Exclusive Topics forJAPAN AUTUMN INTERNATIONAL 2020
- 1st Edition -October 2020
The Japan Racing Association

Welcome back to our annual series of newsletters leading up to the2020 Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m). The fall racing season is heading
towards the Japan Autumn International Series, which will be held
over a period of four weekends between November 15 andDecember 6 and comprise four prestigious G1 races: the Queen
Elizabeth II Cup (G1, 2,200m), the Mile Championship (G1,1,600m), the Japan Cup and the Champions Cup (G1, dirt, Suave Richard in the 2019 Japan Cup
1,800m). Total prize money for the four G1 events will amount to ¥1.37 billion (US$12.5m), withadditional bonuses for winners of designated overseas G1 events who also finish within the top three
in any of the four races. Also, winners of designated overseas races who finish outside the top threeplaces in the Japan Cup will still be guaranteed an incentive of US$200,000. The Queen Elizabeth II
Cup and the Mile Championship will be transferred to Hanshin Racecourse from Kyoto Racecourse,which will close after the last race on November 1 to undergo a major renovation prior to reopening
in 2023.

Lucky Lilacin the 2019 Queen Elizabeth II Cup

Indy Champin the 2019 Mile ChampionshipChrysoberylin the 2019 Champions Cup

Last year’s Japan Cup was absent of foreign contenders for the first time since its inauguration in1981. The quality of Japanese-trained horses has improved tremendously and chances for foreign1contenders to beat them on home turf evidently have slimmed. Similarly, the Tenno Sho (Autumn),
held four weeks prior to the Japan Cup, had 10 G1 horses at the gate but only four G1 winners amongthe 15-horse field in this once top international event.
Suave Richard (JPN, by Heart’s Cry), winner of last year’s Japan
Cup, retired after being beaten to 12th in the yearend Arima Kinen,
while runner-up Curren Bouquetd’or (JPN, F4, by DeepImpact) headed for her first overseas challenge earlier this year.
After finishing second in the Kyoto Kinen (G2, 2,200m) in
February, the filly was denied a chance in the Dubai Sheema
Curren Bouquetd’or (left)
in the 2019 Shuka Sho
Classic when the Dubai World Cup Night was cancelled less thana week before its scheduled holding due to COVID-19. Twenty Japanese-trained entrants were in
Dubai for the event, so their racing schedules have been impacted by the sudden change in plans.
Curren Bouquetd’or sat out the rest of the spring and then, in the second start of her four-year-old
campaign, the All Comers (G2, 2,200m) on September 27, she was beaten by a nose by winnerCentelleo (JPN, M5, by Deep Impact) to mark her fourth consecutive second-place finish.
Wagnerian (JPN, H5, by Deep Impact), the 2019 Japan Cup
third-place finisher, has raced twice this year, first in the OsakaHai (G1, 2,000m) in April and then in the Takarazuka Kinen (G1,2,200m) in June, finishing fifth and 13th, respectively. The son ofDeep Impact, winless since claiming the Tokyo Yushun (JapaneseDerby, G1, 2,400m) and the Kobe Shimbun Hai (G2, 2,400m) inWagnerian in the 2018 Tokyo Yushun
2018, was heavily defeated in this year’s Takarazuka Kinen whena sudden downpour right before the race softened the going, sapping his stamina and energy by thelast corner. It is hoped he will bounce back to kick off his autumn campaign in the Tenno Sho(Autumn) (G1, 2,000m) on November 1.
Makahiki (JPN, H7, by Deep Impact), who was fourth in the 2019 Japan Cup and 11th in his
seasonal debut, the Osaka Hai, was suddenly withdrawn from the Sapporo Kinen (G2, 2,000m) on
August 23 with no further plans. You Can Smile (JPN, H5, by King Kamehameha), fifth in the2019 Japan Cup, captured his third grade-race win in March’s Hanshin Daishoten (G2, 3,000m) andthen was fourth in the Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1, 3,200m) in May. He is bound to challenge the Japan
Cup again this year after a bid in the Copa Republica Argentina (G2, 2,500m) on November 8. The
2019 Japan Cup pacesetter and sixth-place finisher, Daiwa Cagney (JPN, H6, by KingKamehameha), notched his first grade-race win in the Epsom Cup (G3, 1,800m) in June, which was
his fourth start of the season. With eight wins on the Tokyo course, the six-year-old will most likely
run in Tokyo after commencing his autumn campaign in the Mainichi Okan (G2, 1,800m) on October
11.

