Champion mare Almond Eye claimed a second Group 1 Japan Cup at Tokyo on Saturday to bow out of racing with her record as one of the all-time greats intact.
It was a dream finish with Almond Eye ending the undefeated runs of the champion 3yo colt Contrail (Deep Impact) and the champion 3yo filly Daring Tact (Epiphaneia).
The five-year-old daughter of Lord Kanaloa raced just off the speed by Christophe Lemaire as Suguru Hamanaka set mind-blowing fractions on Kiseki, who finished second to Almond Eye in the Cup in 2018
That son of Rulership still had a commanding lead round the home turn, but with 200 metres left to run, he could hardly pick his feet up.
Almond Eye took control of the race at the 150 metres and safely held the challenge of Contrail by one and a quarter lengths with Daring Tact a neck back in third.
It was the ninth win at the highest level for the Sakae Kunieda-trained mare and the sixth on the Tokyo track, and she retires as the highest earner in JRA history with approx. AUS$19.7 million.
The Silk Racing colour-bearer advanced her record to 11 wins and three placings, her only unplaced effort coming when ninth to Cox Plate heroine Lys Gracieux in the Arima Kinen at Nakayama last December.
The lone overseas entry Way To Paris was in a pig of a mood. He held up the start for over five minutes, was sluggish in the early stages tailing out last. The son of Champs Elysees passed a few tired horses in the straight to clock in tenth of the 15 runners.
From the first crop of Lord Kanaloa, Almond Eye is the best of eight winners from as many to race out of the stakes-winning Sunday Silence mare Fusaichi Pandora who was runner-up in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup at Kyoto.
