Japan`s Yukio Okabe guided Wing Arrow to snatch the lead in the last straight for a comfortable victory in the inaugural 2,100-metre (1.3 mile) Japan Cup dirt race on Saturday.
The five-year-old horse crossed the finishing line in a new course record of two minutes 7.2 seconds, three and a half lengths ahead of runner-up Sanford City with Akira Murayama in the saddle.
Lord Sterling from the United States, ridden by Jose Valdivia Jr, came in third three lengths further back, while another foreign horse, Euchre from Canada, finished eighth.
'I had expected it would be a fast race, but I never expected the race would be competed like this. I was surprised that my horse caught up with the pace very quickly soon after it started to move closer,' said Okabe.
The winner received a 130 million yen (1.18 million dollar) first prize.
