The Kyoto Kinen is G2 over 2200m and has a field of 9 runners led by the returning Hiruno d'Amour.

Hiruno d'Amour went to France last year and was considered a very good thing for the Arc but it was not to be and it has taken a while for him to recover. He finished last year on a mark of 120 due to his excellent year at home before heading overseas.

Trailblazer was on 118. Two recent 4yos finished off their 3 yo careers with good ratings and will be keen to show the older horses what they can do - Win Variation was second only to Orfevre in the ratings and Tosen Rai was not far behind him.

The weather has been very cold in Japan with lots of snow but it looks like the Kansai region may be spared the worst of it this weekend, which is good news for Kyoto.