Suave Richard Takes Inside Route to Japan Cup Win

Suave Richard overcame a testing course and a bit of traffic to post a decisive victory Nov. 24 in the 39th running of the Japan Cup (G1) at Tokyo Racecourse.

For the first time, the Japan Cup was contested without a foreign runner. The race also lacked last year's winner, ace 4-year-old filly Almond Eye, who is targeting the Dec. 8 Longines Hong Kong Cup (G1) at Sha Tin.

Suave Richard made up for all that after going to post as the third choice in a wide-open field of 15.

With British champion jockey Oisin Murphy riding, the 5-year-old son of Heart's Cry saved ground through the final turn of the 2,400-meter (about 1 1/2-mile) race, then went after the longtime leader, Daiwa Cagney.

Murphy first eyed the outside. When he found Curren Bouquetd'or had that space occupied, he opted to drop back to the rail, and Suave Richard ran on to win by three-quarters of a length. Curren Bouquetd'or, a 3-year-old Deep Impact filly, held for second, 1 1/2 lengths better than Wagnerian.

Suave Richard, third in last year's Japan Cup, finished in 2:25.9 on turf rated yielding after two days of steady rain in the Tokyo area.

Murphy said his initial plan was based on a calculation that "all the good horses were around me" in gate 5. "It was about following one of them—the right one—and then giving him a chance. … The most important thing was for him to relax. The ground is very hard work today, and you can't waste energy."

Murphy downplayed the decision to take Suave Richard to the inside for the final 250 meters.

"I had the option of forcing Curren Bouquetd'or out," he said. "I could have done that. He's a big enough horse. But that would have taken too much energy, so I took the shortest way. … I knew for the last 200 meters that Suave Richard would win.

"It is a split-second decision. You have to consider which horse is in front of you. Is he likely to go straight? What jockey is in front of you? Which hand is his whip in? If I go inside, is it the difference between winning and losing?"

Trainer Yasushi Shono had a bit more appreciation for Murphy's decision.

"Both the horse and the jockey had a lot of courage," the trainer said.

The victory was the second at the grade 1 level for Suave Richard, following the Osaka Hai (G1) in April 2018. He was third in the Dubai Sheema Classic Sponsored by Longines (G1) at Meydan on Dubai World Cup Night this spring and third again June 23 in the Takarazuka Kinen (G1) at Hanshin. After a break, he returned to finish seventh Oct. 27 in the Tenno Sho (Autumn, G1) going 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles).

Shono said the victory on yielding turf was not a surprise.

"It was quite similar to what we experienced in Dubai," he said.

But knowing Suave Richard can handle the condition, Shono said doors could now be open to competition in Europe or England, where off going is more common.

"We know Japanese horses are doing well overseas," he said. "So the tracks don't seem so distant now. So we might think about some of those things. … I will have to talk to the owners, and it depends on the condition of the horse."

He added any further racing this season will also depend on how Suave Richard exits the race.

"(The going) was slow," Murphy said, "but it's hard to say it was soft compared to where I come from, because the time was very fast."

Suave Richard, out of the Unbridled's Song mare Pirramimma, was bred by Northern Racing and is owned by NICKS.