PDF(57kb)

Gold Actor Lands First G1 Title and Four-Race Winning Streak in the Arima Kinen

Eighth pick Gold Actor captured his first G1 title and extended his winning streak to four in the year-end Arima Kinen. The Screen Hero colt made his debut in November of his two-year-old season and broke his maiden in his first start the following year. Though failing to make the three-year-old spring classics, Gold Actor marked two consecutive wins in August and finished a respectable third in the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger). Returning from an eight-month break in July this year, the four-year-old dark bay won three consecutive races including his first grade-race win in the Copa Republica Argentina before coming into this race. This win marked the first G1 title for trainer Tadashige Nakagawa who opened his stable in 2006 and also for jockey Hayato Yoshida who debuted in 2004.

Gold Actor broke sharply from stall seven and led briefly before allowing the two three-year-olds, Kitasan Black and Lia Fail, to set the pace in first and second, respectively, while hugging the rails in fourth or fifth. The field traveled at a slow pace, covering the first 1,000 meter in 1:02.4 and the front runners were maintaining their positions while the rest crept closer for the attack turning for home. Gold Actor, while advancing to third along the rails with Gold Ship on his outside, didn’t miss his chance to angle out slightly as the race favorite failed to increase his speed to secure a clear run coming into the home straight and steadily increased his stride in the last 200 meters, hitting the front with 50 meters to go then held off a strong charge from Sounds of Earth for a neck win.

“It was my first time riding this colt at Nakayama but I knew that this course would suit him and having picked a good draw, I was able to ride him as I had imagined. We made a rather early move so I was praying that he would stay to the finish. He’s a smart horse and I knew that he had the ability to perform at this (G1) level. I, as a jockey, took up this career to become a G1 winner and I am happy that my efforts to this day finally paid off,” commented Hayato Yoshida on his first G1 victory.

Sounds of Earth was positioned nicely outside Gold Actor up to the third corner and at the heels of the winner into the homestretch then lost some ground going wide but showed impressive speed in the closing stages to just miss by a neck.

Kitasan Black broke smoothly to take command to set a slow pace for most of the trip. Still with more to give after the final turn, the three-year-old gave a remarkable performance in his first challenge against his seniors to stay on gamely then gave way grudgingly with just 50 meters to go.

Breaking from a wide stall, the 2012 victor and race favorite Gold Ship who was hoping for a G1 win to end his career in racing was eased back in the rear end of the 16-horse field and made headway from the middle of the backstretch to close in on the leaders, reaching the first three runners rounding the third corner, but the front runners had plenty left in the tank after a slow-paced trip and the gray six-year-old was unable to launch a serious threat in the final stages while finishing a close eighth.

Other Horses:

4th: (16) Marialite—traveled wide in 4-5th, entered lane behind leader in 2nd, held well for second then overtaken before wire
5th: (4) Lovely Day—rated 6th, quickened along rail at stretch but lacked needed kick
6th: (10) Tosen Reve—traveled 3rd from rear, closed willingly chasing leaders through tight spot in late-stretch
7th: (5) Admire Deus—ran wide and in 7th, dug in gamely in mid-stretch, tagged favorite in final strides
9th: (8) One and Only—raced along rail in latter half of field, showed effort but lacked final kick
10th: (13) Rouge Buck—reserved in mid-pack, chased favorite down stretch, unable to threaten
11th: (6) Albert—unhurried in 2nd from rear, edged up from 3rd corner, lacked needed response
12th: (3) Last Impact—traveled two-wide in mid-division, made mild bid at upper stretch, even-paced
13th: (2) Hit the Target—saved ground in mid-pack, kept on rails throughout, never reached contention
14th: (14) Derby Fizz—sat 4th to 5th from rear, angled out wide rounding last turn, showed little
15th: (1) Ocean Blue—hugged rails in 4th to 5th from rear, entered stretch last, never fired
16th: (12) Lia Fail—broke smoothly, chased pace in 2nd to 3rd, retreated from 3rd corner

