Nocking Point and Hiroshi Kitamura combined to win the G3 Niigata Kinen concluding this year's racing festival in Niigata Racecourse. The pair raced in mid-field and navigated a run through the pack of horses to finish a length ahead of You Can Smile.

Impress finished third and race favourite, Saliera, finished a disappointing seventh.

Nocking Point is the son of Maurice out of Cecchino by King Kamehameha. This was his first start since finishing fifth in the G1 Japanese Derby. This is his first graded stakes title and winning jockey Kitamura has now won graded stakes two weeks in a row.