Trainer Sakae Kunieda has confirmed the Japan Cup on November 29 will be Almond’s Eye last run before retirement.
Almond Eye has enjoyed a stellar career to date and she created history at the start of November when winning The Tenno Sho at Tokyo, becoming the first horse on the Japan Racing Association circuit to win eight times at Group and Grade 1 level.
The five-year-old will now be saddled one last time on November 29 in the Japan Cup, a race she triumphed in back in 2018 when holding off the challenges of Kiseki and Suave Richard in second and third respectively.
It would be the perfect end for the superstar mare if she can round off her career by landing a ninth top-level success.
Kunieda said, as quoted by the Racing Post: “Her condition is good and she has been trained as planned, so I decided she is going to the Japan Cup. She will return to my yard at Miho Training Centre next week.
“Christophe Lemaire will ride her as usual. I decided to end her career after this race as the result of discussions with the owners [Silk Racing Co Ltd] and the farm.”
