Japan Cup weekend is upon us, but this year's is not the double G1 combo of the past eight years. It's the turf version only, Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse.
The Japan Cup Dirt, normally run on the Saturday before the turf version, has been relocated west to Hanshin Racecourse, cut down 300 meters to 1,800, switched from counter-clockwise to clockwise and moved to Dec. 7.
The single race this Sunday makes for a rather lonely weekend, coupled with the fact that only four horses (three from the United Kingdom, one from the United States) have made the trip to Japan from abroad and only two countries other than Japan are represented.