Olivier Peslier's mount, Jungle Pocket, the Japan Derby winner, finished with a flourish to get the better of last year's victor T M Opera O by a neck in a photo-finish to the Japan Cup in Tokyo yesterday.
Narita Top Road was three and a half lengths back in third.
Golan (Johnny Murtagh) was settled in midfield early on in the mile-and-a-half contest but lost ground around the third bend before finishing well to sixth place
An ecstatic Peslier said: "I'm on top of the world - it is the most marvellous thrill for me to win the Japan Cup because I have ridden in Japan many times and so I'm really delighted.
"Jungle Pocket is the Derby winner and I am really proud of the way he has run today in this field.
"I was bumped a little at the start, and he then raced quite a long way back, but he settled well and I got a good run through. "
Aintree legend Ginger McCain rolled back the years to make a triumphant return to the track as Amberleigh House sprang a surprise in yesterday's Tote Becher Chase
The trainer famous for landing the Grand National three times with Red Rum is now dreaming of a fourth triumph in the world's most famous chase with the gelding, who made a mockery of odds of 33 to 1.
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