Japan Cup

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The Japan Cup (ジャパンカップ, Japan Kappu^?, JPN G-1) is a world premier horse race over 2,400 meters for invited champion thoroughbred racehorses. The champions are invited, usually two per country from typically the USA, England, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand and of course, Japan. The race is the second richest horse race right behind the Dubai World Cup.

The Japan Cup is Japan's most prestigious race, with the Group One contest over a mile and a half run on turf at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo on the last Sunday of November. It is the penultimate leg of the World Series Racing Championship and attracts runners from all over the world.

During a relatively short history, the race has established itself as a truly international contest with winners from Japan, North America, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy.

The Japan Cup has produced some of the most memorable finishes seen in Japan. Along with the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and the Breeders' Cup, the race ranks as one of the greatest end-of-year events.

The Japan Racing Association established the Japan Cup as an international invitational race in order for local racehorses to have the opportunity to compete against horses of an international calibre and to promote goodwill within the racing community worldwide.

1 Race information
2 Purse
3 Race history
4 Trivia
5 Winners
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Race information

Racecourse: Tokyo Racecourse
Distance: 2,400 meters (About 12 furlongs), Turf, Left-handed
Qualification to run: 3-y-o & Up, Thoroughbreds
Weight:
3-y-o colts & geldings 55kg
3-y-o fillies 53kg
4-y-o & up horses & geldings 57kg
4-y-o & up mares 55kg
Safety Factor: 18 (There will be a maximum of 10 foreign-trained starters)

[edit] Purse

Total JPN ¥476,000,000 (U.S.$4,533,333)

1st JPN ¥250,000,000 (U.S.$2,380,952)
2nd JPN ¥100,000,000 (U.S.$ 952,380)
3rd JPN ¥63,000,000 (U.S.$ 600,000)
4th JPN ¥38,000,000 (U.S.$ 361,904)
5th JPN ¥25,000,000 (U.S.$ 238,095)

[edit] Race history

The inaugural running in 1981 was restricted to horses trained in Japan, the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and India, as well as ones that were specifically invited. An American mare triumphed as five-year-old Mairzy Doates, trained by John Fulton and partnered by Cash Asmussen, came home a length in front of the Canadian-trained Frost King, with The Very One, another from America, in third.

A year later restrictions on entry were abolished and the best horses from around the world were invited and the Japan Cup remains an invitational race.

There was again an American-trained victor in 1982, with three-year-old Half Iced getting the better of a thrilling battle with French fillies All Along and April Run by a couple of necks, with Stanerra a length back in fourth.

Stanerra, owned and trained by Irish retail millionaire Frank Dunne, returned to Japan in 1983, having enjoyed a brilliant season in Europe which included winning both the Hardwicke Stakes and the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot. The tough and courageous mare was partnered by regular jockey Brian Rouse in the third running of the Japan Cup and proved a head too strong for the Japanese-trained Kyoei Promise. It was a very close finish as Esprit Du Nord from France was another head back in third.

The Japanese enjoyed a first home success in 1984 when four-year-old Katsuragi Ace defeated Bedtime, trained in Britain by Major Dick Hern, by a length and a half. There was further Japanese success in 1985, with the previous year's third Symboli Rudolf defeating Rocky Tiger in good style.

Jupiter Island became the first British raider to capture the Japan Cup the following year when the Clive Brittain-trained seven-year-old just got the better of compatriot Allez Milord, trained by Guy Harwood, by a head under an inspired ride from Pat Eddery.

The French made their mark in 1987 when the Robert Collet-trained and Alain Lequeux-ridden Le Glorieux came home in front, while the Americans struck for a third time in 1988 with the Bobby Frankel-trained Pay The Butler, the mount of Chris McCarron.

In 1989 and 1990, horses from New Zealand and Australia came out on top. The 1989 renewal fell to the New Zealand six-year-old mare Horlicks when scoring by a neck, while a year later Better Loosen Up struck for Australian trainer David Hayes by a head from French-trained Ode, with another head to Cacoethes, trained by Guy Harwood, who had gone clear only to be caught close home. These two victories did much to promote Southern Hemisphere racing in the international arena.

Veteran American trainer Charlie Whittingham sent out Golden Pheasant to win in 1991, giving the USA a fourth Japan Cup victory, while the Japanese took the next three renewals with Tokai Teio (1992), Legacy World (1993) and Marvelous Crown (1994).

There had been a number of German challengers for the Japan Cup over the years but it was not until 1995 that a horse from that country proved successful, with five-year-old Lando triumphing under South African-born but British-based jockey Michael Roberts.

British trainer Michael Stoute landed both the 1996 and 1997 Japan Cups with the supremely tough and talented international campaigners Singspiel - by a nose - and Pilsudski - by a neck - respectively.

Singspiel, owned and bred by Sheikh Mohammed, won a total of five Group/Grade One events during his career, including the 1996 Canadian International Stakes and the 1997 Dubai World Cup. He is now a leading stallion.

Pilsudski's victory in 1997 came on his final appearance and was his sixth Group/Grade One victory, with others coming in the Grosser Preis von Baden in Germany, the Breeders' Cup Turf and Irish Champion Stakes. Pilsudski took up stallion duties in Japan but moved to Ireland in 2004.

The Japanese then struck back with victories for El Condor Pasa (1998), Special Week (1999) and T M Opera O (2000).

