It’s the weekend of the Group 1 Japan Cup in association with Longines, when one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan, if not the world, will be run at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday. Having grown in stature over the past 40 years or so, the race has made a real name for itself over that time in the global horse-racing fraternity.
First run in 1981 as a slightly tentative attempt to see how Japanese horses would measure up against their overseas counterparts, the race that was also introduced to further enhance the quality of bloodstock in Japan has never looked back.
In its early days, Japanese runners were certainly put in their place, but the country didn’t have to wait too long before success came along. It was Katsuragi Ace who was a surprise winner in 1984, when the Japan Cup was recognized as an official international Group 1 race. He beat home a couple of Japan’s top horses of the era, namely Mr C B and Symboli Rudolf, to open the scoring for the home team. Even then, Japan could win only two of the first 10 editions of the Cup, but further success has slowly but surely come its way.
Victories have been achieved by Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand, but as of last year, Japan had recorded 28 wins to the rest of the world’s 14, and we have to look all the way back to 2005 for the last foreign winner of the race, namely Alkaased. The last foreign horse to even make the top three was Ouija Board in 2006, who finished a gallant third to one of Japan’s greatest horses ever, Deep Impact.
In the meantime, many of Japan’s top horses have left an indelible mark on the race. These include Gentildonna, who won in 2012 and 2013, the stunning mare Almond Eye in 2018 and 2020, and more recently the Triple Crown winner Contrail, who added the Japan Cup to his impressive list of wins in 2021. Thankfully, their names continue to live on as they play their part in the breeding of other thoroughbreds, and they could easily find themselves as the dam or sire of future winners.
The current big names on the Japanese racing scene are big indeed, and two of them are set to clash in this year’s Japan Cup. Three-year-old filly Liberty Island has seemingly improved in every race she’s had this year and even won the Triple Tiara, a series of races including the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) and the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks).
Liberty Island’s jockey, Yuga Kawada, said he was pleased with the win and happy to claim all three top filly races with her, noting that she has great potential.
Her trainer, Mitsumasa Nakauchida, likewise believes there’s more to come from his stable star.
“I still think she has more to give,” he said.
Taking her on is the world’s highest-rated racehorse in Equinox, recent winner of the Autumn Tenno Sho (Emperor’s Cup) in October and holder of five consecutive Group 1 victories. It was as if he put on a special display that day, with Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako in attendance at Tokyo Racecourse.
Equinox’s jockey, Christophe Lemaire, was similarly upbeat after the pair combined to win the Tenno Sho in some style. “I was pleased to show that he deserves his title of ‘the world’s best racehorse,’” Lemaire said. “He might not have incredible speed, but he’s a versatile horse that stays calm and can run from any position in a race.”
The Tenno Sho was run in record time, so the horse would seem to possess enough of whatever it takes to click up the speed when it counts.
And so, the mouth-watering clash of generations (Equinox is a 4-year-old) looks set to happen on Sunday, but let’s not forget the challenge coming from overseas.
This year’s English St. Leger winner, Continuous, was set to be the one to spearhead the foreign challenge, but a setback in training has ruled him out for the race. He managed to finish fifth in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris on his latest run in October. Trained by record-breaking Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien, the horse would have been an interesting opponent and perhaps had a chance to lower the colors of Japan’s top two runners.
O’Brien has sent horses to the Japan Cup on five previous occasions, and his best finish in the race so far was in 2017, when Idaho finished fifth. English St. Leger winners have tackled the race three times before, and the best result for them has been Conduit’s fourth place finish in 2009.
The so-called speed keiba (horse racing) of Japan seems to make life difficult for visiting horses, and just recently the results have pretty much proved that. Perhaps what might have given a helping hand to Continuous is the fact that he was bred at Paca Paca Farm in the lush green pastures of Hokkaido, and that his sire Heart’s Cry won two Group 1 races and finished second in the 2005 Japan Cup – but it’s all just not meant to be now.
One other runner from overseas is Iresine, a 6-year-old gelding trained in France and a two-time Group 1 winner. He’ll be looking to give France its first win in the race since Le Glorieux won in 1987.
So the scene is set for Sunday’s big race, which is the last of the day at Tokyo Racecourse and will get underway at 3:40 p.m. local time. The winner will receive a staggering ¥500 million (just under $4 million) this year.
As a word of warning, all tickets, whether reserved seats or general admission, will need to be booked online via the JRA website prior to the race, and there will be no admission on the day without a reservation. Please enjoy one of the great horse races in Japan wherever you are able to watch it.
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