Leung Ho Yin, Simon's Bio
Simon is a well respected full-time thoroughbred racing commentator specializing in overseas international racing. Bringing with him a wealth of racing knowledge, Simon is the host and race caller for the overseas simulcast programme since 2008/09 season. He is currently the presenter on several racing television programmes including, ‘Racing Horizon’ and ‘Horse Racing – Results’.

Tokyo Racecourse – Track Analysis (Japan Cup Day):

On top of its sprawling track width, and an approximately 525m stretch run, the Tokyo Racecourse also features its own sweeping turns, and deep closers with explosive late speed would as well pounce home from out wide. That being said, with the homestretch going uphill from 400m to 300m out, front-runners at Tokyo have to open up against the pursuing pack at the top of the lane, or find it an insuperable task to win it all the way. Overall, this is still a fair track that favours no particular running style.

For the featured G1 2400m Japan Cup, with the first turn merely 300m after the start, horses breaking from out wide, especially in full fields, will have their work cut out for them. In the 2018 running of this prestigious contest ran on firm turf, the eventual tierce of ALMOND EYE, KISEKI and SUAVE RICHARD were all finding the rail early in the race; while KISEKI flashed his high cruising speed up front, ALMOND EYE, hounding him throughout, turned on the after-burners at the 200m marker to take command and reign supreme, and SUAVE RICHARD, saving ground while setting up well in fifth position from mid-way through, invariably pounced late, and could only settle for third.

On the day’s undercard, starters for the 1600m Begonia Sho on turf will travel a full 400m of the backside before tackling the first turn, and those breaking from out wide still have all the time they need to either get to the rail with their early speed up front, or tug back behind horses; meanwhile, at the 1800m start on turf – a chute that re-joins the course proper at a somewhat forgiving angle – where a contest for the 2yo Newcomer, the Oriental Sho and the Welcome Stakes will all break from, even a bad stall is still manageable. The same goes accordingly on the dirt oval for the 3yo and up 1 win and the Shangrila Sho, both at 1400m, where fields also have 350m of the backside to cruise on before hitting the first turn.

When the going was listed as firm for live racing on 16th November, forwardly-placed runners literally owned the turf strip at Tokyo, while those saving ground also enjoyed a slight edge. With fair skies and only a brief shower or two heading into the weekend for the Tokyo area, this year’s edition of the Japan Cup should still be staged on good to firm turf, and that would be a huge boost for the more prominently-placed runners breaking from middle or inside stalls.

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