THE 60TH ARIMA KINEN (G1)
3-year-old & up, 2,500 meters (about 12.5 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, December 27, 2015     Nakayama Racecourse       10th Race      Post time: 15:25
Total prize money: ¥ 521,000,000 (about US$ 4,342,000 <US$1=¥120>)
3-y-o: 55kg (about 121 lbs), 4-y-o & up: 57kg (about 126 lbs),
2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares, 2kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2012
Safety factor: 16 runners

1. Gold Actor (JPN), dark bay or brown, colt, 4-year-old
   Screen Hero / Heilong Xing (Kyowa Alysheba)
   

   Owner: Kaname Ishiro	Breeder: Hokusho Farm
   Trainer: Tadashige Nakagawa	Jockey: Hayato Yoshida
   13 Starts, 7 Wins
   Added money: ¥ 253,402,000	Career earnings: ¥ 419,914,000
   Principal Race Performances:	’15 Copa Republica Argentina (G2, 2,500m)	1st
   	’14 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m)	1st

   
   
2. Sounds of Earth (JPN), dark bay or brown, colt, 4-year-old
   Neo Universe / First Violin (Dixieland Band)
   

   Owner: Teruya Yoshida	Breeder: Shadai Farm
   Trainer: Kenichi Fujioka	Jockey: Mirco Demuro

   
   
3. Kitasan Black (JPN), bay, colt, 3-year-old
   Black Tide / Sugar Heart (Sakura Bakushin O)
   

   Owner: Ono Shoji	Breeder: Yanagawa Bokujo
   Trainer: Hisashi Shimizu	Jockey: Norihiro Yokoyamai

* Arima Kinen (The Grand Prix) (G1)
Established in 1956 under the name “Nakayama Grand Prix,” the race was renamed to Arima Kinen (Arima Memorial) a year later after the sudden passing of the second JRA president, Yoriyasu Arima. Arima initiated the idea of holding an attractive event at Nakayama Racecourse, where a new grandstand had just been completed at that time, in an attempt to create a race that would receive as much attention as the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) held at Tokyo Racecourse. The Arima Kinen was designed to be a season-end Grand Prix, in which the runners were selected by fan poll—an “All-Star” event in Japanese Racing. Fans could cast their votes by ballots available at JRA racecourses and off-track betting sites, by mail or by online to select the ten most popular runners. The rest of the field is determined in order of earnings. Foreign runners that won the Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m) became eligible to race in the Arima in 2000 then the race was designated as an international G1 race and open to a maximum of six foreign runners in 2007, though no foreign runners have yet participated in the race.
Orfevre (JPN, by Stay Gold) and Gentildonna (JPN, by Deep Impact) won the race in 2013 and 2014, respectively, in what became the last run of their stellar careers which was followed by a grand retirement ceremony at the end of the day.
The 2015 edition of the race featured Gold Ship who claimed the most votes in his bid to claim his second Arima Kinen title and seventh G1 victory in his final start of his career after having won the same race in 2012. Lovely Day, winner of two major G1 titles in the Takarazuka Kinen (G1, 2,200m) and the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1, 2,000m) was voted second to run in the race which increased its prize money this year to stand as the second richest JRA race next to the Japan Cup, while three-year-old Kitasan Black, winner of the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m) in October was chosen in third place in votes in his first challenge against older G1 company.
Mikki Queen (JPN, F3, by Deep Impact; 4th), Shonan Pandora (JPN, F4, by Deep Impact; 5th), Duramente (JPN, C3, by King Kamehameha; 6th), Isla Bonita (JPN, C4, by Fuji Kiseki; 7th), Nuovo Record (JPN, F4, by Heart's Cry; 8th), Real Steel (JPN, C3, by Deep Impact; 9th) and Maurice (JPN, C4, by Screen Hero; 10th) were the remaining members chosen within the top ten vote-getters, but all chose to pass their entry in the year-end event.
Other notable runners in the race included Marialite (11th) who came off her G1 victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1, 2,200m), Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1, 2,400m) runner-up Rouge Buck (12th), Last Impact (13th) who had just missed by neck in his last start in the Japan Cup, 2014 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m) victor One and Only (16th) and 2014 Kikuka Sho runner-up Sounds of Earth (19th).
The race record of 2:29.5 was set by Zenno Rob Roy (JPN, by Sunday Silence) in 2004.