Buena Vista wins Japan Cup horse racing

Yasunari Iwata guided second shot Buena Vista to victory at the 2,400-metre (1.5 mile) Japan Cup horse racing on Sunday, leading a 1-2-3 finish by three Japanese horses. The five-year-old mare, running in the middle of the 18 thoroughbreads on the back straight, caught up with front-running Tosen Jordan in the last 100 metres to cross the finishing line in two minutes 24.2 seconds. Tosen Jordan with Craig Williams in the saddle took the lead once in the last furlong, but came a neck behind Buena Vista in second place, followed by Jaguar Mail led by Hirofumi Shii, one length and three quarters further back. "Buena Vista showed her strength today. She proved she is the strongest horse right now. I hadn't won a race with her before, so I'm really happy that we made the best running to win today. It was the best result," said Iwata. "It was a one-on-one duel against Williams shortly before the finish. I thought I wanted to win even by a nose. I'm really happy. This is Buena Vista's real potential. Hopefully, we can repeat at the (season-ending) Arima Memorial," he added. Top shot Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe champion Danedream from Germany finished sixth, while Victoire Pisa from Japan, the winner at the Dubai World Cup, finished in 13th place. Shareta from France was seventh, Sarah Lynx also from France was 12th, while American horse Mission Approved was 14th.