FROM: Media & Publicity Department, THE JAPAN RACING ASSOCIATION (JRA)DATE: December 3, 2023

SUBJECT: RESULT OF THE 24TH CHAMPIONS CUP (G1)
Formerly run under the name Japan Cup Dirt until 2013, the Champions Cup takes place at Chukyo
Racecourse which is situated in Chubu region between Tokyo and Osaka. The Japan Cup Dirt, which began as
the dirt version of the Japan Cup in 2000 at Tokyo Racecourse held over the 2,100-meter left-handed course
until 2007, was temporarily shifted to Nakayama Racecourse over the 1,800-meter right-handed course in2002, then held at Hanshin Racecourse, also a right-handed track and over 1,800 meters, between 2008 and2013. Seventeen of the past 22 winners of the Champions Cup, which is one of JRA’s two dirt G1 races alongwith the February Stakes (G1, dirt, 1,600m), have won the season’s JRA Award for Best Dirt Horse.
Lord Sterling (USA, by Black Tie Affair), who finished third in the inaugural year, was one of the first foreigncontenders, while Fleetstreet Dancer (USA, by Smart Strike) became the first foreign winner in 2003. In thepast, 29 runners from not only North America but also from France, Germany, Great Britain and Hong Kong
have participated in the race including 2018 Stephen Foster Handicap (G1, dirt, 1,800m) winner Pavel (USA,by Creative Cause) from the U.S. who finished 15th in 2018.
While last year’s champion Jun Light Bolt (JPN, H6, by King Kamehameha) retired from racing, runner-up Crown
Pride came off a win in the Korea Cup (G3, dirt, 1,800m, Sep.10), followed by Gloria Mundi in second. February
Stakes (G1, dirt, 1,600m) champion Lemon Pop came into the race as the winner of the Mile Championship
Nambu Hai (dirt, 1,600m, Oct.9) where 2022 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m) winner Geoglyph
was ninth. Contenders coming off the JBC Classic (dirt, 2,000m, Nov.3) included 2022 Japan Dirt Derby (dirt,2,000m) winner Notturno (2nd), 2021 Best Dirt Horse T O Keynes (3rd), back-to-back Teio Sho (dirt, 2,000m)
victor Meisho Hario (4th) and three-time NAR graded winner Wilson Tesoro (5th). This year’s Champions Cup
field also included Hagino Alegrias, Icon Tailor and Seraphic Call, respective victors of the Sirius Stakes (G3,dirt, 2,000m, Sep.30), the JBC Ladies’ Classic (dirt, 1,800m, Nov.3) and the Miyako Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,800m,Nov.5) as well as Dura Erede, victor of the 2022 Hopeful Stakes (G1, 2,000m) and runner-up in the 2023 UAEDerby (G2, dirt, 1,900m).
THE 24TH CHAMPIONS CUP (G1) – Japan Autumn International 3-year-olds & up, 1,800 meters (about 9 furlongs), dirt, left-handed
Sunday, December 3, 2023
Chukyo Racecourse
11th Race
Post Time: 15:30
Total prize money: ¥ 259,200,000 (about US$ 1,978,626 <US$1=¥131>)3-y-o: 57 kg (about 126 lbs), 4-y-o & up: 58 kg (about 128 lbs)
2 kg allowance for Fillies & Mares, 2kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2020
Course Record: 1:47.6
Race Record: 1:48.5 [Chrysoberyl (JPN, by Gold Allure), 2019]
Safety factor: 16 runners
Going: Standard
Weather: FineFP

BKPPHorseJockey

1815Lemon Pop (USA)
Ryusei Sakai

24

7

Wilson Tesoro (JPN)
Yusuke Hara

335Dura Erede (JPN)
Bauyrzhan Murzabayev

434T O Keynes (JPN)
Kohei Matsuyama

522

Meisho Hario (JPN)
Suguru Hamanaka

6611

Hagino Alegrias (JPN)
Mirai Iwata

S&AColor
Wgt

H5ch.
58.0
C4b.
58.0
C3d.b.
57.0
H6ch.
58.0
H6ch.
58.0
H6b.

