Johan II Cup (horse racing)

For other sports competitions, see Johan II Cup (disambiguation).

The Johan II Cup, also known as the King's Cup is a Group 2 flat horse race held near Carrington at the Carrington Hippodrome. The race is the most prestigious in Brunant, and part of the <<wikination triple crown>>, along with the Newport Stakes in Libertas and Copa del Presidente in Traspes. Held in July, it is the final race of the triple crown.

History[]

Early years[]

The horse racing Johan II Cup is the oldest tournament to bear that name, founded in 1918 and preceding the Johan II Cup for football (1930) and the Johan II Cup for basketball (1966). King Johan picked up a penchant for horse racing while in England, and established the Johan II Cup in Brunant over the fact that he did not believe what little horse racing existed was of sufficient quality or well-organized. The Carrington Hippodrome, built in 1902 with a distance of 1 Brunanter mile (about 1,816 meters) was the selected track, but water logging saw a change of venue for the inaugural race.

The first race was held in June 1918 outside Koningstad and resulted in the win for local horse owner Eric de Graf with Shenandoah. The winner's purse for that first race was 18,250 tal., but in 1919, this became fixed at 21,000 tal (approx. 1,000 GBP or 4,800 USD).

10 July 1927 saw Chrome Dome, owned by Libertan banker Willem Van der Putten, become the first triple crown winner after having won the Newport Stakes and the Copa del Presidente that June.

Postwar years[]

And Finisterre is coming up on Gallant, can he do it, can he... 80 meters left and oh, they're head to head. Seems like Finisterre, wait, he's ahead and it looks like, it's, it's a win! By less than half a meter it seems, Finisterre has retained his title.

—— Live commentary by Gerald Newman, 9 July 1950

Sultan Tuan Dohak Thyenruhm of Balulu (now Phaluhm Phoueck) became the first to have three winners of the race; with American jockey Morgan Speeler, he won the 1936 and 1948 races, and later won in 1954.

Finisterre, owned by Traspesian noblewoman Manuela Arcais y de San Martin became the first and only double winner of the cup in 1950, having won in 1949 as a three year old as well, both times under jockey Edward Martin. Arcais would also have a horse win in 1969, Almirante, again with Martin as the jockey. Raja Ahmad Khen Sinar Shah nearly pulled off a successive double winner in 1951 and 1952, but was unable to take the win in 1952 by one meter difference.

List of winners[]

Year	Winner	Jockey	Owner
1918	Shenandoah	João Cavaleiro	Eric de Graf
1921	Consul	James Symington	King Johan II
1924	Diophon	George Hulme	HH Aga Khan III
1927	Chrome Dome*	Jonathan De Kerk	Willem Van der Putten
1931	Black Surprise	Jean Brethès	HH Raja Ahmad Khen Sinar Shah
1936	Balulu	Morgan Speeler	HH Sultan T.D. Thyenruhm of Balulu
1948	Avant	Morgan Speeler	HH Sultan T.D. Thyenruhm of Balulu
1949	Finisterre	Edward Martin	Manuela Arcais y de San Martin
1950	Finisterre	Edward Martin	Manuela Arcais y de San Martin
1951	Belle Ines*	John Winton	HH Raja Ahmad Khen Sinar Shah
1952	Exact	Vicente Costa	Adrian Cowan
1954	Ex Terra	Philippe Le Breton	Sultan T.D. Thyenruhm of Balulu
1958	Rosie	Nicolae Munteanu	Gheorghe Onofrei
1961	Stella	Giuseppe Cisternino	Gheorghe Onofrei
1963	Maestro	Bernard Avonblair	TBD
1969	Teniente	Edward Martin	Manuela Arcais y de San Martin
1970	Masjid	Alex Verheijden	Abdullah El-Mounir
1976	Al Kharrara	Alex Verheijden	Abdullah El-Mounir
1977	TBD	TBD	Anton Roos
1978	Carwhite	Freddy Head	Jacques Wertheimer
1982	Aramis	Francesco Fajardo	Romain Barthes
1985	TBD	TBD	Anton Roos
1989	Indian Skimmer	Steve Cauthen	Sheikh Mohammed
1990	Atoll	Gary Moore	Antonio Balzarini
1991	Akelarre	Alan Munro	Cuadra Lortenia
1992	TBD	TBD	Anton Roos
1996	Helissio	Olivier Peslier	Enrique Sarasola
1997	Lot	Marcel Potier	Albert Van Wissemeer
1999	Star Blossom	Patrick Koopman	Peter Philips
2000	King's Sister	Marcel Potier	Albert Van Wissemeer
2001	Claxon	Richard Quinn	Chryss Goulandris
2002	Webster	Gérald Mossé	Peter Philips
2004	Ruby	Pieter Verkamp	Fahd Rasheed
2005	Noble Step	Pieter Verkamp	Fahd Rasheed
2007	Maisie	Frank Van Dycke	Abdul Al-Tamini
2008	Bojangles	Rodrigo Perez	Salvador Garcia
2009	Time Management	Gerald Curry	Andrew Mathers
2010	Rapidheart	Frank Van Dycke	Peter Philips
2011	Coyote	Rodrigo Perez	Salvador Garcia
2012	Fortuna	Franco Dallara	Nelson Ma
2013	Sheyanne	Kevin Manning	Fahd Rasheed
2014	Pharaoh	Franco Dallara	Hamid El-Mounir
2015	Marchena	Simon Van Wijck	Robert Van Wissemeer
2016	Great Game	Edwin Lake	Serge Sarnenko
2017	Lady Aurelia	John Velasquez	George Bolton & Peter Leidel