Trainer David Menuisier has confirmed that Thundering Blue will compete in this year's Japan Cup, with the race just around the corner on November 25.
Foreign entries for the race must be declared by November 9, with Menuisier confirming their interest in the race two weeks early, as they seek to try and claim the lucrative £2million prize. The invitation for the race came after Thundering Blue finished third to Roaring Lion and Poet's Word in the Juddmonte International.
It is yet another landmark in the rapid improvement of the horse, whose stock has risen significantly from racing at handicap level to now being a Group One force to be reckoned with.
Menuisier told the Racing Post: "He has come back from Canada in great form and he didn't have a particularly hard race.
"He seems very well which is why we continue to think of Tokyo, even though he has had a long season."
Menuisier has been globetrotting with Thundering Blue, having competed in England, Sweden and Canada already this season ahead of this latest trip to the Far East. He enjoyed success in the Group 3 Stockholm Cup, as well as in the Group 2 York Stakes in what has been one of the stories of the season.
"I've been thinking about the Japan Cup for a long time and it was at the back of my mind when he won the Group 2 at York," he added.
"I felt then that, if he ran well at Group 1 level then it was a race, I would love to run him in.
"Tokyo is often officially described as firm but Fran doesn't feel that it would feel any quicker for Thundering Blue than when he ran [second] in the John Smith's Cup, for example. And with age horses can become more flexible in terms of what they go on."