Invaders Poised to Have Impact in Japan Cup

A field of 18 is set for the Nov. 29 Japan Cup (Jpn-I), with the foreign contingent showing promise against a home team generally regarded as slightly less imposing than usual for a Japan Cup.

Japanese horses have dominated the 2,400-meter challenge around the left-handed Tokyo Racecourse track throughout its previous 34 editions. But after a rash of retirements and injuries, the local contingent is without a definitive star.

In that environment, four overseas contenders look to break the string of local dominance that has run since Alkaased triumphed for trainer Luca Cumani in 2005 to take the winner's share, about $2.5 million of the total $5.2 million purse.

Erupt, a 3-year-old Irish-bred colt by Dubawi out of the Caerleon mare Mare Nostrum, enters off a fifth-place finish in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-I). His only other loss in six career starts for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard came in the Prix Niel (Fr-II) on very soft turf that was not to his liking.

"He's a heavy horse," said Alan Cooper, racing manager for the Niarchos Family, which bred and owns the colt. "He struggles with the heavy ground."

As a rainy period ended after morning trackwork Nov. 25, the course is likely to be on the firm side by Sunday when Stephane Pasquier breaks Erupt post 8.

Ito will represent Germany after scoring his first group I victory Nov. 1 in the Grosser Preis von Bayern (Ger-I) at Munich. The 4-year-old colt by Adlerflug was bred by his owner, Gestut Schlenderhan, and is trained by Jean-Pierre Carvalho. His six wins include the Grosser Preis der Badischen Unternehmer (Ger-II) at Baden-Baden in June, and he ran second in the Grosser Preis von Berlin (Ger-I) in August.

"He likes running fast," Carvalho said of Ito, "and Japanese racing generally has a good pace. He should be among the front-runners and he should do well."

Regular rider Filip Minarik will pilot Ito from post 14.

Nightflower, a 3-year-old Irish-bred filly, also has German connections and a group I victory in Germany as an entry card into the Japan Cup. The daughter of Dylan Thomas out of the Peintre Celebre mare Night of Magic took the Preis von Europa (Ger-I) at Cologne in August after a pair of runner-up finishes in group I company at Baden-Baden and at Dusseldorf. Bred by Jurgen Imm and owned by Stall Nizza, she also ran well earlier in the year in France.

To produce a top finish in the Japan Cup, trainer Peter Schiergen said Nightflower "will need a good pace." Doubly so, as she and jockey Andrasch Starke will have to cope with the outside post position.

Trip To Paris comes to Japan via Australia, where he posted an impressive second to Mongolian Khan in the Caulfield Cup (Aus-I) and fourth in the Melbourne Cup (Aus-I). Before heading Down Under, he earned his spurs with a victory in the Gold Cup at Ascot (Eng-I).

Robin Trevor-Jones, assistant to trainer Ed Dunlop, said his camp "couldn't be happier with him." The Melbourne Cup, he said, was not a true test because of the pace—"very stop-start, very slow and rough. We put a line through it and go from the Caulfield experience."

The 4-year-old Champs Elysees gelding, bred in Ireland, represents a yard still in mourning after popular international stayer Red Cadeaux was euthanized with injuries suffered during the Melbourne Cup. "That was a terrible day," Trevor-Jones said. "But we have to get on with it."

The Japanese runners have the home field advantage, and several of them have the credentials to win the event on their best effort.

Lovely Day comes to the Japan Cup with four straight wins under his belt, all group races. The 5-year-old son of King Kamehameha out of the Dance in the Dark mare Popcorn Jazz scored his first win at the highest level in the Takarazuka Kinen (Jpn-I) in June and repeated in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (Jpn-I) in his last outing.

Gold Ship, a 6-year-old son of Stay Gold, makes what is scheduled to be the penultimate start of an enigmatic career that has seen him reach the heights, winning half of his 26 starts when he is not his own worst enemy. He fit the latter description in his most recent start, the Takarazuka Kinen (Jpn-I), in June when he totally missed the break, showed no interest in running, and finished next to last of 16. One race earlier, however, he won the group I Tenno Sho (Spring) at Kyoto. He was 14th in last year's Arc and 15th in the 2013 Japan Cup.

Mikki Queen, a 3-year-old filly by Deep Impact, won two legs of this year's Japanese filly triple crown, the Shuka Sho (Jpn-I) and the Yushun Himba or Japanese Oaks (Jpn-I) and runs for the first time against older horses. Gentildonna in 2012 was the last 3-year-old filly to win the Japan Cup.

The race starts in front of the grandstand with a view of Mount Fuji in the distance on a clear day. The course undulates, with a significant uphill climb for the first half of the more than 500-meter stretch.