Japan Cup
The Japan Cup is a Group 1 horse race in Japan, held annually on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchū, Tokyo. It is a flat race ran over a distance of 2400 metres with a maximum of 18 horses.
First run in 1981, the Japan Cup was originally created by the Japanese Racing Association 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. Similar to races such as the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Melbourne Cup and the Breeders' Cup, the Japan Cup is an international invitational event, with invitations extended to top-performing horses aged 3 and above from around the world, particularly those who have won or placed highly in other major Group 1 races in the year. The race is one of the world's richest, reaching a total prize purse of over one billion yen in 2023, with winners of the event frequently breaking national or international prize money records. It is often one of the most attended races of the year hosted by the JRA, regularly reaching 100,000 people in attendance. It is also the middle leg of the informal "Autumn Triple Crown", a series consisting of the autumn Tennō Shō, the Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen; the JRA offers a large bonus to any horse that wins all three.
Despite a relatively short history compared to other horse races, the Japan Cup has established itself as an international contest with winners from all over the world, and is regularly ranked highly in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities 's annual "Top 100 Group 1 Races of the Year" compilation due to its high quality and depth of racers. In the early history of the event, the race was dominated by foreign horses, with 14 of the first 25 races' winners coming from abroad. However, in recent years the number of competing overseas horses has significantly declined, and in the last twenty years only one horse from outside of Japan has won the race.
Course
The Japan Cup is held at the Tokyo Racecourse, situated in the western Tokyo suburb of Fuchū. At 2,400 metres long, the race is run counter-clockwise around the Racecourse's oval turf track, which uses a blend of Noshiba grass and Italian ryegrass. The Japan Cup uses Tokyo Racecourse's A-course configuration, which has the track's fence rail in its innermost position. This configuration means the circumference measures and the width of the race varies from, offering racers ample room to manoeuvre and overtake other racers, as well as avoid being boxed in, in ways that are not always available in similar lengthed races.There are several undulations across the track, varying in size and length over the race's duration, with a sharp rise of over halfway through the race being one of the more challenging obstacles. The homestretch is one of the longest in Japanese racing at, which often leads to dramatic late finishes. At to the post, there is a sharp 2 metres of elevation gain over the next, requiring the horses to conserve their stamina in the race to overcome this final hurdle. The final stretch after this is flat, allowing for the racers to focus entirely on one last spurt of speed towards the post.
Due to the race's length and demanding finish, the race tends to favour strong closers who can handle the uphill run and quickly accelerate in the final straight. Despite the race starting in the homestretch about before the winning post, beginning the race with a long before the first corner and theoretically minimising early positional advantages, analysis of the 2014 to 2024 races shows that the horses that start near the inner fence are notably more likely to win the race.
Race history
Origins and early years (1981–1988)
The inaugural running (1981)
From the race's conception, the motive behind the Japan Cup's creation was the JRA's desire to ensure the horses racing in Japan were up to par with the quality of international horses. Prior to its creation, and even in the years after, options were limited in Japan for foreign horses, with the majority of races only allowing Japanese horses to compete, leaving Japan's horses isolated from the outside world. As such, the Japan Cup offered a unique opportunity to determine how Japan compared to the rest of the world. The idea of "creating strong horses that can compete on the world stage" had been proposed by the JRA since at least the 1970s, although efforts early in that decade to hold an international events collapsed because of disagreements between the JRA and other countries over the specific horses invited. By the start of the 1980s, the JRA's relations with the main racing authorities in other countries had developed enough for the JRA to host their proposed international race.The inaugural running of the Japan Cup took place in 1981, with invites being sent to trainers in Japan, the United States, Canada and India. A horse from Turkey, Dersim, was also invited to attend, but was injured shortly after arriving in Japan and could not race. The original line-up of international horses was at the time deemed nothing special. The most prestigious horse of the group was The Very One, a horse that, while having won twelve graded stakes races in 1978 and 1979, was now six years old and nearing the end of her career. Conversely, in Japan the horses representing the country were viewed more favourably, featuring the top three placing racers in the year's recent autumn Tennō Shō as part of a wider side described at the time as an "all star cast".
The race was won by the American mare Mairzy Doates, ridden by Cash Asmussen, who finished a length ahead of Canadian-trained Frost King. Japan's best performance was Gold Spencer placing fifth. The disparity in the two sides' performance came as a major surprise to the JRA officials, who had anticipated that one of their horses would secure the victory. The race has been credited as a turning point in Japan's efforts to seriously compete at an international level in horse racing. When writing about the Japan Cup's events, historian Ryōji Motomura noted the depth of the initial disappointment, writing that: "Those who watched that race must have sighed in deep regret, thinking that it would be another 20 years before a Japanese horse won the Japan Cup, something that would happen in the 21st century."
