Global Weekly Preview - 27.11.15

The 35th running of the G1 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday is one of the most open in the relatively short history of this rich feature race.

Designed to showcase the best Japanese talent -- and to gauge their merit at international level -- the Japan Cup has fulfilled all its original aims, though it has been obvious for the past two decades, at least, that Japanese-bred horses are ultra-competitive outside their home country, in any case.

Victories in Australia's two premier races, the G1 Melbourne and G1 Caulfield Cups, as well as major success in Europe, have helped promote the prowess of the Japanese thoroughbred, particularly at distances of a mile and a half (2400m) and beyond.

Local horses have dominated the Japan Cup in the past 10 years. In fact, only 14 of the 34 runnings of the race have been won by foreign-trained horses. It is a daunting statistic for any visitor, particularly as it is a race usually run at a fierce pace on pretty quick ground.

A field of 18 line up for the latest renewal, with one of the key local hopes being Lovely Day, winner of his last four races on the trot. Also in the field is Mikki Queen, winner of the G1 Japanese Oaks, and the enigmatic Gold Ship, who has a tendency to drop himself out, though very useful on his day.

Ryan Moore, who has as big a following in Japan as he does in Britain, caused a ripple of surprise when he was booked for outsider Last Impact, who has nevertheless drawn well in gate 6.

Last Impact, trained by Hiroyoshi Matsuda, is a decent stayer, having finished fourth in the G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger), so he must have claims to be placed in such an open race.

Leading the visitors this year is the Ed Dunlop-trained Trip To Paris, a hardy international campaigner, who comes here off the back of an excellent second to Mongolian Khan in the Caulfield Cup and a close fourth to Prince Of Penzance in the Melbourne Cup.

He is unusual for an Ascot Gold Cup winner as he has a turn-of-foot, and he can be just as effective over a mile and a half as he can be at extreme distances.

Erupt was a very good fifth in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and promises to develop into a very good middle-distance horse, while Ito and Nightflower both have respectable German form to their credit.

Ito won the G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern at Munich, while Nightflower was a Group One winner in Cologne.

While it looks a most open renewal, there is one certainty -- when the starter emerges in front of the stalls on his hoist, the cheers of the enormous crowd will be deafening.