The Hong Kong Jockey Club rolls out the red carpet for international shippers to the Hong Kong International Races, but Sunday’s Grade 1 contests at Sha Tin continued to be inhospitable to overseas runners.

While Japanese sprint star Lord Kanaloa crushed his rivals in the Hong Kong Sprint, Hong Kong-based horses won the Hong Kong Vase, the Hong Kong Cup, and were particularly dominant in the Hong Kong Mile, sweeping the race’s top three places, as European stars Moonlight Cloud and Sky Lantern played no part in the outcome.

A top-notch international contingent – perhaps the best ever – has shipped to Hong Kong for the four Group 1 races on Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse, but the big Hong Kong races have so far proven elusive targets for international shippers.

The British Horseracing Authority announced Wednesday that trainer Gerard Butler has been suspended five years for administering steroids to nine of his horses.

The BHA action stems from positive drug tests produced last winter by Butler-trained horses. Butler, the BHA report said, admitted to seven charges against him, the most serious of which was a “gross failure to look after the interests of four horses in his care.”

Belshazzar, a Grade 3 winner in Japan earlier this year, won the richest race of his career in Sunday’s $2,655,577 Japan Cup Dirt at Hanshin Racecourse. Pants On Fire, a five-time stakes winner in the United States, finished last of 16 after becoming upset in the starting gate.

Belshazzar, a 7-1 chance, finished a neck in front of 14-1 Wonder Acute. Hokko Tarumae, the 9-10 favorite, finished third, a half-length behind Wonder Acute.

Pants On Fire, winner of the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby in 2011 and four other stakes, makes his international debut in Sunday’s $2,655,577 Japan Cup Dirt at Hanshin Racecourse.

Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens has been booked to ride Pants On Fire for owners George and Lori Hall and trainer Kelly Breen.

Gentildonna held off a late threat from Denim and Ruby to become the first repeat winner of the $4,713,337 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday.

Ridden by British jockey Ryan Moore, Gentildonna closed from fourth in a field of 17 to lead by a length in the stretch. The advantage was reduced by Denim and Ruby in the final strides, but Gentildonna held on to win the 33rd running of Japan’s richest race.

“She did it the hard way because I was in front a little bit earlier than what I’d wanted it to be,” Moore said. “She’s very tough and fought very well at the end.”

Gentildonna, the 2012 Japanese Horse of the Year, tries to become the first repeat winner of the Japan Cup, to be run at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday. If the 4-year-old Gentildonna accomplishes that milestone, the $4,713,337 Japan Cup will be her first win this year.

Gentildonna is winless in three starts in 2013 – a second-place finish in the $5 million Dubai Sheema Classic in the United Arab Emirates in March, a third in the Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse in June, and a runner-up finish to Just a Way in the Tenno Sho Stakes in Tokyo on Oct. 27.

CHELTENHAM, England - Johns Spirit closed from last in a field of 20 to win the richest race of his career in Saturday’s $256,000 Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham Racecourse, the first major race of the 2013-14 jump season.

The 7-1 second choice, Johns Spirit was toward the rear of the field until the final six furlongs of the race over 2 9/16 miles. Jockey Richie McLernon guided Johns Spirit closer to the leader with a half-mile to go, and they were within a few lengths of the lead turning into the uphill finish.

CHELTENHAM, England. - Jockey A.P. McCoy, who became the first steeplechase jockey to surpass 4,000 career wins earlier this month, rides the American-bred Tap Night in Saturday’s $256,000 Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham Racecourse, the first major race of the 2013-14 jump season.

Bred in Virginia by Edward Evans, Tap Night won a maiden race at Delaware Park and a $25,000 claimer at Belmont Park in 2010 when trained by Anthony Dutrow.

The brilliant French 3-year-old filly Treve has been named Cartier Horse of the Year, roughly the European equivalent of North America’s Horse of the Year award.

Treve and the other Cartier award winners were formally announced at the annual Cartier Awards ceremony on Tuesday night in London. Another French female, Moonlight Cloud, was named the leading older horse in Europe. Christiane Head-Maarek trains Treve, while her brother, Freddie Head, trains Moonlight Cloud, who was bred and is owned by George Strawbridge, a Pennsylvanian.