3 minute read
A much smaller crowd than usual was on hand for the running of the 39th Japan Cup.
In fact the total was only 80,862 which was probably due to the wet weather of the previous two days and the ground being very heavy rather than the absence of foreign horses or the top Japanese horse.
The time for the race was 2.25.9 well below the track record of 2.20.6.
But it was a great day topping off a great year for jockey Oisin Murphy as he guided Suave Richard to a gap along the rails and into the lead in the Japan Cup! Murphy described the win as "a dream come true" and followed on from winning the English Champion Jockey award for 2019. Murphy had suggested to trainer Yasushi Shono that cheek pieces might help and as they worked well in training they decided to wear them in the race. This was Suave Richard's second G1 title and he ran third in this race last year.
Curran Bouquetd'or had the fillies' weight advantage which was significant in the heavy going and she put in a really good performance but in the end Suave Richard had the momentum going to the line and was able to gain the lead and the Cup.
Favourite Wagnerian did well to finish third as he too found the going really tough as did most of the other horses including Rey de Oro who was following Suave Richard, but in the end the going was too much for him.
On the subject of names, it's interesting to see that boy's names were in the name of the Japan Derby winner – Roger Barows, and the Japan Cup winner Suave Richard. And for jockeys it helps to be called Christophe as Christophe Lemaire won two races as did Christophe Soumillon. Or Iwata –as father Yasunari and son Mirai both won a race.
There are so many interesting people that you meet around the track as well – this time we were delighted to meet French jockey Mickaëlle Michel and to get a couple of photos of her with Christophe Soumillon and Nanako Fujita, and Aussie sports commentator legend Bruce McAvaney who tries to get to the Japan Cup as often as possible, an ambition shared by Whistlejacket.
