TAKARAZUKA, Hyogo Pref. — Kane Hekili and French jockey Christophe Lemaire won a thrilling battle in the final 100 meters of the ninth Japan Cup Dirt, when they held off the late challenges of Meisho Tokon and the race favorite, Vermilion, to land the first-prize purse of ¥130 million.
The final leg of JRA's Japan Autumn International attracted a field of 16 runners and was run in good conditions on Sunday afternoon at Hanshin Racecourse.
It was a tough day, however, for the three American runners declared for the 1,800-meter race. Early in the morning, Mast Track was withdrawn due to injury, leaving just Frost Giant and Tin Cup Chalice to fly the flag for overseas hopefuls. The former got very worked up in the preliminaries and was never a factor in the race, while Tin Cup Chalice led the field for some way before dropping out of contention.