Three meetings around Japan on Friday ahead of another Group 1 weekend with the Shuka Sho at Hanshin. We've got racing at Kawasaki, Nagoya and Sonoda to find our best bets.

Keen on Red Sparrow here who rated down last start but looks suited stepping back up to 2000m where he was a dominant winner at this track and distance two starts ago. He was able to lead there but was out paced over 1500m last time, settling in the second half of the field and running on to be beaten 2.5 lengths. From the wide draw, expect he's sent forward here and if he replicates his win two starts ago he'll be awfully hard to beat again. #1 Esperto looks the main danger coming off a strong win last time out, but Red Sparrow did beat him by 3.5 lengths when they met.

Nagoya Race 4 #5 Meisho Imoji

The consistent Meisho Imoji looks hard to beat here coming off consecutive placings, the latest when only beaten 0.4 lengths at this track and distance as a $4 chance. Prior to those placings, he won two races in a row in good fashion which rate very well in this field. Even if he's able to hold his more recent form he looks a key chance for the in-form Naoto Takeshita stable. It does look a fairly open race with a few horses capable of challenging, but Meisho Imoji does rate highly.

Nagoya Race 10 #7 Noble Lavender

Open race at Nagoya but I think Noble Lavender can run well and be right in the finish. She stepped up to the 1700m here last start and acquitted herself well, running second in a stronger race. She was utterly dominant prior over 1500m, winning by 8 lengths, and whilst the slight query is that all of her career wins have been at 1500m, I thought she showed last time that the 1700m is fine. She was given a quieter ride than usual last start and I'm tipping she settles handier this time and proves hard to beat. #8 Naomini Deredereya looks a strong danger- there isn't much between them on ratings and she was actually better than Noble Lavender last start, but I'm hoping that means we get a better price for Noble Lavender.

Sonoda Race 10 #2 Miracle Catch

Small but select field at Sonoda and Miracle Catch looks the best bet on the card. This four-year-old filly rates highly off her last start having run second at her most recent start in a very similar race and if she repeats that effort she should prove tough to beat. She does occasionally put in a poor one so I don't expect her to be a heavy favourite however around the $3 mark would be a good bet.

FP	Silk	Horse, Age & Sex Sire & Dam	Jockey Trainer	SP WT
1st		12. MIKKI HUSTLE (JPN) 5yo G DANON BALLADE (JPN) - MIKKI LEMON (JPN)	TSUBASA SASAGAWA TAKAYUKI HAYASHI	$3.2 57kg
		Mizuki Noda
2nd		8. D S MAGNUM (JPN) 6yo G SMART BOY (JPN) - BEST HIT (JPN)	SEIJI YAMAZAKI YOICHI TANABE	$11.5 55kg
		Toshiyuki Akiya
3rd		9. NINE VIPER (JPN) 3yo C HOKKO TARUMAE (JPN) - KITASAN AKATSUKI (JPN)	GENKI FUJIMOTO HITOSHI YAGI	$17.5 57kg
4th		10. DRUM (JPN) 7yo H ADMIRE MOON (JPN) - CYMBAL (IRE)	TAKUTO IKETANI SUNAO YAMADA	$127.9 54kg
5th		3. NOBLE CANYON (JPN) 4yo H BLACK TIDE (JPN) - PISA NO RUBY (JPN)	HIROKI OKAMURA HITOSHI YAGI	$84.1 55kg
6th		11. MEINER SKIB (JPN) 4yo H GOLD SHIP (JPN) - MEINE EPONA (JPN)	TAKAYUKI YANO SEIICHI KATO	$52.2 57kg
7th		6. SPICE UP (JPN) 4yo H FURIOSO (JPN) - THE SPICE GIRL (JPN)	JUNICHI JITSUKAWA ISAO SASAKI	$19.7 57kg
8th		7. COSMO BIKKURAKOGU (JPN) 6yo G DANON CHANTILLY (JPN) - KIKUNO SENHIME (JPN)	NAOKI MACHIDA TERUKAZU IMAI	$25.3 57kg
9th		2. GRANDIS (JPN) 4yo G FREE EAGLE (IRE) - MARIFAH (IRE)	Ryo Novata HIRONORI SATO	$43.6 54kg
10th		13. ADAMAS MINORU (JPN) 3yo C SATONO ALADDIN (JPN) - BISHAARA (IRE)	DAISUKE MASHIMA KENICHI TAKATSUKI	$2.9 57kg
11th		1. ESPERTO (JPN) 5yo G FENOMENO (JPN) - BIJOU BRILLANT (JPN)	TADANARI KONNO HIROMI YAMAZAKI	$9.9 57kg
12th		14. RED SPARROW (JPN) 4yo H ORFEVRE (JPN) - ANGELIC (JPN)	WADA JOJI H SASAKI	$6.2 57kg
13th		4. CARTE BABY (JPN) 5yo M JOHANNESBURG (USA) - CARTE BLANCHE (JPN)	KOSUKE SAKURAI YUYA YAMAZAKI	$44.1 55kg
14th		5. ROSEN RITTER (JPN) 6yo H HEART'S CRY (JPN) - KEYBOOGIE (USA)	Niihara Shuma TAKAYUKI HAYASHI	$38.6 53kg