Japan Cup 2012: Entries, Post Positions & Odds

Japanese culture is often infectiously popular, with the country's favorite things often catching on globally too. If you aren't Japanese and doubt if that's true, ask yourself how come you know what anime, manga, Pokémon, or Godzilla are? In the same way those Japanese franchises have a global following, Japanese horse racing is now also growing…

With the recent retirement of the world's top-rated racehorse Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) and with Triple Tiara heroine Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) spelling with destinations unknown for 2024, Sunday's G1 Arima Kinen is missing its top two votegetters. But the 2500-metre event, which easily attracts the largest single-race…

Being acclaimed as'the world's best horse' is a huge accolade, of course, but it comes with the weight of expectation every time that horse steps out onto the track. But for Equinox, who's due to face international competition again, on home turf this time, in the Japan Cup later this month, it's a burden he's evidently carrying lightly on his big,…

There had been hints that reigning Japanese Horse of the Year Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) was not your average champion, most especially with his geared-down tour-de-force in the desert in March, but the Silk Racing Company's colourbearer was in a zip code all his own with his course-record breaking performance in defence of his G1 Tenno…

The world's best racehorse Equinox registered a fifth straight top-level win with staggering ease when landing back-to-back runnings of the Tenno Sho (Autumn) at Tokyo on Sunday. Christophe Lemaire's mount was well positioned in the mile-and-a-quarter event and breezed to the front inside the final two furlongs, stretching away in the closing…

Six runners from the fans' top choices, including Titleholder, Efforia and Equinox, plus Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) winner Geraldina are expected to also be the most popular betting options Sunday in the Grade 1, $6.5 million Arima Kinen, the 67th annual Grand Prix of Japan. Staged at Nakayama, the 1 9/16-mile race boasts Japan's top purse, which…

The Japan Cup takes centre stage internationally next Sunday and while the race - worth a cool £2.5 million to the winner - has not gone to a horse trained outside Japan since 2005, that hasn't deterred connections of four European runners from making the journey, the biggest contingent in a decade. And there are reasons for hope of a breakthrough,…

Striving to maintain her unbeaten record in Saturday's G3 Artemis S., Ravel (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) managed that feat by a neck over the favoured Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) in the 1600-metre feature in Tokyo. Sent off as the 6-1 third choice on the back of her one-length triumph in a Kokura maiden in July, the Northern Farm-bred and…

Titleholder is the new Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe favourite and as short as 5-1 with several firms following the recent news about Desert Crown's unlikely participation. The big Japanese hope has leading claims and here is the lowdown on his profile. . . Last year's Japanese St Leger winner has taken his form to the next level in 2022, winning…

The Yokoyama family's success in high-profile races was also in the spotlight just a few months ago. At last year's Tenno Sho (Autumn), Takeshi Yokoyama, Kazuo's younger brother, won the October 31 race by a length over Contrail at Tokyo Racecourse. Bursting out of the 16 gate aboard second favorite 4-year-old bay colt Titleholder, Yokoyama led…

In the run-up to the 2022 Tenno Sho (Spring), to be held on Sunday, May 1 at Hanshin Racecourse, there's plenty of chatter in Japanese racing circles about T O Royal's current four-race winning streak, which is tops among the 18 entrants for the annual extravaganza. It's a 3200-meter test of speed and endurance. The Japan Racing Association keeps…

A race for the champion of champions, the Japan Cup is worth well over £4million and the international invitational contest run over a mile and a half at Tokyo has once again attracted overseas performers with Aidan O'Brien running Broome and Japan, while Gianluca Bietolini has sent over Grand Glory from France. The Japan Cup helped forge the…

This Sunday, Nov. 28, Tokyo Racecourse hosts the Grade 1 Japan Cup, the iconic invitational gala that has been instrumental in boosting Japan's horses and horsemen to the heights of international competitiveness they now enjoy. Some JPY 648 million, over USD 6 million, is up for grabs. Japan's horses have monopolized the winner's circle for the…

In the days leading up to the 38th Breeders' Cup at Del Mar in California, usracing.com is publishing profiles on the horses in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (Saturday, Nov. 6). The profiles will be updated following the post-position draw on Monday, Nov. 1 (5:30 p.m. ET) By Ed McNamara In 1999 I was there at Longchamp, along with thousands…

Chrono Genesis joined similarly Sunday Racing-owned stars Orfevre and Gentildonna on the Arima Kinen honour roll after landing the Grade 1 event at Nakayama on Sunday. The Takashi Saito-trained filly held the late challenge of Salacia to justify favouritism by a neck in the prestigious and unique event under Yuichi Kitamura. A limited crowd of 2542…

Crack chaser Oju Chosan and the legendary Yutaka Take will tackle the Arima Kinen In 2017 Japanese punters placed more than ¥44 billion - around £312 million/€346m - on the outcome of the Arima Kinen, once again making it by some way the world's biggest betting race. To put that into context, turnover for the most popular contest with punters in…

Almond Eye (Christophe Lemaire) adds the Yushun Himba to her Oka Sho success Report: Japan, Sunday Tokyo: Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) (Grade 1) 1m4f | 3yo fillies Hours after Justify moved one race away from claiming America's historic Triple Crown, Almond Eye (Sakae Kunieda/Christophe Lemaire) moved herself into prime position for Japan's…

The Japan Cup, first held in 1981, is one of the biggest days of horse racing in the country. In addition to drawing an international field of runners, Sunday's race also comes with the added bonus of being held in Tokyo, the nation's capital. Getting to Tokyo Racecourse is a cinch. The Keio Line train goes there from Shinjuku Station in 30…

Kitasan Black, Japan's reigning Horse of the Year, won his title in part because of his dominant victory in last year's Grade 1 Japan Cup. On Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse, he will try to become only the second back-to-back winner of the race that was created to put Japan on the international racing stage. The Japan Cup was first held in 1981, and…

THE Group 1 Japan Cup is one of the world's most prestigious horse races and with a purse of $7.7 million, it's a race well worth winning. Japan's best stayers will line up in the feature at Tokyo this Sunday (5.40pm) where the likes of Kitasan Black, Real Steel and 2015 Melbourne Cup entrant Fame Game all take their place. The Japan Cup has been…

Every sport has its eccentric characters. Where would basketball be without Dennis Rodman? Boxing without Mike Tyson? Tennis without John McEnroe? I mean, you cannot be serious. Racing has its loveable - and not so loveable - human larrikins, but let's celebrate the equine eccentrics, those gallopers better suited in the racehorse equivalent of a…

Japanese trainer Naosuke Sugai believes never having won over a mile and a half is no barrier to Just A Way winning Sunday's Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. The five-year-old, rated the top racehorse in the world after his six-length romp in the Dubai Duty Free in March, heads a three-strong challenge from his country for Europe's most…

The significance of the Arima Kinen to Japanese racing, and the enormous public interest that makes it by far the biggest betting race -- not just in Japan but in the world -- needs explaining to outsiders. The first thing to know is that for citizens of Japan, the most important day is New Year's Day, as this is when we celebrate the renewal of…