Dylan Thomas may race again

The career of Dylan Thomas, a fifth-place flop in the Breeders' Cup Turf, may not be over yet, as his connections have tentatively accepted an invitation to run in the $4.6 million Japan Cup on Nov. 25, when he could clash with Americans Grand Couturier and Artiste Royale in Tokyo Racecourse's 1 1/2-mile, Grade 1 turf contest. Meanwhile, the red-hot Student Council is heading to Tokyo for the $2.4 million Japan Cup Dirt on Nov. 24.

Winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Dylan Thomas was expected to have been retired after the Breeders' Cup, but his chances in the Turf was spoiled by the soft ground at Monmouth Park. The Japan Cup would offer a chance at late-season redemption for this Danehill 4-year-old, although a final decision will not be made until trainer Aidan O'Brien can assess Dylan Thomas's condition upon O'Brien's return to Ireland from Australia and Tuesday's Melbourne Cup.

The Robert Ribaudo-trained Grand Couturier, winner of the Sword Dancer, was another who hated the soft ground in the Turf, finishing 1 1/4 lengths behind Dylan Thomas in sixth place. Artiste Royal, trained by Neil Drysdale to win the Clement L. Hirsch Handicap at Santa Anita on Oct. 6, is already in Japan at the Shiroi quarantine center near Tokyo. He is there with Becrux, who will run in the $1.85 million Mile Championship at Kyoto on Nov. 18, in which he could rate a favorite's chance, as this year's Japanese dirt runners are hardly a vintage crop.