Symboli Kris S is poised to land a fifth consecutive Japan Cup for the home side at Nakayama on Sunday when Sarafan will be only one of a handful of foreign invaders with a chance for an upset.

Reba's Gold and Abreeze will carry American hopes against the powerful Gold Allure in the $2.05 million Japan Cup Dirt, a Grade 1, 1 1/8-mile race at Nakayama Racecourse on Saturday.

Of the two Americans, Reba's Gold has the best chance of springing an upset. Trained by Dan Hendricks, Reba's Gold is the recent winner of the Steinlen Handicap at Hollywood Park. He has drawn decently in post 7, just inside strong favorite Gold Allure, who is expected to show the way under jockey Yutaka Take.

Sarafan and Reba's Gold have settled into pre-Japan Cup mode at the Shiroi, Japan, quarantine center in preparation for their big race assignments this weekend at Nakayama Racecourse, while early arrival Abreeze is already at Nakayama.

The Neil Drysdale-trained Sarafan will be tackling a formidable group of international stars in Sunday's $3.95 million Japan Cup, which has been shortened from 1 1/2 miles to 1 3/8 miles on the turf. The race is being run at Nakayama this year because the grandstand at Tokyo Racecourse is being renovated.

Trainer Aidan O'Brien won yet another of France's Group 1 races for 2-year-olds - his sixth in the last 10 to be run - saddling Alberto Giacometti for a head victory over Summerland in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud at Saint-Cloud in Paris on Saturday.

Alberto Giacometti was last in the field of 10 early, inched up to eighth place on the straight, and came wide on the turn to challenge Marshall and Summerland for the lead with a furlong and a half to run in the 1 1/4-mile race over going labeled "very heavy."

Kieren Fallon and Michael Kinane are on the verge of clinching the national riding championships in Britain and Ireland, respectively.

Three yearlings, mistaken as deer by two misguided hunters, were shot and killed at Nakamura Chikuzan Farm at Mitsuishi on Hokkaido Island in Japan on Wednesday.

Shibboleth, a Grade 3 winner in America and a Group 3 winner in England for Juddmonte Farms, has died after contracting laminitis at Banstead Manor Stud in Newmarket, England.

The Criterium de Saint-Cloud - the 1 1/4-mile Group 1 race for 2-year-olds that trainer Aidan O'Brien swept last year with Ballingarry, Castle Gandolfo, and Black Sam Bellamy - has drawn a competitive field of 11 for Saturday's $151,000 renewal.

Irish invader Media Puzzle overpowered 22 rivals in a highly emotional triumph in the $2.06 million Melbourne Cup Handicap at Flemington on Tuesday.

The two-length victory by Media Puzzle, a 5-year-old son of Theatrical, left his rider, Damien Oliver, in tears. Oliver's older brother Jason had died following a fall in a trial race at Ascot Racecourse in Perth last Tuesday. Immediately after the winner's circle ceremony, Oliver left to fly to his brother's funeral in Perth, on Australia's west coast.

European raiders look set to dominate the 135th running of the Melbourne Cup at Flemington in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday.

The $1.9 million contest is a handicap run over two miles, and, as usual, has attracted a maximum field of 24 runners.

No European shipper has won the coveted Cup since Vintage Crop's 1993 triumph, but they have come very close in the last four years. Runners from the Godolphin stable have twice been runner-up, and the English stayer Persian Punch finished third twice.