Even without the recent Japan Cup winner, Admire Moon, or last year's winner, Deep Impact, Sunday's $3 million Arima Kinen still rates as the race of the year in Japan.

Nakayama racecourse just east of Tokyo will be the scene of a family duel between half-brother and half-sister as Daiwa Major and Daiwa Scarlet square off in the 1 9/16-mile Grade 1 contest.

Godolphin continued its worldwide raids on the best horses in training when it purchased Literato, winner of the Champion Stakes, for what the horse's breeder, Aliette Forien, termed "a big price."

Godolphin, Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum's elite racing operation, announced the transaction Sunday.

The purse of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe will be raised next year to $5.8 million as part of a sponsorship agreement with the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, the administrator of French racing announced Thursday.

The five-year deal will make the Arc's purse the the second-highest in the world for Thoroughbred racing, behind the $6 million for the Dubai World Cup. In 2007, the Arc purse was approximately $2.9 million.

Doctor Dino sent Dylan Thomas to an ignominious career-closing defeat at Sha Tin on Sunday with a thoroughly decisive victory in the $1.8 million Hong Kong Vase on a day when ace miler Ramonti stretched his speed to win the 1 1/4-mile Hong Kong Cup and Sacred Kingdom was crowned king of the world's turf sprinters in the Hong Kong Sprint.

Dylan Thomas heads a glittering global lineup at Sha Tin on Sunday for the deepest and most competitive edition in the history of the Hong Kong International Races.

Dylan Thomas has been declared drug free by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, giving the six-time Group 1 winner the go-ahead to run in the Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Traces of equine viral arteritis that had lingered in his system after a vaccination intended to prepare the 4-year-old Dylan Thomas for breeding purposes have vanished, so he is free to face 13 rivals in the 1 1/2-mile Vase. Among them will be Red Rocks, third and first in the last two runnings of the Breeders' Cup Turf; Man o' War winner Doctor Dino; and Canadian International runner-up Quijano.

Edgar Prado and Julien Leparoux were out of luck in the World Super Jockeys Series at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan this past weekend. Against 13 international rivals, Prado finished 11th in the two-day, four-race competition, his best placing a sixth-place finish, while Leparoux finished 14th, a seventh his best effort. Australian Craig Williams won the contest with local rider Hiroki Goto the runner-up.

Dylan Thomas arrived in Hong Kong early Tuesday morning for the 1 1/2-mile Hong Vase at Sha Tin on Dec. 9.

Forced out of last Sunday's Japan Cup because of lingering traces of equine viral arteritis induced by a vaccination he received while at Monmouth Park for the Breeders' Cup, Dylan Thomas must still pass muster with Hong Kong Jockey Club veterinarians before he can run in the $1.8 million Vase.

Admire Moon showed unexpected grit in deep stretch as he held off the late charges of three proven stayers to land the spoils before a crowd of 103,545 at Tokyo on Sunday in the $4.4 million Japan Cup. American hopeful Artiste Royal faded through the stretch to finish eighth in the 1 1/2-mile race.