Japan Cup - Tokyo Racecourse

The 38^th running of the Japan Cup will take place on Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu. The track is renowned for its long stretch, sweeping turns and a spectacular view of Mt. Fuji.

This year will see two overseas entries battling to claim the cup:

• Thundering Blue (USA) trained by Sussex-based David Menuisier and ridden by Fran Berry. This same combination came 2^nd in the Canadian International (G1) at Woodbine and 3^rd in the Juddmonte International Stakes (G1) at York in 2018.
• Capri (IRE), trained by Aidan O'Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore , had a successful 2017 campaign, winning both the St Leger at Doncaster and the  Irish Derby at the Curragh  , but is yet to claim a G1 win this season.        

Strong Japanese contenders include:

• The 3 year-old filly, Almond Eye, a Japanese triple crown winner (Japanese 1000 Guineas, Japanese Oaks and the Shuka Sho), trained by Sakae Kunieda and ridden by Christophe Lemaire, is the favourite, and will run with the lightest assigned weight of 53kg.
• 6 year-old Satono Crown – the Hong Kong Vase (G1) 2016 winner  and who triumphed in the  2017 Takarazuka Kinen (G1)   , trained by     Noriyuki Hori.                  William Buick       will be on board, a week after celebrating         his first Japanese Grade 1 win in Kyoto         , adding further success to his already stellar season.