Global Weekly Preview: 'Kitasan' bids for special Japan Cup status
J A McGrath
24 November, 2017
Mairzy Dotes, ridden by the flamboyant American jockey Cash Asmussen, started it all in 1981, and ever since, the G1 Japan Cup has been one of the world's truly great international races, run over the 'classic' mile and a half (2,400m) distance.
Its origins owe much to Japanese racing's ambition to gain recognition outside the Far East. Five decades of investment, laying the foundations, nurturing and developing bloodlines, required exposure outside Japan, if only to gauge progress or otherwise.
Still today, France's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe remains the single most coveted target -- outside Japan -- for Japanese owners and breeders. Again, it's a check on where the country sits on the international stage.
A field of 17 will face the starter for Sunday's 37th running of the Japan Cup, and one horse has his chance to earn a special place in local racing history.
A win for Kitasan Black would bring the roars of the expected 150,000 crowd to a crescendo never previously heard on Tokyo Racecourse . He has the chance to join Gentildonna (2012-13) as a dual winner of the showcase race.
Kitasan Black comes to this renewal off the back of victory in the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn), over a mile and a quarter (2,000m), in which he defeated Satono Crown and Rainbow Line.
He is visually impressive in the way he goes about winning his races, and his trainer Hisashi Shimizu is on record as saying he is delighted with the horse as the big day approaches.
Kitasan Black is a son of the stallion Black Tide, a brother to Deep Impact, being by the great Sunday Silence out of Wind In Her Hair.
He was voted Horse Of The Year for 2016, and there is every chance of a repeat should he win his second Japan Cup. Local hero Yutaka Take has the mount.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed is represented by Decipher, who is by Deep Impact out of Mizna, a daughter of the great Dubai Millennium. Carrying the well-known maroon and white Maktoum colours, and bred by Darley Japan, he has a solid place chance with Yuichi Shibayama in the saddle.
International runners of note are Australian entry Boom Time, winner of the Caulfield Cup, the consistent German campaigner Guignol, as well as the Aidan O'Brien-trained Idaho.
Australian jockey Hugh Bowman, currently on a stint riding in Japan, partners Cheval Grand. A win would further enhance Bowman's chances of taking the prize for top international jockey at the end of the season.
