Champion sprinter Fine Needle struck for the first time as a sire on Saturday, 2 July when his son Ume Musubi won at Kokura. Making his second career start after a debut second at Chukyo, he won by one-and-a-quarter lengths in the 1200m turf contest over Fervente, with Sharpthorne, who is also by Fine Needle, back in third.
Bred by Okuyama Farm, Ume Musubi is a son of the Symboli Kris S mare Violetta, a full sister to G1 winner Alfredo. Violetta also has a yearling filly by Thunder Snow.
Standing at a fee of 2.5 million yen this season, Fine Needle was the Champion sprinter in Japan after victories in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen and G1 Sprinters Stakes in 2018.
