Odds-on favorite Contrail romped to a two-length victory claiming this year’s Japan Cup and fifth G1 triumph in his career-finale performance. After claiming the 2019 Hopeful Stakes (2,000m) as a two-year-old, the Deep Impact colt went on to sweep the Triple Crown—the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, 2,000m), the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, 2,400m) and the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, 3,000m) and, with the Japan Cup victory, is now tenth on the JRA list of career earnings with a total of JPY 1,195,294,000. Trainer Yoshito Yahagi is now the proud owner of 14 JRA-G1 wins—his latest victory was with the colt in last season’s Kikuka Sho—while jockey Yuichi Fukunaga, following his recent Sprinters Stakes victory with Pixie Knight in October, has collected a total of 32 JRA-G1 wins.

Breaking well from the second most inner stall, Contrail was settled under Fukunaga in mid-pack and two-wide, while Kiseki made rapid headway in the backstretch from the rear, taking over the front at the third corner, extending his lead by six to seven lengths. By the time the field hit the top of the straight, the brown colt had shifted to the outside with clear running room in front of him and displayed his trademark explosive kick, shaking off Shahryar after a brief rally at the furlong pole then turned up an extra gear to easily put away Authority 100 meters out for a convincing two-length win.

“All I have now is mixed feelings of relief and lonesomeness. In the colt’s latest start (Tenno Sho (Autumn)), he broke poorly so I told him, while he was walking in the paddock earlier, to stay calm at the start. It worried me a bit since the pace was slow and he wasn’t in that good a position, but we had tuned him up to perfection and the colt gave us all he had in the straight. I have to admit I was under a lot of pressure during the two years he was at my stable, but I think it has helped me in becoming more mature, and I can’t thank him enough. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to win the Arc with an offspring of his someday?”, commented trainer Yoshito Yahagi.

“The colt had issues before his debut, so there were always concerns about his form, but I am so proud of how he proved himself today—I’m overwhelmed. All I did today was believe in him. He broke well and everything went just perfectly. He has given me every jockey’s dream and I am utterly grateful. The colt shone a bright light over a gloomy year due to the pandemic last season. I’m relieved that we can send him off to his next career with this victory,” commented jockey Yuichi Fukunaga after the race.

Posted third favorite, four-year-old Authority sat in fourth behind Shadow Diva, turned wide into the lane while passing Wagnerian and ran strongly, inheriting the lead from the tiredpacesetter300 meters out, but was gunned down in the last half furlong by the eventual winner for second.

Second favored three-year-old colt Shahryar ran in fifth down the backstretch, entered the straight right behind Authority and in front of Contrail, ran willingly up the hill but was checked when rallying with the closing winner and had nothing left to tag the runner-up, finishing 1-1/2-lengths behind Authority in third.

French raider Grand Glory was the top finisher among the three foreign contingents. Unhurried after the break, the Olympic Glory mare saved ground along the rails in mid-division in ninth or tenth position. Angling out off the rails coming into the final turn, Grand Glory exerted an impressive turn of speed going up the long uphill stretch and geared up further from the 200-meter marker to make ground and finish fifth, five-lengths from the winner.

“I am very satisfied with her performance and her result at fifth-place. She appeared to lose a bit of balance and lean to the inside but thankfully Cristian got her back on her feet by the stretch. She’s mentally very strong and the experience to run in the Japan Cup was fantastic for us. It’s a great race and we would love to come back with another horse,” commented trainer Gianluca Bietolini.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better result—having finished fifth in this competition is almost like winning for us. She was in super form, almost as good as when I rode her in the Prix Jean Romanet—which we won. The pace was very fast for this mare, but she handled it remarkably,” commented Cristian Demuro.

Japan broke sharply from an outside stall but was eased back to mid-field, choosing to move to the inside to save ground behind Grand Glory. Angled out at early stretch for a clear run, the Galileo horse attempted to make his bid with the eventual winner in view but was unable to cause a serious threat but held on for eighth.

“The track may have been a bit too fast for this horse. He was able to secure a good spot but wasn’t able to keep up with the pace,” commented Patrick Keating.

Broome was slow out of the gate and gradually worked his way up to mid-division along the backstretch outside Grand Glory, but struggled to find another gear with 400 meters to go and even paced to finish 11th.