Early runnings in the 1980s (1982–1988)
In the Japan Cup's second year the original entry restrictions were eased, allowing broader international participation from Europe and Oceania. However, the race was once again won by an American horse. Half Iced, the last international horse to enter the race, narrowly defeated French fillies All Along and April Run, with the Irish mare Stanerra in fourth. Like last time, the best performing Japanese horse, Hikari Duel, placed fifth.Stanerra returned the next year after a successful season in Europe, having recently won the Group 2 Prince of Wales's Stakes and Group 1 Joe McGrath Memorial Stakes, and won the Cup by a head over Japanese-trained Kyoei Promise, with France's Esprit Du Nord a close third. At the time, Stanerra's victory was highlighted by the Liverpool Daily Post as an example of the growing trend in the 1980s of European mares matching the racing performance of stallions. Her victory has also been credited with strengthening the Republic of Ireland's diplomatic relations with Japan; since 1990, the winner of the Japan Cup is traditionally presented with the Ambassador of Ireland Prize by the Irish Government.
1984 was the first year Japanese horse races received grading, and the Japan Cup was officially classified as an International Group 1 race. The race itself marked the first ever showdown between two Japanese Triple Crown winners, Mr. C. B. and the undefeated Symboli Rudolf. The two horses had won their Triple Crowns a year apart, the first two to do so in twenty years after Shinzan achieved the accolade in 1963. This at the time led to much discussion by Japanese horseracing fans over which of the two horses was superior, with an expectation that one of the two horses would be the first Japanese horse to win the event in the "Triple Crown Showdown". However, it was the lesser-fancied Japanese Katsuragi Ace who claimed victory, defeating British-trained Bedtime by lengths, with Symboli Rudolf narrowly behind in third and Mr C. B. trailing in tenth. Japan achieved a second victory the next year, with Symboli Rudolf returning to triumph over Japanese-trained Rocky Tiger.
In 1986, Jupiter Island, trained by Clive Brittain and ridden by Pat Eddery, became the first British-trained horse to win the Japan Cup, narrowly defeating fellow British runner Allez Milord. Unusually for the event's history up until that point, the result was only confirmed after an inquiry by racecourse stewards following an objection by Allez Milord's rider Greville Starkey, who alleged the two horses had collided 60 metres from the post. Jupiter Island's victory more than doubled the previous prize money the horse had accumulated in his previous forty starts. At seven years old, Jupiter Island remains the oldest horse to win the Cup.
The French-trained Le Glorieux, trained by Robert Collet and ridden by Alain Lequeux, captured the 1987 edition, while Pay the Butler, trained by Robert J. Frankel and ridden by Chris McCarron, secured the United States' third victory in the race. Having previously only won a single major race, the Group 2 Red Smith Handicap ran six months prior, Pay the Butler's win in 1988 was regarded as a major upset over the year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Tony Bin and Japanese favourites Oguri Cap and Tamamo Cross.
A decade of global competition (1989–1997)
The 1989 race was narrowly won by New Zealand six-year-old mare Horlicks, beating Oguri Cap by a neck. In doing so, she set a new world record time for 2400 metres and became Australia and New Zealand's highest stakes winner. Horlicks' win marked the beginning of a decade of several countries vying for supremacy in the Japan Cup, with no single nation remaining on top for long. In 1990, Better Loosen Up became the first Australian-trained winner, prevailing in a close finish over France's Ode and Britain's Cacoethes. In 1991, the United States achieved its fourth victory in the Japan Cup through Golden Pheasant. The horse, trained by Charlie Whittingham, was the rare example of a horse jointly owned by two parties, and has been credited for revitalising interest in the event in the United States.For the next three years, Japanese-trained horses triumphed in the event, although in each event an overseas horse placed second. In 1992, Tokai Teio emerged victorious, followed by Legacy World in 1993 and Marvelous Crown in 1994. The 1993 race also saw the only instance in the Japan Cup's history of a fine being handed out after the race; the French horse Kotashaan's jockey, Kent Desormeaux, was fined $460 after mistaking the 100 meter mark for the finish post and easing his horse.
Despite bookmakers expecting a fourth straight Japanese win through Hishi Amazon, in 1995 the Japan Cup was won for the first time by a German-trained horse, Lando. Lando's victory, which his jockey Michael Roberts has stated is his greatest memory, was a great breakthrough for the German cohort of entrants, with no German horse placing in the top five in the previous races. The race also marked the first time any Japanese horse failed to place in the top five, with Narita Brian finishing sixth lengths behind the American horse Awad.
The mid-1990s also saw notable success for British trainer Michael Stoute, who captured back-to-back victories in the Japan Cup. In 1996 the Irish horse Singspiel narrowly defeated his rivals by a nose, becoming Britain's leading prize money earner. The year after Pilsudski, another Irish runner, claimed victory by a neck in his final career start, making Japan the fifth country he won a G1 race in. Singspiel's jockey, Frankie Dettori, was originally scheduled to ride in 1997 as well, on the British horse Mons. However, Dettori was replaced a week before by Michael Kinane after receiving a riding ban due to numerous infractions that year. Dettori, who in his initial response specifically highlighted his shock at having to miss the Japan Cup, had to wait until 2002 to enter the race again and subsequently secure his second Japan Cup victory.