NHK Mile Cup Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.

2024 NHK Mile Cup Preview

Established in 1996, the NHK Mile Cup is a valuable Grade I race for three-year-old colts and fillies run at the Tokyo racecourse in May of each year. With a prize fund of around £1.5m, the runners compete over a distance of 1,600 metres or as the name suggests, a mile.

The New Zealand Trophy, a Grade II race held at Nakayama racecourse in the month before this race serves as a trial with the top three finishing runners getting an automatic entry into this race. Craig Williams (2011) and Christophe Lemaire (2016 & 2021) are the only non-Japanesse jockeys to win this race.

How competitive is the NHK Mile Cup market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 10 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2014 when the race had an over-round of 124%. The race in 2019 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 129%, whilst on average over the last 10 renewals of the NHK Mile Cup, the over-round has been 127%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £127 which is bet.

NHK Mile Cup Trends:

2024 NHK Mile Cup Trends
NHK Mile Cup Trend Analysis

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 10 if you had followed the winner of the NHK Mile Cup next time out then you would have backed a total of 1 winner. Backing all 9 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -5.80. Why not head over to the racing predictions for tips on other races today?

Over the last 10 renewals, it was Schnell Meister, trained by Takahisa Tezuka and ridden by Christophe-Patrice Lemaire who set the fastest winning time in the NHK Mile Cup, the runner won the race in a time of 1:31.60 when winning the race in 2021. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer Tsuyoshi Tanaka and jockey Hiroyuki Uchida with Champagne Color who set the slowest winning time, the race-winning time was 1:33.80 in the 2023 renewal.

These are the top three quickest-run NHK Mile Cup over the last 10 renewals:

Schnell Meister (1:31.60) in 2021
Aerolithe (1:32.30) in 2017
Danon Scorpion (1:32.30) in 2022

NHK Mile Cup Past Winners

Here are the NHK Mile Cup past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won along with the age & weight of the horse. Also detailed is the stall where the horse came from and the total number of runners in the race. The trainer of the horse at the time of winning the NHK Mile Cup as well as the jockey is also displayed along with the starting price the horse was sent off.

Year	Horse (Drawn)	Info
2023 1:33.80	Champagne Color (JPN) 3yo 9-0 (11 of 17) 212/10	Hiroyuki Uchida Tsuyoshi Tanaka (JPN)
2022 1:32.30	Danon Scorpion (JPN) 3yo 9-0 (18 of 18) 61/10	Yuga Kawada Takayuki Yasuda (JPN)
2021 1:31.60	Schnell Meister (GER) 3yo 9-0 (15 of 18) 27/10	Christophe-Patrice Lemaire Takahisa Tezuka (JPN)
2020 1:32.50	Lauda Sion (JPN) 3yo 9-0 (11 of 18) 29/1	Mirco Demuro Takashi Saito (JPN)
2019 1:32.40	Admire Mars (JPN) 3yo 9-0 (17 of 18) 33/10	Mirco Demuro Yasuo Tomomichi (JPN)
2018 1:32.80	Keiai Nautique (JPN) 3yo 9-0 (11 of 18) 118/10	Yusuke Fujioka Osamu Hirata (JPN)
2017 1:32.30	Aerolithe (JPN) 3yo 8-9 (16 of 18) 48/10	Norihiro Yokoyama Takanori Kikuzawa (JPN)
2016 1:32.80	Major Emblem (JPN) 3yo 8-9 (4 of 18) 13/10F	Christophe-Patrice Lemaire Yasuhito Tamura (JPN)
2015 1:33.50	Clarity Sky (JPN) 3yo 9-0 (7 of 18) 54/10	Norihiro Yokoyama Yasuo Tomomichi (JPN)
2014 1:33.20	Mikki Isle (JPN) 3yo 9-0 (10 of 18) 9/10F	Suguru Hamanaka Hidetaka Otonashi (JPN)

NHK Mile Cup Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the NHK Mile Cup over the last 10 renewals is Yasuo Tomomichi who has won the race two times with those two winners coming from Clarity Sky (2015) and Admire Mars (2019).

Here are some of the top NHK Mile Cup trainer statistics over the last 10 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

Trainer	R-W-P	Win	EW
Yasuo Tomomichi	5-2-2	+5.70	+1.35
Takayuki Yasuda	6-1-2	+1.10	-1.45
Takahisa Tezuka	3-1-1	+0.70	-0.65
Hidetaka Otonashi	3-1-1	-1.10	-1.55
Takashi Saito	2-1-1	+28.00	+13.50
Yasuhito Tamura	2-1-1	+0.30	-0.35
Tsuyoshi Tanaka	1-1-1	+21.20	+10.60
Osamu Hirata	1-1-1	+11.80	+5.90
Takanori Kikuzawa	1-1-1	+4.80	+2.40
Yoshito Yahagi	9-0-0	-9.00	-9.00

NHK Mile Cup Jockey Statistics

There are multiple leading jockeys in the NHK Mile Cup over the last 10 renewals with Mirco Demuro, Norihiro Yokoyama and Christophe-Patrice Lemaire having all won the race two times. Mirco Demuro winners have been with Admire Mars (2019) and Lauda Sion (2020). Norihiro Yokoyama winners have been with Clarity Sky (2015) and Aerolithe (2017). Christophe-Patrice Lemaire winners have been with Major Emblem (2016) and Schnell Meister (2021).

