Carrot Farm’s Vela Azul completed his transformation from ordinary dirt horse to turf star in Sunday’s Japan Cup (G1) at Tokyo.

Third to the retiring Contrail as a sophomore in the 2021 Japan Cup (G1), Shahryar now finds himself the captain of the home team in Sunday’s edition at Tokyo.

Shinji Maeda’s homebred champion Contrail looked in danger of losing his unbeaten record, and the Japanese Triple Crown in Sunday’s Kikuka Sho (G1) at Kyoto.