The 42nd Japan Mile Championship (G1) at Kyoto brings the country’s best milers back to the traditional stage on Sunday. Run over 1600 meters on the right-handed outer turf course, this is Japan’s defining autumn mile, the natural counterpart to the spring Yasuda Kinen and a key stepping stone toward December’s Hong Kong Mile.

The 50th running of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) on Sunday, 16 November 2025, returns this flagship mares’ championship to its traditional home at Kyoto Racecourse and does so with the weight of half a century of history behind it.

The Musashino Stakes is again positioned as one of the most revealing dirt miles on the Japanese racing calendar. Far from being a simple preparatory step toward the Champions Cup (G1), it functions as an evaluative environment in which form, conditioning, surface aptitude and tactical discipline are all tested. The structure of the race, with one turn, 1600 meters of dirt, and a long home straight, ensures that horses cannot rely solely on reputation or historical performanc