Pay the Butler

Common card · No. 433937

Pay the Butler (February 20, 1984 – July 1, 1991) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was best known for winning the 1988 Japan Cup. Bred at Clovelly Farm, Kentucky, he began his racing career in France, achieving mixed results and winning only 2 of his 17 races. Upon returning to the United States as a four-year-old, he won the Red Smith Handicap in his North American debut. The highlight of Pay the Butler's career came in November 1988, when he defeated a strong field of international racers, including Tony Bin and Oguri Cap, at the annual invitational Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse in an upset victory. This was Pay the Butler's sole Grade I (GI) victory, and came with a winner's purse of over a million dollars. He remained in training for two further seasons and ran in several major GI contests, including the following year's Japan Cup and Arlington Million, but his performances were inconsistent and he recorded only one further minor win. He was retired to stud in Japan in 1991...

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