2

Makahiki (right)
in the 2016 Tokyo Yushun

You Can Smilein the 2020 Hanshin Daishoten

Daiwa Cagney
in the 2020 Epsom Cup

G1-winner Deirdre (JPN, M6, by Harbinger) will challenge thePrix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1, 2,400m) on October 4 due to her
being stationed in Europe since last year. Conversely, the global
pandemic is making it difficult for Japanese horses to travel abroad,

Deirdre in the 2019 Nassau Stakes

so national G1 races in Japan this autumn are bound to feature
fierce competition by dominant runners who have had to pass onoverseas endeavors.

Almond Eye (JPN, M5, by Lord Kanaloa), who returned toJapan as one of the Dubai Turf’s unraced runners, will continue toattract interest in her potential landmark eighth G1 title. In May,after returning home, the superstar mare easily claimed theVictoria Mile (G1, 1,600m) by four lengths. Three weeks later,
however, her Yasuda Kinen (G1, 1,600m) performance was far
from stellar, 2-1/2 lengths behind 2019 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000

Almond Eye in the 2020 Victoria Mile

Guineas, G1, 1,600m) winner Gran Alegria (JPN, F4, by Deep Impact). Last autumn, following aconvincing win in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), she ran a fever and then was sent to the Arima Kinen
instead of the Hong Kong Cup, which resulted in her worst setback ever, a disappointing ninth, when
she had nothing left in the tank down the stretch. A tight schedule may have been Almond Eye’sexcuse, but the mare is clearly entering a new phase in her career. Nevertheless, she is expected to try
for a fifth G1 victory in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) at Tokyo Racecourse, her favorite track, after which
her connections will decide whether to run her in the Japan Cup four weeks later or the Arima Kinen
another four weeks after that.
This year, aside from the Tenno Sho (Spring), all G1 turf races
open to four-year-olds and up have been claimed by female
runners, as was the case with Gran Alegria in the Yasuda Kinen.
In the Takarazuka Kinen, the last G1 event of the spring campaign,
last year’s Shuka Sho victor Chrono Genesis (JPN, F4, by Bago)romped to a powerful six-length victory against a stellar field ofChrono Genesis
in the 2020 Takarazuka Kinen
G1 winners. Rain just before the race worked in the filly’s favor,allowing her to display a most impressive performance. The filly kicked off her 2020 campaign in3

February by claiming the Kyoto Kinen and then came in second in the Osaka Hai. The Bago filly will
start the fall season in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), aiming to improve on faster tracks and once again
thrash her male opponents.
Back-to-back Tenno Sho (Spring) winner Fierement (JPN, H5,by Deep Impact) was unable to recover his form so did not startin the Takarazuka Kinen as initially planned. Due to a fever, plans
to run him in the All Comers were switched to the Tenno Sho(Autumn) and then a second challenge in the Arima Kinen inDecember. An accomplished stayer with three G1 titles in
distances of 3,000m or more, the five-year-old is now polishing hisskills for races between 2,000 and 2,500m.

Saturnalia in the 2019 Satsuki Sho

Fierementin the 2020 Tenno Sho (Spring)

Saturnalia (JPN, C4, by Lord Kanaloa), last year’s Satsuki Sho(Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m) champion and Arima Kinen
runner-up, claimed the Kinko Sho (G2, 2,000m) in March and wassent off favorite in the Takarazuka Kinen but was unable toovercome the soft ground, finishing fourth. The colt’s slow
recovery may affect plans to run him in the Tenno Sho (Autumn).

Kiseki (JPN, H6, by Rulership), who set a fast and formidable
pace in the 2018 Japan Cup to push Almond Eye to a race record,
was seventh in his Arc challenge last autumn and had not shown
much since due to temperament issues. However, the six-year-old
was strong in the Takarazuka Kinen, hitting the wire in second
with his nearest pursuer five lengths back. He is scheduled to run
in the Kyoto Daishoten (G2, 2,400m) on October 11 with hopes ofclaiming his second grade-race win.

