John's Call Confirmed for Japan Cup

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What does a horse do for an encore after finishing third in the Breeders' Cup Turf as the oldest horse ever to run in a Breeders' Cup race?

Easy. He packs his bags and heads to Japan.

John's Call, thoroughbred racing's distinguished senior citizen, will be vanned to New York Tuesday from Tom Voss's farm in Maryland for a flight to Tokyo and an engagement in the Japan Cup. The $4.5 million race will take place Nov. 26 at the Tokyo Racecourse. The 9-year-old John's Call was invited as the leading representative of the United States.

Voss, his cautious trainer, says he doesn't really want to go. However, he says, he can't find a reason not to.

"You look for reasons not to go, but you can't find any," Voss says.

"John's full of life. You feed him his dinner, and he's done in five minutes. That's how good he's doing."

When John's Call ran in the Breeders' Cup Turf last Saturday at Churchill Downs, he became the oldest horse to compete in the Breeders' Cup. He finished a gallant third, less than a length behind the European turf star Kalanisi.

Somewhere in the race John's Call lost his right-front shoe, Voss says. It might have been when the jockey Jean-Luc Samyn swung him wide in the stretch. Voss says Samyn told him that John's Call lost his footing for about three strides at that point.

"Who knows how much it bothered him," Voss says. "It certainly didn't help him."

Voss vanned John's Call home the day after the race. Instead of showing signs of weariness, the old gelding displayed his competitiveness. He keeps trying to bite his handlers and kick other horses.

"He's pissed off he got beat," Voss says. "He's furious."

The Japan Cup is 1 1/2 miles, the same distance as the Breeders' Cup Turf. Voss says he believes that is John's best distance.

In the Turf, John's Call dawdled behind a slow place for about the first mile. He only really ran the final five-sixteenth mile, Voss
says. And the Turf was only his fifth race of the year. So, the trainer says, the old boy, despite his age, is fresh.

"What do you do with a 9-year-old doing this well," Voss says, referring to the race in Japan, "wait until he's 10 and go then?"

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