Fifth-favorite Namur wins the 40th running of the Mile Championship over 1,600 meters on turf at Kyoto Racecourse, the 4-year-old mare securing her first Grade 1 victory.
Overwhelming favorite Equinox wins the autumn Tenno-sho horse race for his fifth consecutive Grade 1 victory, with Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako in attendance.
Second-favorite Justin Palace earns his first Grade 1 victory in the 167th running of the Spring Tenno-sho, held at Kyoto Racecourse for the first time in three years following its renovation.
Japanese horses have been in a rich vein of form in recent overseas races as decades-long efforts to improve domestically bred thoroughbreds have narrowed the gap with horses bred in Europe and the United States.