The 2021 Juddmonte International gets underway today and ahead of the race we have looked back at the 2019 renewal where the Aidan O'Brien trained Japan landed a superb renewal.
The now five year old has had an illustrious career, being a solid prospect at two and three and now getting older still shows signs of ability, but overall is nearing retirement.
However, before that we can look back on some of his stand out wins which include taking the Group Two King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp and then topped his season by landing the Juddmonte international.
It was one of the greatest renewals of the last 10 years with him and Crystal Ocean battling it out to the line and in the end a photo-finish was needed to split the pair.
Off the back of that he went to the Arc and plugged on well in deep ground to finish a superb fourth behind the likes of Waldgeist, Enable and Sottsass.
Japan has had a superb career and his run in this event will go down in history.
#RTVMomentOfTheDay
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 21, 2019
🇯🇵 Japan recorded a second G1 success with victory over Crystal Ocean in the G1 Juddmonte international @yorkracecourse
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