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LEGENDSOF JAPANESE RACING
JAEN
The field in the final straight of the Japan Cup

REAL RACING ARCHIVE(documented racing history)

GREAT RACE · Tokyo Racecourse

Japan Cup

ジャパンカップ

2400MLeft-handedGI

Founded so that Japanese horses could meet international opposition on home turf.

Final straight — Japan Cup, 26 November 2017 — Photo: nakashi from Chofu, Tokyo, JAPAN / CC BY-SA 2.0

02

Current conditions

These are today’s conditions; past runnings may have differed.
Distance
2400m
Grade (current)
GI
Racecourse
Tokyo Racecourse
Direction
Left-handed
Eligibility
Three-year-olds and up (maximum 18 runners)
Surface
Turf
First run
22 Nov 1981

03

Historical context

  • First run in 1981 to give home horses the chance to race international talent and to promote goodwill.

04

Runnings in the archive

Race records are taken from the “Racing record” tables of each horse’s Japanese Wikipedia article (which cite netkeiba.com and JBIS-Search) and cross-checked against the career start count. Grades are shown as printed for that year’s running — current grades are never applied retroactively.

1984

1985

1988

  • 3rdOguri CapHiroshi KawachiWinner: ペイザバトラーGI · 2400m · 2:25.8

1989

  • 2ndOguri CapKatsumi MinaiWinner: ホーリックスGI · 2400m · 2:22.2

1990

  • 11thOguri CapSueo MasuzawaWinner: ベタールースンアップGI · 2400m · 2:24.1

1991

1992

1995

1998

1999

2000

  • 1stT.M. Opera ORyuji Wada2nd: メイショウドトウGI · 2400m · 2:26.1

2001

  • 2ndT.M. Opera ORyuji WadaWinner: ジャングルポケットGI · 2400m · 2:23.8

2006

2007

  • 4thVodkaHirofumi ShiiWinner: アドマイヤムーンGI · 2400m · 2:24.9

2008

  • 3rdVodkaYasunari IwataWinner: スクリーンヒーローGI · 2400m · 2:25.7

2009

2012

2013

  • 15thGold ShipHiroyuki UchidaWinner: ジェンティルドンナGI · 2400m · 2:27.5

2015

2016

2017

2018

2020

2023

FILM

On film

Published on the JRA official YouTube channel.

05

The venue

The main stand of Tokyo Racecourse on Japan Cup day

Tokyo Racecourse

東京競馬場

Home of the Japanese Derby, the Japan Cup and the autumn Tenno Sho — its long home straight has staged countless great finishes.

SOURCES & REFERENCES

Sources & References

  1. 01
    ジャパンカップ — Wikipedia（日本語版）

    Wikipedia · Reference · Accessed 2026-09-26

  2. 02
    Japan Cup — Wikipedia (English)

    Wikipedia · Reference · Accessed 2026-09-26

IMAGE CREDITS

Image credits

Each photograph was checked on its individual Wikimedia Commons file page for author and licence.