Warrsan hasn’t been seen on the track since finishing an honourable ninth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and Ladbrokes make him an 11-2 shot for this weekend’s race, with Aidan O’Brien’s Powerscourt the 4-1 joint-favourite.

“I see the horse is in good form and he’s very straightforward to ride,” Fallon told the official Japan Cup website.

“He’s a horse that goes on any ground, so we’re pretty hopeful. It’s a great race and it would be great if we could win.

Brittain revealed that the Japan Cup has long been on the agenda for his stable star, who is no stranger to travelling the world having raced in Germany, France and Hong Kong over the years.

“I must say we’ve prepared this horse for the Japan Cup. It was the objective from the beginning of this season that we would end up here, and then go on to Hong Kong,” said Brittain.

“We’ve programmed the horse very lightly this year, we’ve spaced his races.”

Warrsan will be joined for the race by the Andrew Balding-trained Phoenix Reach, the winner of last year’s Canadian International, who will be ridden by Martin Dwyer.

“The horse seems to have thrived since he arrived so we’re very pleased with that,” said Balding. “His appetite has been very good and his temperature has been normal.

“As a Group One winner, which he was last year, the options at this time of year are quite limited. Obviously, it was our intention really from the beginning of this season to target a race such as the Japan Cup.

“I wish we’d been able to have a preparation run in October, it would have been perfect, but we haven’t been able to, so we’ve come here off a long break. However, he’s run very well before when having had a large gap between his runs, so I’m not too concerned.”

Phoenix Reach is rated as a 25-1 outsider by Ladbrokes, with Powerscourt carrying the main hopes of Europe having landed the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh in May.

The four-year-old will again have Jamie Spencer aboard after they were last seen finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Turf in Texas last month.

“The horse has been very well since he’s come here. He’s travelled over well and we’re very happy,” said O’Brien’s assistant trainer Patrick Keating.

“He’s a very straightforward horse and very easy to ride. He can be up there, he can come from behind and he likes the ground so we’re hoping for a good run.”

Japan Cup, Ladbrokes bet: 4-1 Powerscourt, Zenno Rob Roy, 11-2 Warrsan, 10-1 Cosmo Bulk, Delta Blues, Lune D’ Or, 12-1 Hearts Cry, Policy Maker, 14-1 Hookipa Wave, 16-1 Narita Century, 20-1 Higher Game, Hishi Miracle, 25-1 Er Nova, Phoenix Reach, 40-1 Magnaten, 40-1 Tosen Dandy.

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