This Sunday, 3rd May, the eyes of the racing world turn to Kyoto Racecourse for the 173rd running of the Tenno Sho (Spring). Known colloquially as the "Emperor’s Prize", this 3,200-metre marathon is the longest Group 1 flat race on the Japan Racing Association calendar and serves as the ultimate test of a thoroughbred’s endurance, versatility, and psychological fortitude.

The 2025 Champions Cup represents a turning point. It is no longer a search for a successor, but the arrival of a new force. Narukami steps into Chukyo not as a hopeful three-year-old, but as the colt the entire dirt division must now answer to. Lemon Pop’s retirement created a vacuum. Narukami has spent the season rising into the empty space, turning potential into expectation.

On Sunday, November 30, the 45th Japan Cup brings together a field of 19, a world champion raider, two classic-winning three-year-olds, last year’s Derby hero, and a pack of hardened stayers and spoilers. It is the richest turf race on the Japanese calendar, with ¥1.09 billion in the pot and ¥500 million to the winner, but the real prize is status: the right to be called the new king of 2400 metres on firm Japanese turf.