Kiseki in the 2017 Kikuka Sho

Two unbeaten three-year-old stars, a colt and a filly, are grabbing
attention this year after claiming the first two legs of the Triple
Crown and Triple Crown for fillies, respectively. Contrail (JPN,C3, by Deep Impact), after capping off his two-year-old campaign
with a G1 Hopeful Stakes (2,000m) victory, outdueled the Asahi
Hai Futurity Stakes (G1, 1,600m) winner Salios (JPN, C3, byContrail in the 2020 Tokyo Yushun
Heart’s Cry) in the Satsuki Sho this spring. He then went on to aneven stronger finish in the Tokyo Yushun, where he crushed the same rival by a good three lengths.
With three consecutive G1 titles in his pocket, he prepped in the G2 Kobe Shimbun Hai on September
27 and gave another solid performance, easily bursting out in the early stretch from mid-field for a4

two-length victory. The colt’s flawless record now stands at six consecutive victories. He will now
aim at the last leg of the Triple Crown, the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m) on October
25, prior to a possible run in the Japan Cup.
The celebrated filly is Daring Tact (JPN, F3, by Epiphaneia),
who was not highly targeted as a two-year-old. Nevertheless, after
dominating the Elfin Stakes (Listed, 1,600m) in February, sheoutclassed the field in the Oka Sho by closing strongly from way
off the pace on yielding ground to grab the first jewel of the Triple
Crown for fillies by 1-1/2 lengths. Her second classics victory wasDaring Tactin the 2020 Yushun Himba
on a firm track in the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1, 2,400m),
where she displayed incredible speed in the last furlong after overcoming traffic in the upper stretch.
The double-crowned princess will head straight for the Shuka Sho on October 18 and then may
challenge the Japan Cup, where three-year-old fillies have the advantage of a lighter impost. If bothContrail and Daring Tact enter the Japan Cup after sweeping their respective classics, and if
Almond Eye also makes an appearance, the dream match between three Triple Crown winners would
be the season’s highlight.
(contributed by Kenichi Nomoto, Nikkei)
World Premiere (JPN, C4, by Deep Impact), last year’s Kikuka
Sho champion, finished third in the year-end Arima Kinen but wasunable to recover as planned and withdrew from his scheduled start,
the Tenno Sho (Spring). The colt, after being sent to pasture, islikely to make his belated 2020 season debut in the Japan Cup.
Glory Vase (JPN, H5, by Deep Impact), who had capped off hisWorld Premiere in the 2019 Kikuka Sho
four-year-old season with a powerful victory in the 2019 HongKong Vase (G1, 2,400m) but returned to Japan after the Dubai Sheema Classic was cancelled in spring,
was a disappointing 17th, his first double-digit finish, in the Takarazuka Kinen in June. Hopes arehigh he will bounce back in the Kyoto Daishoten and go on to claim his much-awaited first G1 titlein Japan. Candidates intending to start their autumn campaigns in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) will
include 2017 Best Two-Year-Old Colt Danon Premium (JPN, H5, by Deep Impact) and Blast
Onepiece (JPN, H5, by Harbinger).

Glory Vasein the 2019 Hong Kong Vase

Danon Premiumin the 2017 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes

5

Blast Onepiecein the 2018 Arima Kinen

This year’s Queen Elizabeth II Cup for fillies/mares three years oldand up will include Lucky Lilac (JPN, M5, by Orfevre), who isseeking back-to-back titles. After claiming her title last year, shereconfirmed her ability against male opponents by coming insecond in the Hong Kong Vase and capturing her third G1 title inthis year’s Osaka Hai. She followed up by finishing sixth in theLucky Lilac in the 2020 Osaka Hai
Takarazuka Kinen, where she weakened after making an early bid,and then was third in the Sapporo Kinen despite being posted race favorite. Nevertheless, she will
aim to defend her title and reign over her female contestants.
Last year’s Yushun Himba winner, Loves Only You (JPN, F4, byDeep Impact), after returning from Dubai where her intended race
was called off due to COVID-19, finished seventh in the Victoria
Mile after being boxed in at the top of the stretch despite having
saved ground from the innermost draw. She followed up nicely,
however, with a nose second in the Naruo Kinen (G3, 2,000m).
Loves Only You
in the 2019 Yushun Himba
The Deep Impact filly will launch her fall campaign in the Fuchu
Himba Stakes (G2, 1,800m) on October 17 and then head for the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, aiming torevenge her third-place finish last year.
The Fuchu Himba Stakes will also include three more notables: Trois Etoiles (JPN, M5, by LordKanaloa), who claimed the 2020 Summer Mile Series champion title by winning the Keisei HaiAutumn Handicap (G3, 1,600m) in September, Fairy Polka (JPN, F4, by Rulership), winner of thisyear’s Nakayama Himba Stakes and Fukushima Himba Stakes (both G3, 1,800m), and Danon
Fantasy (JPN, F4, by Deep Impact), the 2018 Best Two-Year-Old Filly.

