Ireland And Japan Team Up In Champion Initiative

Hanshin's GI Osaka Hai has been granted 'win and you're in' status for the G1 QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes––the first time a horse from outside Ireland will be guaranteed an entry for the 10-furlong contest run in September.

The Osaka Hai, run over the same distance on Sunday, April 2, has been upgraded to a Grade 1 for the first time in its 60-year history. Open to 4-year-olds and up, the race was won by subsequent Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe runner-up Orfevre (JPN) (Stay Gold {JPN}) in 2013.

“Horse Racing Ireland is delighted to partner with the Japan Racing Association to have the Grade I Osaka Hai as a 'win and you're in' race for the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes, the first such race outside Ireland,” sais HRI Chief Executive Brian Kavanagh.

“It is an important goal of Leopardstown to have a Japanese runner in the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes. Pat Keogh and his team are very keen to promote the highlight of Longines Irish Champions Weekend to the widest international audience possible and Japan is very important in that. The partnership being announced today is a further development of the excellent relationship which has always existed between the equine industries in Japan and Ireland.”

If the winner takes up the complimentary entry to the Irish Champion S., he or she will become the first Japanese horse ever to run in the race which was last year's joint-second-highest rated race in the Longines World's Best Horse Race Awards. Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {Ire}) headed the 2016 field which contained nine Group 1 winners including the dual Derby winner Harzand (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Found (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Masayuki Goto, President and CEO of the Japan Racing Association, added his support to the arrangement, saying, “The Irish Champion Stakes is one of the most prestigious races in the world and I am sure that this partnership will not only enhance our new Grade I Osaka Hai but will further promote and encourage global racing.  It is my earnest wish that through this partnership, our Osaka Hai will develop as one of the great 10-furlong races together with the Irish Champion Stakes. I am truly grateful of the strong relationship between Ireland and Japan, and I look forward to further strengthening this excellent relationship.”