Danny Shum Chap-shing lauded Victor The Winner’s fighting spirit while Mugen struggled to handle the Nakayama track as both Hong Kong sprinters were beaten in Sunday’s Group One Sprinters Stakes (1,200m) in Japan.

In a race run in close to track-record time courtesy of tearaway leader Puro Magic, Victor The Winner wasn’t beaten far when a brave sixth but Mugen could only manage 13th behind local winner, Lugal.

Superstar jockey Joao Moreira crossed Victor The Winner from gate 14 to settle fourth in running and the Group One winner fleetingly loomed as a top-three chance at the top of the straight.

However, the race’s frenetic early speed got the better of the six-year-old and he was swamped in the concluding stages.

The overall time of 1:07 was the equal second-fastest 1,200m at Nakayama and just 0.3 seconds outside Lord Kanaloa’s track record set in 2012.

Shum was proud of Victor The Winner’s performance in his second Japanese start, following his brave third in the Group One Takamatsunomiya Kinen (1,200m) at Chukyo racecourse in March.

“I think he ran not a sensational race, but a reasonable race,” Shum said. “It was a really fast pace and Joao Moreira got him into fourth position, [and gave him] every chance.

“He’s not really used to the fast pace, but he didn’t give up and he kept trying and ran sixth. The JRA told me the prize money is HK$680,000 – that’s not too bad for him.”

In contrast to Victor The Winner’s run, Mugen was never a serious threat under Karis Teetan.

Pierre Ng Pang-chi’s emerging sprinter settled 13th and never travelled comfortably, with Teetan reporting to connections that he wasn’t suited on the Nakayama track.

“He was quite nervous behind the gates,” Ng said. “He was sweating up and it’s his first race of the season. He’ll learn from that, he’ll learn to travel.

“As Karis said, he didn’t like the track today with the kickback. He didn’t seem to travel like he usually does.

“He thought he was following Damian [Lane on favourite Satono Reve] and he could really take him up in the straight, but he didn’t like the track.”

Victor The Winner and Mugen will return to Hong Kong in the coming days and work towards the Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) in December.

“Our target is going back to Hong Kong for the Hong Kong Sprint. Hopefully Joao Moreira can come – he said he would like to come again for this horse, so I will talk to [owner] Mr Chu [Yun-lau],” Shum said.

Ng confirmed his plan is to run Mugen in the Group Two Jockey Club Sprint (1,200m) in November.

“We’ll see how he recovers from here and hopefully get him to December and push on,” said the trainer.

Lugal bounced back from his Takamatsunomiya Kinen defeat as a popular favourite in March to score his first Group One triumph in the Sprinters Stakes.

An emotional Atsuya Nishimura wiped away tears after booting home his first elite-level win, with the Haruki Sugiyama-trained Lugal staying on strongly from third position to salute at $28.5 on the local tote.

He held on late to beat Toshin Macau by a neck. Satono Reve, the $3 favourite, could only manage seventh.

“I’m so happy. I’m so thrilled to be able to win a Group One race for the first time,” Nishimura said.

“I’m happy for Lugal as well because it’s his first Group One win as well. I don’t remember anything in the straight.”