Other Horses:
4th: (12) Sanrei Pocket—sat in front of winner, angled out, showed effort although unable to threaten top finishers while besting the rest
6th: (14) Uberleben—raced near winner, struggled to find clear path at early stretch, showed 2nd fastest late speed, belatedly
7th: (11) Shadow Diva—chased leaders in third, remained in contention until 100m out, weakened
9th: (9) Aristoteles—disputed lead and made pace, opening gap to 4 to 5 lengths, gave way to Kiseki while keeping second position, unable to sustain bid and overtaken
10th: (5) Kiseki—held back after break, headway along backstretch, led rounding 3rd corner and pulled away to open gap to 6 lengths, soon used up and outrun by foes at furlong pole
12th: (16) You Can Smile—further back than mid-division early, weakened after uphill stretch
13th: (13) Mozu Bello—near rear, raced wide throughout and unable to make up ground
14h: (15) Makahiki—raced second from last, unable to reach contention
15h: (10) Lord My Way—broke a fraction slow and raced behind, unable to make ground from wide turn
16th: (1) Muito Obrigado—trailed in rear, never a factor
17th: (8) Windjammer—mid-division early, even paced and outrun in last furlong
18h: (17) Wagnerian—broke sharply and tracked leader in 2nd, tired and faded

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 21,505,732,400       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 31,949,954,800       Attendance: 10,099

Winner= 11 starts, 8 wins, 2 seconds, 1 third / Added money: ¥ 303,822,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 1,195,294,000

* Japan Cup (G1)

The Japan Cup, in its 41st year, continues to attract some of the top turf horses from around the world—67 runners from North America, 147 from Europe, 26 from Oceania and five from Asia—while a number of runners have made this race their starting point towards further international success in following years.
Racing fans were mesmerized by last year’s historic version where three Triple Crown winners Almond Eye (JPN, by Lord Kanaloa), Contrail and Daring Tact (JPN, F4, by Epiphaneia) showed a fascinating performance in dominating the top three places, in that order, while the sole foreign contender and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Way To Paris (GB, by Champs Elysees) from France, finished 10th.
This year, the Japan Cup welcomed three European contenders: from Ireland, Broome, this year’s Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (G1, 2,400m) winner, and Japan, two-time G1 victor as a three-year-old, both of whom had come off a second and fourth, respectively, in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1, 2,400m, Nov.6); and from France, Grand Glory who claimed her first G1 title in the Prix Jean Romanet (G1, 2,000m) and marked a runner-up effort in the following Prix de l’Opera (G1, 2,000m, Oct.3).
The home team taking on the challenges included Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1, 2,000m; Oct.31) finishers; 2020 Triple Crown winner Contrail (2nd), 2021 Niigata Daishoten (G3, 2,000m) victor Sanrei Pocket (4th), three-time graded champion You Can Smile (9th), 2019 Copa Republica Argentina (G2, 2,500m) winner Muito Obrigado (10th), and this year’s Osaka Hai (G1, 2,000m) runner-up Mozu Bello (13th). The top three finishers of the Kyoto Daishoten (G2, 2,400m, Oct.10) were at the gate as well; 2016 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m) champion Makahiki, this year’s American Jockey Club Cup (G2, 2,200m) victor Aristoteles, and 2017 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m) winner Kiseki, in that order, along with two runners coming off their Copa Republica Argentina (Nov.7) starts; winner Authority who defended his title and 2019 Challenge Cup (G3, 2,000m) champion Lord My Way who was 13th.
Also among the field were; Shahryar, this year’s Tokyo Yushun victor who finished fourth in his latest Kobe Shimbun Hai (G2, 2,200m, Sep.26) start; Shadow Diva, winner of the Fuchu Himba Stakes (G2, 1,800m, Oct.16); this year’s Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1, 2,400m) victor Uberleben, coming off a 13th in the Shuka Sho (G1, 2,000m, Oct.17); 2018 Tokyo Yushun champion Wagnerian who was sixth in his latest Fuji Stakes (G2, 1,600m, Oct.23) endeavor and Windjammer made his first attempt at the highest level in the Japan Cup.