Japan Cup
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ジャパンカップ (Japan Kappu) | |
| Class | Group 1 |
|---|---|
| Location | Tokyo Racecourse Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan |
| Inaugurated | November 22, 1981 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred |
| Sponsor | Longines |
| Website | Japan Cup - Racing Information |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 2400 metres (about 12 furlongs / 1+1⁄2 miles) |
| Record | Calandagan, 2:20.3 |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | Left-handed |
| Qualification | 3-year-olds & up, Thoroughbreds (safety factor: 18 horses; up to ten foreign-trained starters are allowed in the race) |
| Weight | 3-year-old 56 kg / 4-year-old & up 58 kg Allowances
|
| Purse | ¥ 1,090,000,000 (as of 2025) 1st: ¥ 500,000,000 2nd: ¥ 200,000,000 3rd ¥ 130,000,000 |
| Bonuses | Additional money awarded if winner won in qualified international races (see below) plus ¥ 3,500,000 to the winning owner.
|
The Japan Cup (ジャパンカップ, Japan Kappu; JPN G-1) is a Group 1 horse race in Japan, held annually on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchū, Tokyo. It is a flat race run over a distance of 2400 metres (about 1+1⁄2 miles, or 12 furlongs) with a maximum of 18 horses.
First run in 1981, the Japan Cup was created by the Japanese Racing Association (JRA) to give local horses the opportunity to compete against those of international calibre and to promote goodwill within the racing community worldwide. Similar to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the Melbourne Cup and the Breeders' Cup, the Japan Cup extends invitations to top-performing horses aged 3 and above from around the world. The race is one of the world's richest, reaching a total prize purse of over one billion yen in 2023, and often reaching an audience of 100,000 people. It is the middle leg of the informal "Autumn Triple Crown" along with the Tennō Shō (Autumn) and the Arima Kinen.
Despite a short history, the Japan Cup has established itself as an international contest with winners from all over the world, and is regularly ranked highly in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA)'s "Top 100 Group 1 Races of the Year" compilation due to its high quality and depth of racers. In its early history, the race was dominated by foreign horses, with 8 of the first 10 winners coming from abroad. However, in recent years the number of overseas entries has significantly declined, and in the last twenty years only one horse from outside of Japan has won.