2022 Japan Cup Betting Odds at Tokyo racecourse

Sunday, 27 November 2022

The Japan Cup takes place at Tokyo Racecourse on an annual basis. Some of the fastest horses in the world compete for an enormous purse, with a maximum of eighteen runners and riders lining up on the last Sunday of November, with the horses competing over 2,400 metres in what is a strong test of speed and stamina.

There are plenty of overseas raiders who line up in the Japan Cup on an annual basis, with up to ten horses from outside of Japan permitted to compete. There is a 2kg weight allowance for any fillies or mares who are entered, while the same applies to any three-year-old horse from the Southern Hemisphere.

2022 Japan Cup Tips

Shahryar was victorious in the Longines Dubai Sheema Classic over one mile and four furlongs. This was a performance that clearly demonstrated the four-year-old’s credentials and the win in March could well be replicated when it comes to the 2022 Japan Cup. An experiment to bring the horse over to England wasn’t really effective but he’s back to chase the money in this famous race.

Perhaps Danon Beluga offers a better bet, with the horse having run impressively when finishing in third place in the Tenno Sho on 30 October. There was little over a length between the horse and favourite Equinox, with the former having beaten Shahryar who finished fifth in the same race.

Previously to this, Danon Beluga was sent off as the 5/2 favourite to win the Tokyo Yushun on 29 May 2022, although jockey Yuga Kawada could only steer the horse to fourth and perhaps the two market leaders can be opposed. After all, Vela Azul really caught the eye when winning the Kyoto Daishoten and that was over one mile and four furlongs.

Vela Azul can currently be backed each-way and a profit could still be realised by a horse trained by Kunihiko Watanabe, with the first three in the betting far more fancied by the Japanese horse racing bookies than the other contenders. Onesto finished midfield in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and has more improvement to find.


The Japan Cup features prominently on the Japanese horse racing calendar, with the race taking place towards the end of the year. Many top trainers target this race as having the potential to land a large sum of prize money, with the event comparing favourably with the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Melbourne Cup and the Breeders' Cup.

There have been winners from Japan, North America, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy since the horse race first took place in 1981, with horses needing to qualify for the race by virtue of winning or placing in a significant horse race before it comes to the Japan Cup.

However, the Japan Cup has been dominated by Japanese horses over the past few years. Since Alkaased won the race in 2005 for trainer Luca Cumani, with Frankie Dettori on board, overseas raiders have been beaten by home-grown horses, with Contrail landing a victory in 2021.

Almond Eye was the winner in 2020 and this horse previously landed a victory in 2018, with Gentildonna having scored as a three-year-old in 2012 before coming back to Tokyo Racecourse and claiming a victory in 2013.