Which horse won the first Japan Cup in 1981?

Mairzy Doates won the first Japan Cup in 1981.

The inaugural Japan Cup was run at Tokyo Racecourse on 22 November 1981. Mairzy Doates, an American-trained horse ridden by jockey Darrel McHargue, defeated the Japanese runner Fujino Arashi in the international race.

The Japan Cup was created to raise the standard and international profile of Japanese thoroughbred racing. It became one of the world’s major middle-distance races, attracting leading horses from Japan and overseas.

Mairzy Doates is sometimes overlooked because later winners included celebrated champions such as Sunday Silence, Deep Impact and Gentildonna. The first running, however, established the race as an important international event from the beginning.