Odds(Fav)

Margin(L3F)

3.8
(1)

1:50.6(37.3)

92.0
(12)

1-1/4
(36.6)

31.2(9)

Neck(37.5)

5.6
(4)

Neck
(37.3)

15.9
(6)

2-1/2
(37.3)

10.8(5)

Neck(37.6)

Sire
Dam(Dam’s Sire)

Owner
BreederTrainer

Lemon Drop Kid
Unreachable(Giant's Causeway)Kitasan Black
Chesutoke Rose
(Uncle Mo)
Duramente
Marchesa(Orfevre)
Sinister Minister
Maxim Cafe
(Manhattan Cafe)
Pyro
Meisho Ohi(Manhattan Cafe)

GodolphinMr. & Mrs. Oliver S. Tait
Hiroyasu Tanaka
Ryotokuji Kenji Holdings Co., Ltd.
Ryoken Farm
Hitoshi Kotegawa
Three H Racing Co., Ltd.
Northern Racing
Manabu Ikezoe
Tomoya Ozasa
Yanagawa Bokujo
Daisuke Takayanagi
Yoshio Matsumoto
Mishima Bokujo
Inao Okada

KizunaTanino Charis

Yoshie Hinokuma
Okada Stud711Make a Leap (JPN)
Hideaki Miyuki

8610Notturno (JPN)
Fuma Matsuwaka

958

Ater Astraea (JPN)
Takeshi Yokoyama

10712

Seraphic Call (JPN)
Mirco Demuro

1159

Crown Pride (JPN)
Yuga Kawada

12713
B

Keiai Shelby (JPN)
Takashi Fujikake

1346
B

Gloria Mundi (JPN)
Christophe Lemaire

14814

Icon Tailor (JPN)
Joao Moreira

1523B

Geoglyph (JPN)
William Buick

58.0
C4ch.
58.0
C4b.
58.0
F4br.
56.0
C3ch.
57.0
C4d.b.
58.0
H5b.
58.0
H5b.
58.0
M5ch.
56.0
C4ch.
58.0

79.6
(11)

Head(37.6)

156.4
(14)

3/4(37.5)

95.0
(13)

1/2(37.3)

4.2(2)

1-1/2(37.7)

4.4
(3)

1/2(38.4)

398.9
(15)

3/4(38.7)

18.9
(8)

Neck(38.3)

18.3
(7)

DS(40.2)

48.1
(10)

5(41.4)(Generous)
Sinister Minister
Special Queen(Special Week)
Heart's Cry
Sheikh's Serenade(Unbridled's Song)
Reach the Crown
Stars in Heaven(Workforce)
Henny Hughes
Chant de l'Ange(Manhattan Cafe)
Reach the Crown
Emmy's Pride(KingKamehameha)
Deep Impact
Keiai Gerbera(Smarty Jones)
King Kamehameha
Bettolle(Blu Air Force)
Duramente
Boil Tosho(Came Home)
Drefong
Aromatico(KingKamehameha)

Hirofumi Shii
Junzo Miyakawa
Junzo Miyakawa
Hiroyuki Oneda
Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co.,Ltd.
Shimokobe Farm
Hidetaka Otonashi
Field Racing
Oiwake Farm
Shinsuke Hashiguchi
Carrot Farm Co., Ltd.
Northern Farm
Ryo Terashima
Teruya Yoshida
Shadai Farm
Koichi Shintani
Kazuhiro Kameda
Queens Ranch Ltd
Osamu Hirata
Kazumi Yoshida
Northern Racing
Ryuji Okubo
Kouichi Nakanishi
Hatakeyama Stud Farm
Hiroshi Kawachi
Sunday Racing Co., Ltd.
Northern Farm
Tetsuya Kimura

FP: Final Position / BK: Bracket Number / PP: Post Position / B: Blinker / S&A: Sex & Age / Wgt: Weight (kg) / L3F: Time of Last 3 Furlongs (600m)
DS: Distance
Color: b.=bay / bl.=black / br.=brown / ch.=chestnut / d.b.=dark bay / d.ch.=dark chestnut / g.=gray / w.=white
NOTE 1: No Foreign Contenders
NOTE 2: Figures quoted under Odds are shown in form of decimal odds (single unit is ¥100), and Fav indicates the order of favorites.