El Condor Pasa led home a Japanese one, two, three in the 18th running - the first time this had happened.

The Sunday Silence colt Special Week, third in 1998, gave Japan's highest profile jockey Yutaka Take his first success in the Japan Cup which is watched by enthusiastic crowds of over 150,000. The Hong Kong-trained Indigenous ran a brilliant race to be second with 1998 Epsom Derby winner High-Rise, racing for Godolphin Stables, in third and 1999 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Montjeu fourth.

T M Opera O went into the 2000 Japan Cup unbeaten that year and emerged with his record intact, scoring by a neck from Meisho Doto with Godolphin's fast-finishing Fantastic Light a nose back in third.

Jungle Pocket continued the Japanese run of success in 2001, with the winner of the Japan Derby sweeping home under French jockey Olivier Peslier to beat T M Opera O by a neck. The Japanese also had the next three with Golan, from Sir Michael Stoute's Newmarket stable, in sixth. No horse has yet won the Japan Cup on more than one occasion.

In 2002 the Group One contest moved to Nakayama Racecourse while Fuchu was being renovated and took place over a furlong shorter.

Italian-trained challenger Falbrav, ridden by Frankie Dettori, was a nose too good for the American raider Sarafan in another thrilling finish, with Symboli Kris S a neck away in third. It was Dettori's second Japan Cup success as he had previously won on Singspiel in 1996. Falbrav subsequently transferred from Italy to Newmarket, England-based trainer Luca Cumani and went on to take five more Group One contests in 2003.

For the 2003 renewal, the great contest returned to Fuchu and was won by the Japanese-trained Tap Dance City, who triumphed by an amazing nine lengths from That's The Plenty on soft ground. Symboli Kris S was again third.

The prize stayed in Japan again in 2004. Zenno Rob Roy led home a Japanese 1-2-3 with French ace Olivier Peslier in the saddle. Zenno Rob Roy's Japan Cup success was the middle leg in a run of three Group One wins in Japan.

A photo finish decided the 2005 winner, as Alkaased narrowly beat Heart's Cry for the cup by a nose. This finish gave Heart's Cry his third near miss in a G-1 race. The previous year's winner Zenno Rob Roy placed a third, beating Lincoln by a nose. The race time record was also broken from 1989, with a time of 2m 22.1s.

[edit] Trivia

The Japan Cup is one of the graded races in the horse simulation game Derby Owners Club.

[edit] Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
1981	Mairzy Doates	5	Cash Asmussen	John Fulton	Arno Schefler	2:25.3
1982	Half Iced	3	Don MacBeth	Stanley Hough	Bertram Firestone	2:27.1
1983	Stanerra	5	Brian Rouse	Frank Dunne	Frank Dunne	2:27.6
1984	Katsuragi Ace	4	K. Nishiura	K. Domon	I. Node	2:26.3
1985	Symboli Rudolf	4	Yukio Okabe	Yuji Nohira	Symboli Bokujo	2:28.8
1986	Jupiter Island	7	Pat Eddery	Clive Brittain	Marquess of Tavistock	2:25.0
1987	Le Glorieux	3	Alain Lequeux	Robert Collet	Sieglinde Wolf	2:24.9
1988	Pay the Butler	4	Chris McCarron	Bobby Frankel	Edmund Gann	2:25.5
1989	Horlicks	6	Lance O'Sullivan	Dave O'Sullivan	Graham de Gruchy	2:22.2
1990	Better Loosen Up	5	Michael Clarke	David Hayes	G. Farrah	2:23.2
1991	Golden Pheasant	5	Gary Stevens	Charlie Whittingham	Bruce McNall & Wayne Gretzky	2:24.7
1992	Tokai Teio	4	Yukio Okabe	S. Matsumoto	Masanori Uchimura	2:24.6
1993	Legacy World	4	H. Kawachi	Hideyuki Mori	Horse Tajima Co.	2:24.4
1994	Marvelous Crown	4	Katsumi Minai	M. Osawa	Sadao Sasahara	2:23.6
1995	Lando	5	Michael Roberts	Heinz Jentzsch	Gestüt Haus Ittlingen	2:24.6
1996	Singspiel	4	Frankie Dettori	Michael Stoute	Sheikh Mohammed	2:23.8
1997	Pilsudski	5	Michael Kinane	Michael Stoute	Lord Weinstock	2:25.8
1998	El Condor Pasa	3	Masayoshi Ebina	Yoshitaka Ninomiya	Takao Watanabe	2:25.9
1999	Special Week	4	Yutaka Take	Toshiaki Shirai	Hiroyoshi Usuda	2:25.5
2000	T M Opera O	4	Ryuji Wada	Ichizo Iwamoto	Masatsugu Takezono	2:26.1
2001	Jungle Pocket	3	Olivier Peslier	Sakae Watanabe	Yomoji Saito	2:23.8
2002	Falbrav *	4	Frankie Dettori	Luciano d'Auria	Scuderia Rencati	2:12.2
2003	Tap Dance City	6	Tetsuzo Sato	Shozo Sasaki	Yushun Horse Syndicate	2:28.7
2004	Zenno Rob Roy	4	Olivier Peslier	Kazuo Fujisawa	Shinobu Oosako	2:24.2
2005	Alkaased	5	Frankie Dettori	Luca Cumani	Michael Charlton	2:22.1
2006	Deep Impact	4	Yutaka Take	Yasuo Ikee	Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co.	2:25.1