JAPAN CUP (GRADE 1)

ONE of the highlights of Group 1 racing in the Land of the Rising Sun, the Japan Cup, was on run for the 36th time last Sunday over 2,400 metres at Tokyo Racecourse in front of over 88,000 spectators.

For 2016, Japan’s racing governing body, the JRA (Japanese Racing Association) raised the prize pool by 50,000,000 yen (€415,000) to bring the winner’s purse to 303,738,000 yen (€2,530,000) solidifying its place as Japan’s richest race.

The 2016 Group 1 Tenno Sho (Spring) and 2015 Group 1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) winner, Kitasan Black, took his berth in stall one as the uneasy 7/2 favourite. Employing the same tactics that payed dividends in the Tenno Sho, regular jockey Yutake Take jumped straight into the lead to set a sedate early pace but gradually quickened along the back straight to leave Kitasan Black still in splendid isolation on the lead.

Turning off the final bend, as the field bunched up to try and challenge, Kitasan Black under a motionless Take eased out to stretch to a two-length lead entering the final 200m. With the minimum of fuss, Kitasan Black under not much more than a hands and heels ride, passed the winning post with two and a half lengths to spare over his closest pursuer who could never land a blow. Sounds Of Earth ran on to finish second with Cheval Grand a further neck back in third.

Hisashi Shimizu, who trains the four-year-old son of Black Tide, suggested immediately after race that a tilt at France’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2017 was a real possibility.

Breeders Stallion Station-resident Black Tide stood for a covering fee of 3,000,000 yen (€24,000) in 2016. He was a Group 2 winner as a four-year-old and is by Sunday Silence out of Group 1 winner Wind in Her Hair (Alzao). However his success on the track and in the breeding shed have been categorically overshadowed by the exploits of his peerless younger full-brother, four-time champion sire, Deep Impact.

Kitasan Black is owned by popular traditional Japanese Enka singer (which resembles blues music) and actor Saburo Kitajima. After receiving the owner’s prize and while standing beside winning trainer and jockey, the popular entertainer treated the rapturous crowd to an impromptu song.