The National Association of Racing (NAR), the national level regulatory body for the Racing by Local Governments in Japan, announced the 2023 NAR Grand Prix Awards for the year’s outstanding horses, trainers, jockeys, and others within the industry.
Following are the recipients of the 2023 awards:
Winning Horses
| Award | Horse | Owner | Trainer | Breeder | Sire Dam (Dam sire) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horse of the Year | Igniter | Yoshiki Noda | Masashi Atarashi (Hyogo) |
Haruki Farm | Espoir City |
| Best Older Colt or Horse | Bianco (Warning) | ||||
| Best Sprinter or Miler | |||||
| Best 2-Year-Old Colt | Saint Honore | La Mer | Junji Tanaka (Hokkaido) |
Matsuura Bokujo | Epicharis |
| Lingus Uno (South Vigorous) | |||||
| Best 2-Year-Old Filly | Mozu Migikataagari | Capital System Co. Ltd. | Noboru Yonekawa (Hokkaido) |
Capital System Ltd | Grand Prix Boss |
| Mozu Sophy (Manhattan Cafe) | |||||
| Best 3-Year-Old Colt | Mick Fire | Koichi Hoshika |
Kazuo Watanabe |
Kazuyoshi Yamagami |
Sinister Minister |
Mariage (Brian's Time) |
|||||
| Best 3-Year-Old Filly | Made It Mum | Kimura Bokujo | Katsuo Ishii (Funabashi) |
Yoshinobu Hasegawa | Novellist |
| Komano Squalo (Zenno Rob Roy) | |||||
| Best Older Filly or Mare | Speedy Kick | Suzuyuki Kato | Tomoyuki Fujiwara (Urawa) |
Takeshi Kumagai | Taisei Legend |
| Desert Flower (Silent Deal) | |||||
| Best Ban-ei (Draft) Horse | Memuro Bob Sapp | Kazuhiko Takezawa | Toichi Sakamoto (Ban-ei) |
Kazuhiko Takezawa | Narita Bob Sapp |
| Pure Lady (Akiba Osho) | |||||
| Best Turf Horse | N/A | ||||
| Dirt Grade (Principal Dirt) Race Special Prize | Ushba Tesoro | Ryotokuji Kenji Holdings Co. Ltd. | Noboru Takagi (JRA) |
Chiyoda Farm Shizunai | Orfevre Millefeui Attach (King Kamehameha) |
| Special Award | Mandarin Hero (Oi) |
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Winning Trainers and Jockeys
| Award | Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| Best Trainer (Races Won) | Mamoru Tanaka | Kochi |
| Best Trainer (Money Earned) | Satoshi Kokubo | Urawa |
| Best Trainer (Winning Average) | Masamichi Kashihara | Hyogo |
| Grand Prize Trainer | N/A | |
| Best Jockey (Races Won) | Tomohiro Yoshimura | Hyogo |
| Best Jockey (Money Earned) | Tsubasa Sasagawa | Oi |
| Best Jockey (Winning Average) | Shuji Akaoka | Kochi |
| Grand Prize Jockey | N/A | |
| Best Apprentice Jockey | Yoshiki Yamada | Saga |
| Best Female Jockey | Chihiro Imai | Ban-ei |
| Best Fair Play Jockey | Tatsuya Watanabe | Kasamatsu |
| Special Award | Tomohiro Yoshimura | Hyogo |
| Katsuto Maruno | Aichi | |
| Fumio Matoba | Oi | |
| Takashi Noguchi | Urawa | |
| The late Takashi Ishikawa | ||
| Team Mandarin Hero | ||
