Moonquake, a progressive five-year-old son of Admire Moon, landed his first G2 on Saturday, 12 May when narrowly winning the G2 Keio Hai Spring Cup, defeating 17 rivals at Tokyo. The winner of half of his 12 starts, this was only his second start of the year and he has now only been beaten twice in his last seven outings.
Bred by Northern Racing, he is a son of the Halling mare Rich Dancer, who has produced 10 winners including the Group-winning filly Bounce Shasse, who was also placed in the G1 Yushun Himba Japanese Oaks in 2014.
Admire Moon, who is standing this season at a fee of 1.5 million yen, is enjoying an excellent start to the season. In March, Fine Needle landed the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen before running an excellent race in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize in Hong Kong. He also has sired G3 winner Black Moon and the Group performers Seiun Kosei, Stormy Sea and Fumino Moon.
