Champions Cup (horse race)

Champions Cup
チャンピオンズカップ
Grade 1 race
	2022 Champions Cup winner Jun Light Bolt
Location	Chukyo Racecourse, Toyoake, Aichi
Inaugurated	2000 (as the Japan Cup Dirt)
Race type	Thoroughbred
Website	japanracing.jp
Race information
Distance	1,800 meters (About 9 furlongs)
Surface	Dirt
Track	Left-handed
Qualification	3-y-o & Up
Weight	3-y-o colts & geldings 57kg; 4-y-o & up horses & geldings 58kg; Allowance : 2kg fillies & mares
Purse	¥ 259,200,000 (as of 2022); 1st: ¥ 120,000,000
Bonuses	Winning horse owner will receive a ¥3,000,000 bonus.

The Champions Cup (JPN G-1, formerly the Japan Cup Dirt until 2013) is a thoroughbred horse race contested in Japan in early December. It is run for three-year-olds and older at a distance of 1,800 meters. In recent years, the race has followed the Japan Cup on the Japanese racing calendar.

Race information

Racecourse: Chukyo Racecourse
Distance: 1,800 meters (About 9. furlongs), Dirt, Right-handed
Qualification to run: 3-y-o & Up
Weight: 3-y-o colts & geldings 55 kg
3-y-o fillies 53 kg
4-y-o & up horses & geldings 57 kg
4-y-o & up mares 55 kg
Safety Factor: 16 (There will be a maximum of 8 foreign-trained starters)

2008 changes

The race was moved from Tokyo Racecourse to Hanshin Racecourse in 2008. The Japan Cup Dirt had been overshadowed by its turf counterpart (the Japan Cup) in recent years, because turf racing in Japan typically remains more popular and attracts better horses. Attendance for the 2007 Japan Cup Dirt was 56,052, while the attendance for the turf race the following day was 103,545.^[1]

With the move to Hanshin, the Japan Cup Dirt was shortened from its original distance of 2,100 meters (about 10+1⁄2 furlongs) to 1,800 meters (about 9 furlongs). Now run one week after the Japan Cup, the Japan Cup Dirt shares the weekend with the "World Super Jockeys Series" featuring jockeys from around the world.

2014 changes

The Japan Cup Dirt was moved to Chukyo Racecourse in 2014 and renamed the Champions Cup. According to the Japan Racing Association, the decision to make changes to the race was because of a lack of international participation.^[2] The new Champions Cup race will be run left-handed, as opposed to the right turns run since the race moved from Tokyo to Hanshin in 2008. The purse of the race will be reduced to ¥94 million - compared to ¥130 million for the 2013 running - and it will no longer be an invitational race. The 2014 running is scheduled for Sunday, December 7.^[3]

Purse

(For the 2007 running)^[4]

Total JPN ¥277,900,000 (U.S$. 2,416,000)

1st JPN ¥130,000,000 (U.S$. 1,103,000)
2nd JPN ¥52,000,000 (U.S$. 452,000)
3rd JPN ¥33,000,000 (U.S$. 286,000)
4th JPN ¥20,000,000 (U.S$. 173,000)
5th JPN ¥13,000,000 (U.S$. 113,000)

Like counterpart Japan Cup, as being one of the 4 GI races in Japan Autumn International Series since 2008, a bonus is added to the top 3 if they are not trained in Japan, and raced in one of the following races and finished likewise in same year. If multiple bonus applies, only the highest one counts.

Preparatory Event to Japan Cup Dirt	Qualification	Japan Cup Bonus(JPN ¥)
Dubai World Cup Breeders' Cup Classic Kentucky Derby	Current Year Winner	Winner:100,000,000 1st runner-up:40,000,000 2nd runner-up:25,000,000
Dubai World Cup Breeders' Cup Classic Kentucky Derby	Current Year Runner-Up	Winner:40,000,000 1st runner-up:16,000,000 2nd runner-up:10,000,000
Santa Anita Handicap Metropolitan Handicap Stephen Foster Handicap Hollywood Gold Cup Whitney Handicap Pacific Classic Stakes Jockey Club Gold Cup Woodward Stakes Preakness Stakes Belmont Stakes Travers Stakes	Current Year Winner	Winner:70,000,000 1st runner-up:28,000,000 2nd runner-up:18,000,000

Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
2000	Wing Arrow	5	Yukio Okabe	Katsumi Minai	Minoru Ikeda	2:07.2
2001	Kurofune	3	Yutaka Take	Kunihide Matsuda	Makoto Kaneko	2:05.9
2002	Eagle Café	5	Frankie Dettori	Futoshi Kojima	Kiyoshi Nishikawa	1:52.2
2003	Fleetstreet Dancer	5	Jon Court	Doug O'Neill	Lee & Ty Leatherman	2:09.2
2004	Time Paradox	6	Yutaka Take	Hiroyoshi Matsuda	Shadai Racehorse Co.	2:08.7
2005	Kane Hekili	3	Yutaka Take	Katsuhiko Sumii	Makoto Kaneko	2:08.0
2006	Alondite	3	Hiroki Goto	Sei Ishizaka	Carrot Farm Co.	2:08.5
2007	Vermilion	5	Yutaka Take	Sei Ishizaka	Sunday Racing Co. Ltd.	2:06.7
2008	Kane Hekili	6	Christophe Lemaire	Katsuhiko Sumii	Makoto Kaneko	1:49.2
2009	Espoir City	4	Tetsuzo Sato	Akio Adachi	Yushun Horse	1:49.9
2010	Transcend	4	Shinji Fujita	Yasuda Takayuki	Koji Maeda	1:48.9
2011	Transcend	5	Shinji Fujita	Yasuda Takayuki	Koji Maeda	1:50.6
2012	Nihonpiro Ours	5	Manabu Sakai	Yuki Ohashi	Hyakutaro Kobayashi	1:48.8
2013	Belshazzar	5	Christophe Lemaire	Kunihide Matsuda	Shadai Race Horse Co.	1:50.4
2014	Hokko Tarumae	5	Hideaki Miyuki	Katsuichi Nishiura	Michiaki Yabe	1:51.0
2015	Sambista	5	Mirco Demuro	Katsuhiko Sumii	K Hidaka Breeders Union	1:50.4
2016	Sound True	6	Takuya Ono	Noboru Takagi	Hiroshi Yamada	1:50.1
2017	Gold Dream	4	Ryan Moore	Osamu Hirata	Katsumi Yoshida	1:50.1
2018	Le Vent Se Leve	3	Mirco Demuro	Kiyoshi Hagiwara	G1 Racing Co. Ltd.	1:50.1
2019	Chrysoberyl	3	Yuga Kawada	Hidetaka Otonashi	U Carrot Farm	1:48.5
2020	Chuwa Wizard	5	Keita Tosaki	Ryuji Okubo	Shinobu Nakanishi	1:49.3
2021	T O Keynes	4	Kohei Matsuyama	Daisuke Takayanagi	Tomoya Ozasa	1:49.7
2022	Jun Light Bolt	5	Yukito Ishikawa	Yasuo Tomomichi	Junji Kawai	1:51.9
2023	Lemon Pop	5	Ryusei Sakai	Hiroyasu Tanaka	Godolphin	1:50.6

2000, 2001, 2003–2007: Tokyo Racecourse, 2,100 meters, counter-clockwise (left-handed)
2002: Nakayama Racecourse, 1,800 meters, clockwise (right-handed)
2008–2013: Hanshin Racecourse, 1,800 meters, clockwise
2014–present (scheduled): Chukyo Racecourse, 1,800 meters, counter-clockwise

References

Netkeiba:^[5]^[6]
- 2000 en, 2001 en, 2002 en, 2003 en, 2004 en, 2005 en, 2006 en, 2007 en, 2008 en, 2009 en, 2010 en, 2011 en, 2012 en, 2013 en, 2014 en, 2015 en, 2016 en, 2017 en, 2018 en, 2019 en, 2020 en, 2021 en, 2022 en, 2023 en

Racing Post:
- 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
- 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
- 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

^ Paulick, Ray (2007-11-25). "Paulick: Japan Cup wrapup". NTRA.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
^ Wright, Howard (November 22, 2013). "Hanshin to stage Japan Cup Dirt for last time". Racing Post. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
^ "List of JRA Graded Races 2014". japanracing.jp. Japan Racing Association. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
^ Japan Cup Dirt 2007 The Japan Association for International Horse Racing. Accessed April 24, 2007
^ "チャンピオンズC". Netkeiba.
^ "Champions Cup". Netkeiba.

External links

Horse Racing in Japan - Japan Racing Association

[1] Paulick, Ray (2007-11-25). "Paulick: Japan Cup wrapup". NTRA.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-10.

[champcup-2] Wright, Howard (November 22, 2013). "Hanshin to stage Japan Cup Dirt for last time". Racing Post. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2013.

[3] "List of JRA Graded Races 2014". japanracing.jp. Japan Racing Association. Retrieved November 29, 2013.

[4] Japan Cup Dirt 2007 The Japan Association for International Horse Racing. Accessed April 24, 2007

[5] "チャンピオンズC". Netkeiba.

[6] "Champions Cup". Netkeiba.

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v t e List of Japanese Grade I horse races
Japan Racing Association (JRA) GI Races (International GI)	February Stakes (dirt) Takamatsunomiya Kinen Ōsaka Hai Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas; 3-year-old fillies) Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas; 3-year-olds) Tenno Sho (Spring) NHK Mile Cup (3-year-olds) Victoria Mile (fillies and mares) Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks; 3-year-old fillies) Tokyo Yūshun (Japanese Derby; 3-year-olds) Yasuda Kinen Takarazuka Kinen Sprinters Stakes Shūka Sho (3-year-old fillies) Kikuka Shō (Japanese St. Leger; 3-year-olds) Tenno Sho (Autumn) Queen Elizabeth II Cup (fillies and mares) Mile Championship Japan Cup (invitational) Champions Cup (dirt) Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (2-year-old fillies) Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (2-year-olds) Arima Kinen (Grand Prix) Hopeful Stakes (2-year-olds)
National Association of Racing (NAR) GI Races (international GI, dirt)	Tokyo Daishōten
National Association of Racing (NAR) JpnI Races (Domestic GI, dirt)	Kawasaki Kinen Haneda Hai (3-year-old) Kashiwa Kinen Tokyo Derby (3-year-old) Sakitama Hai Teio sho Japan Dirt Classic (3-year-old) Mile Championship Nambu Hai Japan Breeding Farms' Cup (Sprint - Ladies' Classic [fillies and mares] - Classic) Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun (2-year-olds)
JRA Steeplechase Races (J-GI races)	Nakayama Grand Jump (international) Nakayama Daishogai (international)
Domestic Grade I Equivalent Ban'ei Races	Ban'ei Kinen (Ban'ei, Obihiro)
See also	Japan Racing Association National Association of Racing Horse racing in Japan