Just A Way
On his first appearance of his autumn campaign, Epiphaneia contested the Tenno Sho over 2000 metres at Tokyo and finished sixth of the eighteen runners behind the five-year-old Spielberg. Christophe Soumillon took over the ride from Fukunaga when Epihaneia contested the 33rd running of the Japan Cup over 2400 metres in front of a crowd of 100,186 at Tokyo on 30 November. He started at odds of 7.9/1 in a field which included Trading Leather from Ireland, Ivanhowe from Germany, and Up With The Birds from Canada. The locally trained runners included Gentildonna, who was attempting to win the race for an unprecedented third time, Just A Way, Harp Star, and Spielberg. Epiphaneia tracked the leader, Satono Shuren, before taking the lead 400 metres from the finish. He accelerated clear in the closing stages to win by four lengths in a time of 2:23.1 from Just A Way with Spielberg half a length away in third ahead of Gentildonna, Harp Star, and Ivanhowe. After the race, Soumillon said, "The horse was very keen and I can't say I was very confident when I saw how he started because I saw I wouldn't be able to ride him the way the trainer asked: in sixth or seventh position... [it was] an amazing performance". The Arima Kinen over 2500 metres at Nakayama Racecourse on 28 December attracted its customary strong field, and Epiphaneia started second in the betting behind Gold Ship, with the other contenders including Just A Way and Gentildonna. Epiphaneia tracked the early leader, Verxina, before taking the lead 400 metres from the finish but was outpaced in the closing stages and finished fifth behind Gentildonna, To The World, Gold Ship, and Just A Way in a blanket finish.