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Friday, September 22, 2023 racingpost.com
JAPAN CUP 2023 TIME TO ENTER ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREAT RACES
Great facilities, a warm welcome and generous prizes await challengers
Scott Burton talks to the connections of the European challengers for last year’s Japan Cup
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HE race replays and record books will tell you that the 2022 Japan Cup was dominated by the home team, with Vela Azul weaving his way through the Tokyo traffic under an ice-cool Ryan Moore to land the great prize, edging out Shahryar and Weltreisende. But in one sense at least, the race reinforced its international credentials, attracting four top-class contenders from Europe. They would be the first Japan Cup runners to finish their preparations at Tokyo racecourse’s new, state-of-theart quarantine centre. From France there was Grand Glory, trained by expatriate Italian Gianluca Bietolini in Maisons-Laffitte and already a Japan Cup veteran, having been fifth to Contrail in 2021. Joining her was Onesto, a brilliant winner of the Grand Prix de Paris before being narrowly beaten in the Irish Champion Stakes, and a first runner in Japan for Classic-winning trainer Fabrice Chappet. The third French contender, Simca Mille, had chased home Onesto in the Grand Prix de Paris before winning one of the key trials for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the Prix Niel. His vastly experienced trainer, Stephane Wattel, had then targeted the Japan Cup in preference to the Arc itself, heading to Tokyo in search of fast ground for Simca Mille. The European contingent was completed by the Peter Schiergentrained Tunnes, who arrived on a roll of five straight victories – most recently when winning the Group 1 Grosser Allianz-Preis von Bayern by ten lengths. He was Germany’s seventh challenger for the Japan Cup since Alkaased became the most recent international winner in 2005, a tally matched by Britain’s raiders.
Prize-money increased by 25 per cent
Already among the richest turf races in the world, the 43rd running of the Japan Cup in association with Longines has received a remarkable 25 per cent increase in total purse compared to the 2022 edition. Last year’s ¥864 million has been upgraded to ¥1.085 billion, which
equates to £6m or €6.9m, and means the Japan Cup will eclipse the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the Breeders’ Cup Turf in its prize fund, with place money paid down to tenth. The bonus for doubling up in the Japan Cup after winning one of 24 major international middle-distance races tops out at $3m for a win in Tokyo, with any of the qualifying horses attracting a minimum of €200,000 for running.
Top-class quarantine facility
The need for a new quarantine centre at Tokyo racecourse had long been understood by the Japan Racing Association, with successive visiting trainers underlining the limits of the previous system for horses when they arrived ahead of any of the major international races that punctuate the autumn season in Japan. Those facilities were at the JRA’s racing school, more than an hour away at Shiroi. That meant a horse being flown in to observe the sevenday mandatory quarantine would have to be taken by road from Narita airport to Shiroi on the eastern outskirts of Tokyo, only to then be moved back to the racecourse in Fuchu on the other side of the city when the isolation period had ended. Having a quarantine ‘one-stop shop’ was a vital part of the strategy to reinvigorate international interest in the Japan Cup, along with the bonus system and increased prize-money. The new centre is surrounded by a 300m sand trotting ring, while after the first 48 hours of quarantine the international runners can work on the main racecourse dirt track, a regime that can be supplemented after seven days with work on the turf. Six two-horse barns each benefit from a separate grass paddock, air conditioning and remote monitoring. Prize-money and prestige may be major draws for trainers and owners when deciding their big end-of-year targets, but with the newly completed facility in Tokyo, there would now be even greater incentive to undertake the Japan Cup challenge.