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 16,930,215,400

Turnover for the Day: ¥ 23,151,136,600

Attendance: 28,611

Pay-off (for ¥100)
WinPlace

No.15

¥ 380

No.15

¥ 210

No.7

¥ 1,820

No.5

¥ 890

Bracket Quinella
Quinella Place

4-8¥ 2,780

Quinella

7-15¥ 29,040

7-15¥ 8,660

Exacta15-7¥ 32,020

5-15¥ 4,720Trio

5-7-15¥ 469,320

5-7¥ 29,790

Trifecta

15-7-5¥ 1,902,720

Winner= 14 starts: 10 wins & 3 seconds / Added & stakes money: ¥ 123,318,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 481,756,000

Lemon Pop Claims Wire-to-Wire Victory in This Year’s Champions Cup
Race favorite and this year’s February Stakes victor Lemon Pop led the field wire-to-wire in theChampions Cup to become the fourth horse in history to win both G1 dirt events in the same year—GoldDream won both races in 2017, Transcend in 2011 and Wing Arrow in 2000. The son of Lemon Drop Kid
kicked off this season with consecutive wins in the Negishi Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,400m) and the February
Stakes (G1, dirt, 1,600m) and, though defeated to 10th in his first overseas endeavor, the Dubai Golden
Shaheen (G1, dirt, 1,200m), won his comeback start back home in the Mile Championship Nambu Hai(dirt, 1,600m) on October 9 with an overwhelming 2.0-second margin before coming into this race.
Trainer Hiroyasu Tanaka and jockey Ryusei Sakai marked their second and fourth JRA-G1 victories,
respectively, following their win with this horse in the February Stakes.

Lemon Pop, quick out of the gate from the widest stall, accelerated strongly to assume command. The
five-year-old chestnut maintained his lead and continued to run persistently after entering the lane,holding off the strong challenges from behind to clear the wire with a 1-1/4-length margin.
“He was quick out of the gate and wanted to go, so I chose to race him in the front. Though it was his first
1,800-meter race and the outermost stall was not to his advantage, I think he handled it well with hisremarkable ability. He was really strong. That’s all I can say. I’m really looking forward to his futureraces,” commented Ryusei Sakai.
Twelfth pick Wilson Tesoro traveled second from the rear on the rails after a poor break and angled outto enter the lane. While unable to find a clear path at the early stretch, the Kitasan Black colt switchedfurther out around 350 meters out and launched the fastest late drive to overtake all his rivals but thewinner to finish second.
Ninth favorite Dura Erede tracked 1-1/2 lengths behind the leader in second, closed the gap at the final
corner but failed to catch the winner and while overtaken by the fast-closing runner-up just before thewire, secured third place by a neck after dueling with T O Keynes.
Other Horses:
4th: (4) T O Keynes—sat around 4th on rails, dueled with Dura Erede behind winner, weakened in finalstrides
5th: (2) Meisho Hario—saved ground around 10th, improved position but needed more
6th: (11) Hagino Alegrias—settled in 9th, angled out, showed brief effort but lacked needed kick
7th: (1) Make a Leap—hugged rails in 7th, drifted to outside 300m out, never threatened
8th: (10) Notturno—sat in 12th, drifted to outside at final corner, unable to reach contention
9th: (8) Ater Astraea—positioned around 13th, turned wide, passed tired rivals
10th: (12) Seraphic Call—trailed in rear, made headway with 800m to go, circled wide, even paced
11th: (9) Crown Pride—ran wide around 5th, checked 300m out, lost momentum
12th: (13) Keiai Shelby—chased leaders in 3rd, checked 300m out, faded
13th: (6) Gloria Mundi—raced wide in 7th, switched to outside at early stretch then to inside, never fired
14th: (14) Icon Tailor—traveled wide around 10th, driven after 3rd corner, unable to respond
15th: (3) Geoglyph—settled around 5th, outrun after final corner
Fractional time (sec./furlong):

12.5 - 11.0 - 12.9 - 12.4 - 12.1 - 12.4 - 12.6 - 12.1 - 12.6
Last 4 furlongs: 49.7
Last 3 furlongs: 37.3

Positions at each corner:

1st corner
2nd corner
3rd corner
4th corner

15(5,13)(4,3,6,9)1,11(2,14)10-(7,8)-12
15,5(4,13)(3,9)(1,6)11(2,14)10(7,8)-12
15(5,13)(4,3,9)(1,6,11)(2,10,14)(7,12)8(*15,5)(4,13)(3,9)(1,6,11)2(10,14)(7,8,12)

NOTE 1: Underlined bold number indicates the winning horse.
NOTE 2: Horse numbers are indicated in the order of their positions at each corner, with the first position listed first. Two or more horses inside
the same parentheses indicate that they were positioned side by side. Hyphens between the horse numbers indicate that there isdistance between the former and the latter. The asterisk indicates a slight lead.