'I'm lost for words' - odds-on Mick Fire takes top honours in the local Grade 1Japan Dirt Derby

Odds-on favourite Mick Fire became the second unbeaten NAR Triple Crown winner since Toshin Blizzard in 2001 when readily landing the Japan Dirt Derby at Ohi on Wednesday. 

The Sinister Minister colt, who is out of the winning Brian's Time mare Mariage, raced in fifth on the outside and came home a comfortable two and a half lengths in the mile and a quarter for trainer Kazuo Watanabe and jockey Norifumi Mikamoto.

Mikamoto said: "I'm lost for words right now. He was very calm in the paddock and in great condition. I wanted to be near the front but the pressure from the side was strong so I couldn't. But he never gave up fighting and ran on right until the end.

"The pace was stronger than the Tokyo Derby, so his response was not so good at the last corner but he didn't give up. Today's JRA members are truly top-class horses and because he won such a strong race is a good sign for the future." 

The colt's trainer indicated that the three-year-old would take a summer break before targeting the JBC Classic in the autumn before a potential tilt at the Champions Cup in December. 

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