Trois Etoiles (second from front) inthe 2020 Keisei Hai Autumn Handicap

Fairy Polkain the 2020 Fukushima Himba Stakes

Danon Fantasyin the 2018 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies

Last year’s Mile Championship victor Indy Champ (JPN, H5, by Stay Gold) scored his first win
this year in the Milers Cup (G2, 1,600m) in April. Although hoping for back-to-back titles in theYasuda Kinen (G1, 1,600m) in June, he finished third. He will pass up his first 1,200-meter attemptin the Sprinters Stakes (G1) due to an inflammation on his right hind leg, but will aim to defend hisMile Championship title if he can recover in time. Gran Alegria (JPN, F4, by Deep Impact), whocaptured her second G1 title in this year’s Yasuda Kinen following a G1 win in last year’s Oka Sho6

(Japanese 1000 Guineas, 1,600m), will start her fall season in the Sprinters Stakes on October 4,
having validated her speed at such distances with a runner-up effort in the G1 Takamatsunomiya
Kinen in March.

Indy Champin the 2019 Yasuda Kinen

Gran Alegria
in the 2020 Yasuda Kinen

Lauda Sionin the 2020 NHK Mile Cup

Lauda Sion (JPN, C3, by Real Impact), this year’s NHK Mile Cup (G1, 1,600m) winner, isscheduled to kick off his fall campaign in the Fuji Stakes (G2, 1,600m) on October 24. Admire Mars
(JPN, C4, by Daiwa Major), a G1 winner three times in Japan and once in Hong Kong, will race inthe following week’s Swan Stakes (G2, f1,400m), which may also include Victoria Mile runner-up
Sound Chiara (JPN, M5, by Deep Impact). Salios, runner-up to Contrail in the first two classics,
will begin his fall campaign in the Mainichi Okan and then head to the Mile Championship insteadof racing in the final leg of the Three-Year-Old Classic, the Kikuka Sho, or the Tenno Sho (Autumn).

Admire Marsin the 2019 Hong Kong MileSound Chiara
in the 2020 Hanshin Himba Stakes

Saliosin the 2019 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes

Chrysoberyl (JPN, C4, by Gold Allure), winner of last year’s Champions Cup and 2019 Best Dirt
Horse, finished a disappointing seventh in his first overseas challenge, the Saudi Cup (dirt, 1,800m),
but remained unbeaten in Japan by winning the Teio Sho (dirt, 2,000m) in June. His fall campaign
will begin with the JBC Classic (dirt, 2,000m) on November 3, which is expected to include Omega
Perfume (JPN, H5, by Swept Overboard) and Chuwa Wizard (JPN, H5, by King Kamehameha),
the Teio Sho’s runner-up and third-place finisher, respectively.

Omega Perfume
in the 2019 Tokyo Daishoten

Chuwa Wizard (right)
in the 2019 JBC Classic

7

Mozu Ascot
in the 2020 February Stakes

Meanwhile, February Stakes (G1, dirt, 1,600m) champion Mozu
Ascot (USA, H6, by Frankel) will head for the Mile
Championship Nambu Hai (dirt, 1,600m) in October. He likely
will be joined by 2017 Best Dirt Horse Gold Dream (JPN, H7, byGold Allure), this year’s Kashiwa Kinen (dirt, 1,600m) winner
Wide Pharaoh (JPN, C4, by Henny Hughes), last year’s
Gold Dreamin the 2017 Champions CupFebruary Stakes winner Inti (JPN, H6, by Came Home) and 2019
Mile Championship Nambu Hai victor Sunrise Nova (JPN, H6, by Gold Allure).

