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In the 9th running of the Grade 1 Japan Cup Dirt on Sunday afternoon - the first time the race was run at Hanshin Racecourse, just outside of Osaka, over 1,800 meters - the winner of the race in 2005 Kane Hekili came back from a 2 1/2-year break to win the race for the second time.
In the past, the Japan Cup Dirt had always been run over 2,100 meters at Tokyo Racecourse on the day before the Japan Cup (turf). Today it was the main event in front of 50,000 fans at Hanshin, and Kane Hekili provided a fitting result.
The race was run at a fairly quick pace with second favorite, 3-year-old colt Success Brocken taking the lead mid-race after missing the start a little and pushing up underneath the United States challenger Tin Cup Chalice. Tin Cup Chalice was one of just two US runners (the other Frost Giant) after Mast Track was scratched due to shoulder lameness on race day.
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Several horses began their moves around the final long curving turn into the straight, with Casino Drive and Furioso moving around Success Brocken and Tin Cup Chalice. Christophe Lemaire on Kane Hekili took a sit behind the leaders, and at the top of the straight worked up between them. Last year's winner and this year's favorite, Vermilion, had settled towards the rear of the field but gradually made up ground, and outsider Meisho Tokon followed him on his outside.
As the field entered the straight, Success Brocken kicked away from Tin Cup Chalice, but at the 200-meter mark Kane Hekili swept past him. Vermilion and Meisho Tokon made their charges down the middle of the track, and with 100 meters to go, all three horses looked like they could win. But Lemaire found everything from Kane Hekili, and at the finish he held off Meisho Tokon by a head. In the end, Vermilion had too much ground to make up, finishing a neck behind Meisho Tokon for 3rd. Big finishers Sunrise Bacchus (4th) and Blue Concorde (5th) came with their runs when it was all over, but were well beaten by the top 3 finishers.
Casino Drive, the Japanese trained horse who had run in the Breeders' Cup Classic at his previous start, was just behind these in 6th, and the two US challengers Frost Giant and Tin Cup Chalice finished 12th and 13th, respectively.
Kane Hekili is a 6-year-old horse by Fuji Kiseki, out of the Deputy Minister mare Life Out There. He is trained by Katsuhiko Sumii, bred by Northern Farm, and is owned by Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co., Ltd. He has 9 wins in 16 career starts.
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