Superstar miler Charyn bids to go out at the top in Grade 1 Mile Championship in Japan

Roger Varian’s three-time Group 1 winner Charyn has a chance to bring the curtain down on his career in style in Japan on Sunday when he bids to become the first overseas winner of the Grade 1 Mile Championship (6.40 am GMT).

The grey four-year-old has had the assignment on his radar even before he won for the third time at the highest level in the Group 1 QEII Stakes at Ascot last month and will be ridden by Ryan Moore for the first time after his usual partner Silvestre de Sousa was unable to get a riding licence for the trip. Varian told The Mirror the Japan Racing Authority had cited the ten-month betting ban De Sousa received in Hong Kong in 2023 when denying his licence.

Charyn, who arrived at Kyoto racecourse over a week ago and has been training well on the dirt track under his usual work-rider Joe Scally, is in good hands as Moore won the JPY389 million (£1.977 million) contest in 2015 on the locally trained Maurice. 

Charyn, 3-1 favourite with bet365, has drawn stall 11 in the 17-strong field and Varian said: “We're always enthusiastic to have a runner in Japan. When we brought Sri Putra out for the Japan Cup in 2012 it was exciting but it was a harsh lesson about how good a horse has to be to come here to compete in a Group 1. After that trip, we said we wouldn't come back to Japan until we can bring a champion like Charyn.”

The home team is headlined by last year’s first and second in Namur and Soul Rush, and Brede Weg, winner of last year’s Queen Elizabeth II Cup.

Mile Championship (6.40 Kyoto, Sunday)
bet365: 3 Charyn, 100-30 Brede Weg, 7-2 Namur, 4 Soul Rush, 10 Jun Blossom, 14 bar

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