“He’s eating and drinking very well. As we just arrived here yesterday, he just did a gentle exercise this morning to get used to the new surroundings, and he moved very well. We’re very pleased. He was keened to go faster in the last two furlongs which mean he’s enjoying himself. It was the first time for us to see the course and it looks very nice and big. Tomorrow he will do a nice canter—same distance but a bit faster than today.”
The following horses entered in the 32nd Japan Cup were transported from the Shiroi quarantine facilities to the international stables of the Tokyo Racecourse today (exact time of departure and arrival stated below). Comments taken from the connections upon arrival are as follows:
Jakkalberry (IRE, H6, bay)
- departed Shiroi quarantine facilities at 11:15 and arrived at Tokyo Racecourse at 13:15
“The trip here from Shiroi was very smooth. He’s in good condition and just look at him, he has a good appetite. I have to ask our trainer about his work schedule here, but he’ll probably do a canter tomorrow morning. We will gallop him but when, I don’t know yet—it’s up to our trainer.”
(comments taken from Alexander Cairns)
Mount Athos (IRE, G5, bay)
- departed Shiroi quarantine facilities at 11:15 and arrived at Tokyo Racecourse at 13:15
“The transportation from Australia to Japan was good. We stopped off in Hong Kong and it’s been seven days in Japan, and he’s recovering from the flight good. We haven’t done much with him in Shiroi, just walking, trotting and cantering and the stall test. He’s eating and drinking well and we’re happy with him. Regarding his training from tomorrow, we’ll take it day by day and it will depend on the weather when he’ll gallop—we’re not sure yet.”
(comments taken from Charles Henson)
Red Cadeaux (GB, G6, chestnut)
- departed Shiroi quarantine facilities at 11:45 and arrived at Tokyo Racecourse at 13:32
“The trip over from Australia via Hong Kong was no trouble for him—he’s just about the same weight as he was before the Melbourne Cup.
He had a long holiday after his start in July to prepare for the Melbourne Cup but unfortunately the race didn’t work out for him as the pace was oh so slow!
But the spacing between his last race and the Japan Cup shouldn’t be too much for him, as he was so fresh and put his weight back on so much that we did some strong work on him on the Friday before he left Australia. We’ll just do some light work tomorrow and his gallop will depend very much on how firm the turf turns up—I hear that we may have some rain on Thursday, in which case he’ll may have a gallop on the turf on Friday, otherwise if the turf is very firm, we’ll do some long canters over the dirt.”
(comments taken from Robin Trevor)
Solemia (IRE, F4, bay)
- departed Shiroi quarantine facilities at 11:45 and arrived at Tokyo Racecourse at 13:38
“We were a little worried about the long journey before she departed for Japan, but it was a happy surprise that she handled the flight extremely well. She has lost some weight after arriving here, but she just seems to love the Japanese apples, carrots and the mineral water, and has a good appetite. Her feed and supplement is the same as in France so she doesn’t get confused.
Our trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias and jockey Olivier Peslier will be here tomorrow morning, and we intend to gallop the horse with the jockey in the saddle on the turf course.”
