In a meeting of the young superstar against the established mare, the undefeated Triple Crown winner Contrail has grabbed the role of favorite from Almond Eye in Sunday’s Grade 1 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse. Contrail, the winner of seven races, will start against older horses for the first time in the $6.21 million Japan Cup at 1 1/2 miles against Almond Eye and 13 others, including the undefeated 3-year-old filly Daring Tact. This will be only meeting of the three. Almond Eye is scheduled to be retired after Sunday’s race. Almond Eye, 5, has already had a record-setting career. By Lord Kanaloa, Almond Eye has won eight Grade 1 or Group 1 races, a record for a Japanese-based horse. Almond Eye won the autumn running of the Grade 1 Tenno Sho at Tokyo on Nov. 1 in her lone prep race of the autumn for the Japan Cup. A winner of 10 of 14 starts, Almond Eye was the 2018 Japanese Horse of the Year, the year she swept the Triple Crown for fillies and won the Japan Cup. Almond Eye did not start in the 2019 Japan Cup. Christophe Lemaire, the leading rider at Japan Racing Association tracks this year, has the mount on Almond Eye. Lemaire has been aboard Almond Eye for all eight of her Grade 1 or Group 1 wins. Almond Eye won the Group 1 Dubai Turf at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates in 2019, her only start outside of Japan. Lemaire has won the Japan Cup twice, most recently with Almond Eye in 2018. “I never feel worried before the Japan Cup, but I do get tense,” Lemaire told Japan Racing Association publicity. “Almond Eye is a very popular horse, so there is some pressure. The 3-year-olds this year are incredibly strong and I think it’s going to be a good race.” Through seven starts, Contrail has won four Grade 1 races, including his final start of 2019. He has won four starts this year – the Triple Crown races consisting of the 2000 Guineas in April, Japan Derby in May, and Japanese St. Leger Stakes at 1 7/8 miles at Kyoto Racecourse on Oct. 25. Contrail won the Grade 2 Shimbun Hai in September in a prep for the St. Leger. Contrail was the champion 2-year-old male of 2019 and will be champion 3-year-old male this year. Whether he is named Horse of the Year largely depends on the outcome of Sunday’s race. Daring Tact is also starting against older horses for the first time in the Japan Cup. A five-time winner, Daring Tact swept the Triple Crown for fillies, winning the 1000 Guineas in April, the Japanese Oaks in May, and the Shuka Sho at Kyoto on Oct. 18. Daring Tact typically runs from the back of the field. Almond Eye and Contrail have similar stalking styles. Neither won their last start by far. Almond Eye prevailed by a half-length in the Tenno Sho at 1 1/4 miles. Contrail won the St. Leger Stakes by a neck.