Local stayers will aim to make it 10 wins in a row in Sunday’s Japan Cup at Tokyo racecourse against a quartet of horses from overseas led by Ascot Gold Cup winner and Melbourne Cup runner Trip to Paris.

Erupt, Ito and Nightflower make up the international bid to be the first foreign horse to win Japan’s richest race since Alkaased in 2005.

Since then Ouija Board’s third in 2006 has been the highest placing by a foreign raider.

Trip to Paris, Erupt, Ito and Nightflower have all arrived in Japan in good order and are preparing for the 2400m race at the JRA Horseracing School.

Trip To Paris arrived in Japan last week after his two-start campaign in Australia that saw him finish second behind Mongolian Khan in the Caulfield Cup (2400m) on October 17 before his game fourth in the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington.

Australian jockey Tommy Berry, now enjoying a short term riding stint in Japan, will retain the mount after riding the stayer in his Melbourne races.

Erupt took out the G1 Juddmonte Grand Prix De Paris (2400m) at Longchamp earlier this year before he finished fifth behind Golden Horn in the G1 Prix De L’Arc De Triomphe (2400m) at the same venue on October 4.

Ito finished second in the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin (2414m) and fourth in the G1 Preis von Europa (2414m) in Germany earlier this year, while Nightflower was successful in the Preis von Europa and before that finished second in the G1 German Oaks (2213m) and G1 Grosser Preis von Baden (2414m).

Fifteen Japanese horses have been nominated for the 35th edition of the JRA’s international showpiece, with the in-form Lovely Day expected to be the favourite.

Lovely Day, a 5YO by King Kamehameha, is trained by Yasutoshi Ikee and has had a breakout season in 2015 with six graded wins from eight starts including the G1 Takarazuka Kinen and G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn).

A win next Sunday will see him join a very select circle of horses with seven graded victories in a calendar year last completed by T.M.Opera O in 2000.

Lifting the Japan Cup will also guarantee Lovely Day being named the JRA’s Horse of the Year.

Lovely Day won’t be the only one eyeing a piece of history in the Japan Cup.

Gold Ship, targeting a JRA record-tying seventh G1 win, will have his first start since his infamous performance in the Takarazuka Kinen, where he acted up badly in the gate and wound up 15th out of 16.

Gold Ship will retire after the Arima Kinen next month. He finished 15th in the 2013 Japan Cup but should he redeem himself next weekend with a seventh G1 victory, the Stay Gold horse will sit beside JRA legends Symboli Rudolf, T.M.Opera O, Deep Impact and Vodka.

“He came back to the stable early in October and everything has gone well so far,” Gold Ship’s trainer Naosuke Sugai said.

“He’s never any trouble in the workouts and passed his test in the barrier without a hitch.

“He’s won at Tokyo so we’re not worried about his handling of the course. He’s in good shape and we just hope he starts well.

“I’ll miss him. I hope he runs his heart out these next two starts.”

Plotting to steal the show from Lovely Day and Gold Ship is Ikee’s talented 3-year-old Mikki Queen, who won the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) and Shuka Sho to capture two filly’s Triple Crown races.

The Deep Impact-sired Mikki Queen has won four of seven starts with three seconds.

The Queen Elizabeth II Cup was an option for Mikki Queen but Ikee found the 4 kg allowance for 3YO fillies in the Japan Cup alluring.

Gentildonna won in 2012 as a 3-year-old and Denim And Ruby was second two years ago.

"We have more time to prepare for this race than what we would have had for the Queen Elizabeth II Cup plus she'll be running under 53 kg," Ikee said.

"She’s won the Oaks at Tokyo. If the pace picks up she shouldn’t have too difficult of a time getting into the flow of the race.

The 2014 Shuka Sho champion Shonan Pandora was the only female horse in the fall Tenno Sho but her fourth stood out with the fastest 600m finish in the field at 33.4 seconds.

Shonan Pandora has been untested beyond 11 furlongs but the dimensions of the Japan Cup will help get the most out of his horse.

“The longer distance will be good for her – we’ve been waiting for the 2400 metres at Tokyo all long. We’re out for a tough race so we can find out what she’s really made of,” said trainer Tomokazu Takano