Admire Moon avenged his Emperor's Cup loss late last month with victory in the Japan Cup Sunday. Topping a field of 18, including four runners from overseas, Darley Japan's newly acquired treasure capped a bright career with a win by a head over Pop Rock, with race favorite Meisho Samson finishing in third a neck later ahead of second pick Vodka and Delta Blues.
In a near repeat of Saturday's Japan Cup Dirt, local horses swept the board, with England's Papal Bull besting the foreign contenders with a seventh-place finish. America's Artiste Royal just made the prize money in eighth place, while Germany's Saddex finished in 11th place and the U.K.'s Halicarnassus second from the last in 17th.
The win came with a sigh of relief to Admire Moon's connections as a sure boost to his new career as stud from next spring. In fact, were it not for his "shocking" loss in the Oct. 28 fall Emperor's Cup, the 4-year-old colt would not even have run in the Japan Cup at all.