OVER 55,000 people turned out for the 44th running of the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup, originally named The Victoria Cup and which was run as the final leg of the Fillies’ Triple Crown. However, since the inception of the Shuka Sho in 1976 it was renamed the Queen Elizabeth II Cup and run over the reduced distance of 2200m at Kyoto Racecourse.

The race was opened to international participants in 1999 and has since seen 11 travellers take their chances, although the only foreign success has been that of the Ed Dunlop-trained back-to-back winner Snow Fairy, in 2010 and 2011.