Here are some of the top NHK Mile Cup jockey statistics over the last 10 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

Jockey	R-W-P	Win	EW
Mirco Demuro	7-2-3	+27.30	+11.65
Norihiro Yokoyama	7-2-3	+5.20	+0.60
Christophe-Patrice Lemaire	6-2-3	+0.00	-1.50
Yuga Kawada	7-1-2	+0.10	-2.45
Hiroyuki Uchida	6-1-1	+16.20	+5.60
Yusuke Fujioka	5-1-1	+7.80	+1.90
Suguru Hamanaka	5-1-1	-3.10	-3.55
Keita Tosaki	9-0-0	-9.00	-9.00
Yuichi Fukunaga	8-0-2	-8.00	-7.00
Yutaka Take	8-0-1	-8.00	-7.50

2024 NHK Mile Cup Trends

Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 1, 5, 1, 17, 12, 5, 2, 3, 4, 5

The percentage shown is the percentage of the total number of runners who fell under that factor. High percentages are less appealing than lower ones as you would expect them to do well. The trend information is based on the available information on the racing post in terms of previous runs etc.

10 / 10 (50%) - Within the first 9 of the market
10 / 10 (53%) - No bigger than 29/1
10 / 10 (62%) - No bigger than 87/10 (Debut)
10 / 10 (67%) - Break of 22 - 139 days (Last Place)
10 / 10 (68%) - No bigger than 108/5 (Career Place)
10 / 10 (68%) - Achieved an RPR of 102+ (Career)
10 / 10 (72%) - Beaten no more -4¾l (LTO)
10 / 10 (73%) - Had 1 - 3 placings (180 Days)
10 / 10 (73%) - Beaten no more -3¾l (Debut)
10 / 10 (77%) - No bigger than 51/1 (Career)
10 / 10 (79%) - Highest Placed is not LST/Cl2
10 / 10 (83%) - Had 1 - 4 placings (Career)
10 / 10 (83%) - Not BB/BL/BR in colour
10 / 10 (84%) - Furthest Placed 7f - 1m2f
10 / 10 (86%) - Carried 121 - 126lbs (LTO)

You may want to do your research into the race, there are times when there are several runners who pass the trends so you need to do your research to find a bet, we have a Horse Racing Form Reading Made Easy & What to Look For article to help you do just this in the OLBG Betting School section.

Are you already a member? If not, then why not? With over £6,000 given away each month in the tipster competition, why not get involved? Remember, It is completely FREE! So, head over to the registration page to sign up today! If you are already a member, then share your thoughts here.

NHK Mile Cup Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 5+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +49.10 is when runners had 2 places in the past 180 days. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 0 places in the past 180 days, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-48.

Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:

2023: Winner in 11 (3,10) [17 Runners]
2022: Winner in 18 (1,10) [18 Runners]
2021: Winner in 15 (10,8) [18 Runners]
2020: Winner in 11 (3,6) [18 Runners]
2019: Winner in 17 (18,10) [18 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the NHK Mile Cup is Nakayama, there has been a total number of 5 winners of this race who ran at Nakayama last time out. The next best course which has produced the second most winners is Hanshin, there has been a total number of 4 winners of this race who ran at Hanshin last time out.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 8 winners from a total of 141 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 2 winners from a total of 38 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the NHK Mile Cup:

Daiwa Major (2 Wins)
Deep Impact (2 Wins)
Kurofune (2 Wins)

These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the NHK Mile Cup despite multiple attempts:

King Kamehameha (0 Wins from 7 runners)
Matsurida Gogh (0 Wins from 5 runners)
Screen Hero (0 Wins from 5 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 10 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Lauda Sion in 2020, winning for Takashi Saito at odds of 29/1 under the guidance of Mirco Demuro. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 10 renewals there have been 2 winning favourites in the race. All figures and trends above, such as the horse's previous runs are based on the information that is available on the racing post.

Other Principal races at Tokyo Racecourse

Here are some other notable races at the Tokyo racecourse throughout the racing season that you may be interested in that we currently cover for blogs looking at past winners, trainer and jockey records and the race trends.

Races in May

If you are looking for races in May then we have blogs for the 1m4f Japanese Derby which is a Group 1 race & the Group 1 Yushun Himba which is contested over 1m4f.

Races in October

If you are looking for races in October then we have a blog for the Tenno Sho (Autumn) which is a Group 1 that is contested over 1m2f.

Races in November

If you are looking for races in November then we have a blog for the Japan Cup which is a Group 1 that is contested over 1m4f.

Article Contributor Information

We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this NHK Mile Cup Preview are at hand, Andy and Darren. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for International racing.

Darren Brett

Tipster competition manager

Darren has worked in the horse racing industry for decades bringing to OLBG for the last 20 years a wealth of knowledge, creating much of our content on these sports. Darren also manages our Grand National Guide and is the go-to font of knowledge for the world's greatest steeplechase.

Andy Powell

Content editor

Andy, a seasoned horse racing analyst with over 15 years of experience, delves into the intricacies of international horse racing, meticulously analyzing complex statistical data to uncover hidden trends. He spearheads the creation and management of OLBG's international horse racing trend blogs, providing valuable insights for bettors worldwide.

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