Kitasan Black became just the fourth horse to defend the spring Tenno-sho title, while breaking Deep Impact's 11-year record time to win the Emperor's Cup on Sunday.
First choice Kitasan Black showed his class as reigning horse of the year on a sunny afternoon at Kyoto Racecourse, tearing through the 3,200 meters in 3 minutes, 12.5 seconds to shave 0.9 seconds off the previous record held by the legendary Deep Impact.
The 5-year-old Kitasan Black won his second Grade 1 title of the season following the Osaka-hai on April 3, the newest G1 race on the Japan Racing Association calendar.