Wide Pharaoh (right)
in the 2019 Unicorn Stakes

Intiin the 2019 February Stakes

Sunrise Nova in the 2019
Mile Championship Nambu Hai

Legendary jumper Oju Chosan (JPN, H9, by Stay Gold) willattempt to capture his eighth J-G1 title in the Nakayama Daishogai(J-G1, 4,100m) on December 26. After his fifth consecutive
Nakayama Grand Jump (J-G1, 4,250m) victory in April, he wasinitially scheduled to start in the Tokyo High-Jump (J-G2, 3,110m)
on October 18 but his connections decided to wait for the recoveryof his regular rider, Shinichi Ishigami, who was injured falling offa horse. The pair will make their fall comeback in the Kyoto Jump Stakes (J-G3, 3,140m) on
November 14 before heading to the Nakayama Daishogai.
Oju Chosanin the 2020 Nakayama Grand JumpLast year’s Best Two-Year-Old Filly and Oka Sho runner-up Resistencia (JPN, F3, by Daiwa
Major) was found to have a minor fracture after finishing second in the NHK Mile Cup. She isexpected to pass the Shuka Sho and aim for a comeback in November. Daring Tact, who is aimingfor her third Triple Crown title for fillies, and Yushun Himba runner-up Win Marilyn (JPN, F3, byScreen Hero) will both head straight to the Shuka Sho.

Resistencia
in the 2019 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies

Daring Tactin the 2020 Oka Sho8Win Marilyn
in the 2020 Flora Stakes

Meanwhile, trial races were held toward the last leg of the threeyear-old fillies’ Triple Crown. The Shion Stakes (G3, 2,000m) on
September 12 was claimed by Maltese Diosa (JPN, F3, byKizuna), who captured her second graded title following the Tulip
Sho (G2, 1,600m). Pallas Athena (JPN, F3, by Rulership) andSeason’s Gift (JPN, F3, by Epiphaneia) came in second and third,
Maltese Diosa in the 2020 Shion Stakes
respectively, to earn berths in the Shuka Sho. Third-place finisherof the Yushun Himba, Win Mighty (JPN, F3, by Gold Ship), finished sixth.

Pallas Athenain the 2020 Carnation Cup

Season’s Giftin the 2020 Wakatake Sho

Win Mighty
in the 2020 Wasurenagusa Sho

The Rose Stakes (G2 ,2000m) on September 20 was won by Ria
Amelia (JPN, F3, by Deep Impact), fourth-place finisher in theYushun Himba, who landed her second graded victory following
last year’s Artemis Stakes (G3, 1,600m). Fourteenth pick Musica(JPN, F3, by Epiphaneia) and 11th choice Oh My Darling (JPN,F3, by Deep Impact) came in second and third, respectively, toearn Shuka Sho berths.

Contrail in the 2020 Kobe Shimbun Hai

Ria Amelia in the 2020 Rose Stakes

Contrail, who is aiming to become an undefeated Triple Crown
winner like his female counterpart Daring Tact, is coming off a
comfortable win in the Kobe Shimbun Hai, a Kikuka Sho trial.
Tokyo Yushun third-place finisher Weltreisende (JPN, C3, byDream Journey) followed two lengths behind in second and 14th
pick Robertson Quay (JPN, C3, by Rulership) came in anotherneck behind in third, earning both runners berths in the Shuka Sho.

Deep Bond (JPN, C3, by Kizuna), who won the Kyoto Shinbun Hai (G2, 2,200m) in May and thenfinished fifth in the Tokyo Yushun, finished a length behind Robertson Quay in fourth. MyRhapsody (JPN, C3, by Heart's Cry), the 2019 Kyoto Nisai Stakes (G3, 2,000m) victor, finished adisappointing 18th and was diagnosed with a nose bleed after the race.

9Weltreisendein the 2019 Hagi Stakes

Deep Bond (left)
in the 2020 Kyoto Shimbun Hai

My Rhapsodyin the 2019 Kyoto Nisai Stakes

Babbitt (JPN, C3, by Nakayama Festa) won the St. Lite Kinen (G2, 2,200m) on September 21 toextend his winning streak to four while also registering his second graded title following the Radio
Nikkei Sho (G3, 1,800m). Yayoi Sho (G2, 2,000m) winner Satono Flag (JPN, C3, by Deep Impact)
finished second ahead of Galore Creek (JPN, C3, by Kinshasa no Kiseki), who also was third in
the Satsuki Sho.

Babbitt
in the 2020 St. Lite Kinen

Satono Flag
in the 2020 Yayoi Sho10Galore Creek
in the 2020 Spring Stakes