Japan Cup

Calandagan ran the fastest Japan Cup in history in 2025. The French-trained gelding clocked 2:20.3 for the 2,400 metres, three tenths of a second quicker than Almond Eye's 2:20.6 from 2018. He beat the favourite Masquerade Ball by a head under Mickael Barzalona. Trainer Francis-Henri Graffard ended a 20-year wait for an overseas winner and joined Le Glorieux in 1987 as the only French-trained winners.

No jockey has won the Japan Cup more often than Yutaka Take. His fifth victory came in 2024 on Do Deuce, at the age of 55, as Yasuo Tomomichi's five-year-old held off Shin Emperor and Durezza, who dead-heated for second place. His first was Special Week in 1999. Deep Impact followed in 2006, Rose Kingdom in 2010 and Kitasan Black in 2016. Take is also the first rider in history to reach 4,000 JRA winners.

Only two horses have won the Japan Cup twice, and both are mares. Gentildonna got there first, beating Orfevre by a nose as a three-year-old in 2012 and Denim and Ruby by a nose under Ryan Moore in 2013. Almond Eye matched her in 2020, two years after her first win, beating the unbeaten pair Contrail and Daring Tact by a length and a quarter. Gentildonna was trained by Sei Ishizaka, Almond Eye by Sakae Kunieda.