hand in Kyoto to partner Snow Fairy, whose rivals are headed by likely hot favourite Apapane won her third fillies' Classic of 2010 last month in the Shuka Sho, the Japanese fillies' St Leger over 1m2f at Kyoto.
Snow Fairy was last seen when a fair fourth in the Ladbrokes St Leger, where she was three lengths behind Arctic Cosmos.
Trainer Ed Dunlop reports her to have done well since travelling to Japan for Sunday's
177.5 million yen (£1.35m) event.
Speaking on Thursday, Dunlop said: "I weighed her this morning just to see if we could give her a blowout - she had a slight gain, so we went a little bit faster than yesterday, but we weighed her again after the training and her weight was perfect.
"This morning, we had a little bit of rain, which was also good," added Dunlop, speaking to the Japan Racing Association. "This filly has a big heart in a small body, and can quicken a lot-that's why she's so good. She likes Kyoto and it's up to her from now on."
Dunlop's last visit to Japan came when Ouija Board was a gallant third to the great Deep Impact in the 2006 Japan Cup in Tokyo.
"We know from when we came with Ouija Board that Japanese horses are hard to beat," added the trainer. "I know how tough it is - we tried to take on Deep Impact with Ouija Board."
Former Sir Michael Stoute-trained Ave (Roger Attfield/Javier Castellano) is now based in Canada and comes here off a Grade 1 win at Belmont Park.
Both overseas fillies qualify for a winning bonus of 90m yen, or 36m yen for finishing second and 22.5m yen for third.
However, they will have their work cut out to beat Apapane (Sakae Kunieda/Masayoshi Ebina), running in the colours made famous by Deep Impact, the world champion of 2006 according to Racing Post Ratings. A filly with a habit of only just doing enough, she has won the Triple Tiara - Oka Sho (Guineas), Yushun Himba (Oaks) and Shuka Sho (fillies' Leger).
However, she dead-heated with Saint Emilion for the Oaks, and that rival is reopposes here, as does Shuka Sho runner-up Animate Bio.
Best of the older brigade may be last year's fifth Meisho Beluga, who beat leading Japan Cup hope Oken Bruce Lee on her most recent appearance in the prestigious Kyoto Daishoten.
Horse racing: Snow Fairy set for Japan outing
Dual Oaks winner targets win in Japan
Date: 08/11/2010
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| Snow Fairy: Tough task in Japan |
Snow Fairy will run in the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup at Kyoto on Sunday and Ed Dunlop expects a stern examination for her.
"She travelled from the quarantine centre in Tokyo on Sunday to Kyoto and she arrived there after a seven-hour journey," said Dunlop.
"She had a canter in Kyoto this morning. She seems fine, looks well and conditions are nice.
"She'll have a blow-out on Thursday or Friday, we haven't quite decided. Ryan Moore got stuck in America, I understand he missed his flight on Sunday so he'll be a day late getting to Japan.
"We'll work that out. I go tomorrow and will get to Japan on Wednesday, then I'll see how the filly is.
"It's a very high-profile race for fillies over there. It's very valuable. We are under no illusions and it will be a very tough ask.
"There's a very good Japanese filly (Apapane) in there and they are all respected."
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