‘An example every racetrack would do well to follow’
For Wattel, Simca Mille would be breaking new ground in heading to Tokyo. While the trainer had campaigned his horses across many of Europe’s biggest meetings from his base in Deauville during a career spanning 30 years, Wattel had never ventured to Asia with a runner. It is fair to say that the bar has now been set high in terms of expectations for future trips to other jurisdictions. In particular Wattel was impressed with the attention to detail paid to the
needs of the horse throughout the entire adventure. “The quarantine centre really is perfect,” he says. “The care and attention paid to the tiniest details surrounding each box is impressive, down to the fact that there is an individual area of grass for every horse to graze and relax in. “The trotting track and inner sand gallop suit horses who have just arrived and need to unwind. “The level of welcome offered is superior, not just for horses but for staff travelling with them, who have optimal conditions in which to work. “There is always a taxi on standby and every evening there is something organised for stable staff such as tours of the city; they are as well treated as anyone else travelling with the horse. “It’s a really important detail that the grooms and riders are well looked after and that is certainly the case. “In the level of welcome it is an example that every country and every racetrack would do well to follow.” Japan Cup week is full of glittering ceremonies and high-end hospitality for everyone connected with a runner. Wattel certainly appreciated all that was laid on for each horse’s team. But as befits a graduate of what might be called the classical French school of training – he cut his teeth as assistant to Alain de Royer-Dupre at the Aga Khan’s Aiglemont stables in Chantilly – Wattel returns time and again to the facilities for the horse and the staff caring for them. “The evening reception for owners and trainers was great fun and helped build atmosphere before the race,” says Wattel. “That might be the case elsewhere but what really impressed
‘The quarantine centre really is perfect. The level of welcome offered is superior, not just for the horses but for the staff travelling with them, who really have optimal conditions in which to work’ Stephane Wattel
me were the efforts the JRA made for the horses; they always listened to any requests and went to great lengths to make sure they met them. “They sourced an enormous range of feed with a wide variety of oats – including from the US – and it was this care for the welfare of the equine athletes which was extraordinary.” There would be no fairytale as Simca Mille faded turning for home to finish down the field, although Wattel has no regrets about running. “The race was a disappointment in that the horse didn’t show his best but none of that could be put down to either the transport or the way he was received over there,” says Wattel. “And the trip has not prevented me from rediscovering the real Simca Mille this year; quite the opposite, he is better than ever at four. “He was so well looked after before, during and after his trip to Japan that he never felt any effects from it. After that, a race remains a race and there are no guarantees you will run well.”
‘The setup is second to none’
Onesto arrived with perhaps the biggest reputation among the visitors and increased visibility because of his partnership with Japan’s favourite French jockey, Christophe Lemaire. Chappet has experienced racing the world over and is unstinting in his praise: “The welcome and facilities were excellent. Having the quarantine centre in the centre of the racecourse, you can’t improve on that. “The setup is second to none, which wasn’t really the case under the old quarantine system. Now the horses are in one box for their whole stay so there’s no switching stables and being transported on multiple occasions. It couldn’t be better.” While Onesto found himself behind a wall of horrses as Lemaire reeadied him to challenge, poor c luck in running has done nothing to dull Chappet’s memories. “The week is a wonderful w exxperience, from earlly morning to late in the evening,” he says. And when “And whe you consider there were still restrictions on crowd size after Covid, the racecourse crowd created a superb atmosphere.”
‘The atmosphere around the race is incredible’
Bietolini is in the best position to appraise the new quarantine arrangements, given Grand Glory was housed at the older Shiroi facility
across Tokyo on arrival before the 2021 Japan Cup. The restrictions on gatherings that year due to the Covid-19 pandemic meant that when he returned with the same mare in 2022 on her career swansong, Bietolini was keen to enjoy the full Japan Cup experience. “In Europe we have the Arc, Royal Ascot and the Derby,” he says. “But there are few moments when you are surrounded by 100,000 people on a racecourse. It has a unique atmosphere. “All week there is a feeling this is a special event, with huge media attention. The press conferences were a big deal and, much like the care paid to the horses, everything was done to ensure everybody could be clearly understood when they spoke.” Bietolini feels the new international stables in the centre of the racecourse are a huge step forward in the welcome afforded to travelling horses. “The new quarantine centre is such a positive development,” he says. “The JRA has built an incredible facility and puts everything at your disposal. “The boxes are like houses! There are cameras in each which connect to an application on your phone and you could see that there was never any loud sounds or disturbance in the quarantine block; nothing to agitate the horses, who were all very relaxed.” Bietolini adds: “Everything is so well organised and there is a frisson of excitement around events that lead up to the Japan Cup; the atmosphere around the race is incredible.” No expense has been spared in creating world-class facilities for the horses, while events such as the gala dinner, when the owners are the stars of the show, are superb experiences for Japanese and visitors alike. But what really struck Bietolini was the warmth of the personal welcome from all levels of staff. He says: “Everyone who works for the JRA – at every level – is so kind and welcoming, they make you feel extremely special. “You have the feeling everyone is delighted you have made the trip and that they will do their maximum to ensure everything goes well for you.” With a sixth place to complement fifth in 2021, Grand Glory clearly enjoys Japan, which is no bad thing as she remained in the country to become a broodmare at Teruya Yoshida’s Shadai Farm. As for Bietolini – and his fellow trainers – the desire to return for another crack at the Japan Cup burns brightly. Bietolini says: “My only disappointment is that this year I don’t have a horse good enough to go back. It was a remarkable moment in my life, as well as those of my family and my team.”