It is the start of five weeks of consecutive Grade 1 action at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday, May 11, when the NHK Mile Cup begins the run of top-level races at the track. The race is for 3-year-olds, and is run over a mile on the turf course, the same as the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen (on June 8), another race that's in this sequence of five.
First held in 1996, the NHK Mile Cup gives an opportunity to 3-year-olds (except geldings) to run over a mile, as opposed to the longer distances of the next two Classic races, the Grade 1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) and the Grade 1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby). In rare cases, winners of the mile race have gone on to win the Derby — namely, the great King Kamehameha (2004) and Deep Sky (2008). For the most part, however, it's seen as a race for a horse that might not stay much further than a mile. It became an international race in 2009.
This year, 2025, sees 22 nominations, of which nine are fillies, for a maximum 18-runner field for the race. Colts carry 57 kg, with fillies getting a 2-kg allowance. In 2017, Aerolithe was the last filly to win the NHK Mile Cup.
Information on the NHK Mile Cup
The race often throws up surprise winners, with just one first favorite finding the winner's circle in the past 10 years, and that was Major Emblem in 2016. Record time for the race is still held by Danon Chantilly, who won in a time of 1 minute, 34.1 seconds back in 2010.
This year's winner's check is ¥130 million JPY (about $900,000 USD).
A couple of official trial races for the NHK Mile Cup were the Grade 2 New Zealand Trophy over a mile at Nakayama, and the Grade 3 Churchill Downs Cup, also run over a mile, but at Hanshin. Both of these races ran in April.
The NHK Mile Cup will be Race 11 on the Sunday card at Tokyo, with a post time of 3:40 PM.
Here's a look at some of the horses expected to be in the lineup for Sunday's race:
NHK Mile Cup Entrant Admire Zoom Has Had Solid Preparations
Despite winning last year's Grade 1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, the colt by Maurice-sired Admire Zoom lost out to Croix du Nord in the election for the Best Two-Year-Old Colt of 2024. In his one run as a 3-year-old, he finished second to Immigrant Song in the Grade 2 New Zealand Trophy at Nakayama in April. However, trainer Yasuo Tomomichi believes it was a good prep run for him.
"He wasn't fully wound up for his last race, but he ran well enough," the trainer said recently. "It was good that he handled the long trip to the track and the overnight stay, so those things were a real plus. In the meantime, things have been as expected with him."
Jockey Yuga Kawada will ride Admire Zoom, as he did in the colt's previous four starts.
Satono Carnaval Making Progress, Trainer Says
Northern Farm-bred colt Satono Carnaval, a Kitasan Black progeny, already has the experience of racing overseas. He ran in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar Racetrack in California in 2024. In one run back in Japan in 2025, he finished fifth to Masquerade Ball in the Grade 3 Kyodo News Hai (Tokinominoru Kinen) at Tokyo over 1,800 meters in February.
Trainer Noriyuki Hori feels the horse is improving.
"He came back from Northern Farm Shigaraki on April 12, and after a recent piece of work, he weighed 524 kg," Hori said. "After his stay at the farm, he looks refreshed with the warmer weather, and much better in his coat than he did before his last race. His balance is better, too."
Lance of Chaos Chasing More Success
The interestingly named Lance of Chaos is a colt by Silver State. He has put himself in the picture for Sunday's race with a good win in the Grade 3 Churchill Downs Cup over a mile at Hanshin in April.
"Things went well for him last time, including the start, after which he got into a good position in the race, and then managed to get through a narrow gap in the homestraight to go on and win," trainer Yutaka Okumura said. "It meant a lot, after his results in the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes and the Kisaragi Sho. He had a short break at the farm after his last run, and things seem fine with him."
Read the rest of this article about the NHK Mile Cup and the Japanese horses in contention on JRA News.
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Author: JRA News
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