It’s the weekend of the Group 1 Japan Cup in association with Longines, when one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan, if not the world, will be run at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday. Having grown in stature over the past 40 years or so, the race has made a real name for itself over that time in the global horse-racing fraternity.

First run in 1981 as a slightly tentative attempt to see how Japanese horses would measure up against their overseas counterparts, the race that was also introduced to further enhance the quality of bloodstock in Japan has never looked back.

In its early days, Japanese runners were certainly put in their place, but the country didn’t have to wait too long before success came along. It was Katsuragi Ace who was a surprise winner in 1984, when the Japan Cup was recognized as an official international Group 1 race. He beat home a couple of Japan’s top horses of the era, namely Mr C B and Symboli Rudolf, to open the scoring for the home team. Even then, Japan could win only two of the first 10 editions of the Cup, but further success has slowly but surely come its way.