Champions Cup: Luxor Cafe gets rematch with Narukami

The Champions Cup (G1) at Chukyo on Sunday (1:40 a.m. ET) features a pair of exciting sophomores in Godolphin’s Narukami and Luxor Cafe, winner of this year’s Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. 

Formerly known as the Japan Cup Dirt, the Champions Cup has also attracted four-year-olds with plenty of upside in W Heart Bond and Sixpence, along with such veterans as Wilson Tesoro, who was runner-up in the past two editions to the now-retired Lemon Pop.

Narukami will try to pick up the baton from Lemon Pop, a fellow Godolphin homebred likewise trained by Hiroyasu Tanaka. By globetrotting dirt celebrity Thunder Snow, the only two-time Dubai World Cup (G1) winner, Narukami sports a 5-for-6 record. His lone loss came at this track back in January, but he’s strengthened up over the course of the season. Narukami just extended his winning streak to four in the about 1 1/4-mile Japan Dirt Classic at Oi, where he thwarted Natural Rise’s bid to sweep the new Dirt Triple Crown, and left Luxor Cafe well back in third. 

That marked Luxor Cafe’s first start since his Kentucky Derby (G1) experience, an anticlimactic 12th behind Sovereignty at Churchill Downs. The Noriyuki Hori pupil rebounded in his second start back at home, enjoying a cutback in trip in the Nov. 15 Musashino (G3) over Tokyo’s metric mile. 

Although his full brother, Cafe Pharoah, failed to deliver his best in his appearances in this race, Hori believes that Luxor Cafe is better. Still, he must overcome the far outside post 16. New rider Florent Geroux, in Japan on a short-term license through the end of December, will try to mitigate the damage. If he can find a way to prevail, Luxor Cafe would give quite a welcome reception to sire American Pharoah, who recently arrived for his 2026 season at stud in Japan. 

W Heart Bond’s dam, Persistently, stunned Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra in the 2010 Personal Ensign (G1) at Saratoga. Ryuji Okubo’s once-beaten filly lost her perfect mark when runner-up in the about 1 1/4-mile Breeders’ Gold Cup two back. But she’s 6-for-6 at this distance, most recently taking the Miyako (G3) in record time at Kyoto, and still undefeated at Chukyo. 

Also exiting the Miyako are fourth Ramjet; seventh Outrange; and 10th Perriere. Like Luxor Cafe, older horses Ramjet (2024) and Perriere (2023) are themselves past winners of the Hyacinth S. on the Japan Road. 

Sixpence, a multiple Grade 2 winner and erstwhile classic competitor on turf, could rejuvenate his career on the switch to dirt. Bred for the surface as a son of Grade 1-winning sprinter Finley’sluckycharm, Sixpence was a promising second in his dirt debut in the Oct. 13 Mile Championship Nambu Hai to Wilson Tesoro. 

Although Wilson Tesoro was subsequently a lackluster fifth in the Nov. 3 JBC Classic, he’s eligible to bounce back in a race that’s suited him so well in 2023-24. Eight-year-old Meisho Hario, runner-up in the JBC Classic, aims to go out on a high in his swan song. Sunrise Zipangu is another advancing from the JBC Classic, although he was only 10th in the Funabashi feature.

Other contenders include Thunder Snow filly Tenka Jo, who’s placed in the last two runnings of the JBC Ladies’ Classic; William Barows, back to his optimal trip; Hagino Alegrias, fourth here a year ago; Peptide Nile, winless since upsetting the 2024 February (G1); Seraphic Call, unplaced in his two previous attempts in this race; and Helios.