NEWMARKET, England// Japan may be one of the more insular racing jurisdictions, but as Meydan racecourse bore witness to in March, when Victoire Pisa won the Dubai World Cup, they do not send challengers abroad lightly.
It brings into focus the raid on Royal Ascot on Tuesday by Grand Prix Boss, the crack miler from Japan sent to Britain by the trainer Yoshito Yahagi.
Grand Prix Boss will line up in the Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes against Frankel, the impressive English 2000 Guineas winner who is officially ranked alongside Black Caviar, the Australian sprinter, as the best thoroughbreds on the planet.
It will be a clash to savour, coming as the third Group 1 race on a thrilling opening to the five-day Royal Meeting. Although Frankel commands box office audiences in England, his burgeoning status has not gone unnoticed in the Land of the Rising Sun, according to Keita Tanaka, the racing manager to owners Grand Prix Co.
"Everyone knows Frankel in Japan," Tanaka said. "He's a superstar. It's an honour to race against him and the fans back home are looking forward to it.
"Every horse has a chance and we've brought the best three-year-old miler in Japan, which is equivalent to Frankel, so it's very exciting."
Grand Prix Boss will become the first Japanese horse to race in Britain since 2006, when Heart's Cry finished third to Hurricane Run in the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
He follows a little-known path to Europe set out by Heart's Cry, and followed by the likes of Deep Impact and Nakayama Festa, who both performed with credit in the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe.
Nakayama Festa pushed Workforce to within a head in Paris eight months ago, and Tanaka said that Grand Prix Boss has the right profile to go one better.
"We have brought the right horse," Tanaka said. "He is very adaptable. It is the main reason why we brought him over.
"Ascot is a very tricky track, but he has won at Nakayama in Japan, which has a very steep uphill also. He ran pretty close to the course record there, so we are hopeful." Victoire Pisa's success in Dubai owed a lot to the tactical brilliance of Mirco Demuro, the Italian jockey. Demuro made an audacious move mid-race to take the contest by the scruff of the neck.
Tanaka points out that three of Grand Prix Boss's four wins have been with non-Japanese jockeys on board
"Sometimes the horse is very keen. Most of the good foreign jockeys have the skill to make him relax, Tanaka said. "Mirco's ride in the Dubai World Cup was excellent. He is the most successful foreign jockey in Japan and knows how to handle Japanese horses.
"We are planning to travel to Dubai maybe next year as the prize money is so good. As for Ascot, it is not about money. I've never been before, and I've had to get my top hat and tails. I think I'm going to look very funny in that outfit."