Maurice looks to end skid in Tokyo's Tenno Sho

Maurice, the 2015 Japanese Horse of the Year, can reverse a two-race losing streak when he starts against a strong field in Sunday’s autumn running of the $2.76 million Tenno Sho at Tokyo Racecourse.

The Grade 1 Tenno Sho often produces key runners for the Japan Cup, which will be run on Nov. 27.

Maurice, a 5-year-old by Screen Hero, has won 6 of 19 starts, but has been second in his last two races – the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen on June 5 and the Grade 2 Sapporo Kinen at Sapporo Racecourse on Aug. 21. Maurice won seven races before the Yasuda Kinen, racing primarily at a mile. The Tenno Sho is run at 1 1/4 miles.

The distance should suit A Shin Hikari, who won the Hong Kong Cup at 1 1/4 miles on turf last December and the Prix d’Ispahan at 1 1/8 miles in France in May. A Shin Hikari has not started since finishing sixth in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Royal Ascot in England in June.

Other contenders are Logotype, who won the Yasuda Kinen in June; and Real Steel, the winner of the Group 1 Dubai Turf at 1 1/2 miles in March. Real Steel was 11th in the Yasuda Kinen in his only subsequent start.

Lovely Day, who won the 2015 autumn running of the Tenno Sho, is part of Sunday’s 15-horse field. Lovely Day was third in the 2015 Japan Cup, but has struggled this year, going winless in four starts.