Hot jock Craig Williams will have to ride a gem of a race in Sunday’s Group $6.5m 2011 Japan Cup (2400m) after his mount Tosen Jordan drew poorly.
The Yasutoshi Ikee-trained galloper drew the outside gate in 16, making the task in what many believe the strongest Cup for years, much tougher.
It wasn’t much better news for Arc winner and Cup favourite Danedream who drew gate 13.
French filly Shareta trained by 2010 Melbourne Cup winning trainer Alain de Royer Dupre is in 14.
Of the fancied runners, local super mare Buena Vista has drawn well in two.
There has not been any reaction to the draw from TABsportsbet with the three fancied horses remaining the same price.
They have the German filly Danedream $3.50 ahead of Buena Vista $5.50 and Tosen Jordan $8.
Williams is contracted to ride in Japan until Christmas Day.
2011 Japan Cup Field
| # | Horse | Sex/Age | Weight (kg) | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JAGUAR MAIL (JPN) | H/7 | 57.0 | Hirofumi Shii | Noriyuki Hori |
| 2 | BUENA VISTA (JPN) | M/5 | 55.0 | Yasunari Iwata | Hiroyoshi Matsuda |
| 3 | ROSE KINGDOM (JPN) | C/4 | 57.0 | Ioritz Mendizabal | Kojiro Hashiguchi |
| 4 | OKEN BURCE LEE (JPN) | H/6 | 57.0 | Masayoshi Ebina | Hidetaka Otonashi |
| 5 | TRAILBLAZER (JPN) | C/4 | 57.0 | Yutaka Take | Yasutoshi Ikee |
| 6 | TO THE GLORY (JPN) | C/4 | 57.0 | Yuichi Fukunaga | Yasutoshi Ikee |
| 7 | PELUSA (JPN) | C/4 | 57.0 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Kazuo Fujisawa |
| 8 | VICTOIRE PISA (JPN) | C/4 | 57.0 | Micrco Demuro | Katshuiko Suumii |
| 9 | SARAH LYNX (IRE) | F/4 | 55.0 | Christophe Soumillon | John Hammond |
| 10 | KING TOP GUN (JPN) | H/8 | 57.0 | Keita Tosaki | Ippo Sameshima |
| 11 | MISSION APPROVED (USA) | H/7 | 57.0 | Jose Espinoza | Naipaul Chatterpaul |
| 12 | WIN VARIATION (JPN) | C/3 | 55.0 | Katsumi Ando | Masahiro Matsunaga |
| 13 | DANEDREAM (GER) | F/3 | 53.0 | Andrasch Starke | Peter Schiergen |
| 14 | SHARETA (IRE) | F/3 | 53.0 | Christophe Lemaire | Alain de Royer Dupre |
| 15 | EISHIN FLASH (JPN) | C/4 | 57.0 | Kenichi Ikezoe | Hideaki Fujiwara |
| 16 | TOSEN JORDAN (JPN) | H/5 | 57.0 | Craig Williams | Yasutoshi Ikee |
