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Chrono Genesis Fullfills Expectations in Grand Prix Arima Kinen

Voted first pick by a record number of 214,742 ballots, race favorite Chrono Genesisdisplayed a determined performance in capturing this year’s Arima Kinen (the Grand Prix), her third G1 victory following the 2019 Shuka Sho (G1, 2,000m) and this year’s Takarazuka Kinen (the Grand Prix, G1, 2,200m). The Bago filly has become the 15th horse and the second mare to dominate both Grand Prix races following Lys Gracieux last year (11th horse to win both races in the same year). Not only is it the first time in 60 years for a filly/mare to claim the Arima Kinen title two years in a row, but also the record set by fillies/mares to claim G1 races open to both male and female runners in a single season has now been extended to nine. For the owner, Sunday Racing Co., Ltd., this is their fifth Arima Kinen title, the most in history, as they celebrate their ninth JRA-G1 victory this year alone (three with Gran Alegria, two each with Lucky Lilac and Chrono Genesis, one with Fierement and one with Grenadier Guards) which is also the most claimed in a single season. For both trainer Takashi Saito and jockey Yuichi Kitamura, this is the first JRA-G1 title since their Takarazuka Kinen win with the filly, and fourth and fifth overall, respectively.

The 16-horse field got underway with Babbitt taking the early lead, Authority and Blast Onepiece stalking the pace while Chrono Genesis camped way behind, around fifth from the rear. The gray filly made an early move gradually making headway in the middle of the backstretch and moved up on the field, entering the straight in third. After immediately picking off the tired pacesetter, Chrono Genesis tagged Fierement 100 meters out and battled stride for stride through the lane until the filly finally wore down the second favorite while holding off the strong-closing Salacia to prevail by a neck.

“All I wanted was her to be relaxed and her break wasn’t that bad, she was in hand and ran in the same rhythm as before. Yesterday and today, I was in 2,500 meter-races here at Nakayama which enabled me to get warmed up with a good idea of how I wanted her to run. We haven’t faced the two Triple Crown winners yet, but I hope she performs well and stays in the spotlight next season,” commented Yuichi Kitamura. “She was in good form and gave us a great impression before the race. I was worried that Yuichi might have made a too early bid, but he was confident and rode her beautifully, holding off the others. This is a dream come true and I have a feeling there will be many more,” added trainer Takashi Saito.

Sent off 11th favorite, Salacia broke from a wide stall before sitting in fourth from the rear right behind the eventual winner and was still trailing near the back when hitting the top of the stretch with a wide move. However, with a monstrous closing kick that was timed the fastest of the field, the five-year-old mare came looming up on the outside to challenge the dueling front runners and while a neck late to pin the winner, caught Fierement right before the wire to steal the runner-up trophy by a neck. Chrono Genesis and Salacia have become the first female runners to notch the top two places in the history of the race.

Moving up from mid-pack to second before hitting the backstretch and turning the final corners in good striking position, second pick Fierement entered the straight first but could not repel the determined challenge from the winner and was also caught right before the wire by the fast-closing Salacia to finish third.

Other Horses:
4th: (7) Lucky Lilac—sat 3-wide around 9th, gradually advanced, showed effort, no match for top 3 finishers
5th: (5) World Premiere—hugged rails around 5th, fell back turning final corners, quickened between horses
5th: (10) Curren Bouquetd'or—ran 3-wide around 8th, advanced to 3rd by final corner, lacked needed kick
7th: (8) Persian Knight—saved ground around 9th, angled out, showed belated charge
8th: (3) Crescendo Love—settled around 5th, dropped back rounding final corners, even paced
9th: (15) Ocea Great—sat 3-wide around 5th, showed brief effort until 100m marker
10th: (4) Loves Only You—raced around 9th, angled out but met traffic at early stretch, never a threat
11th: (16) You Can Smile—took economic trip near rear, showed little at stretch
12th: (6) Kiseki—was off slow, traveled 3-wide around 14th, advanced in backstretch, nothing left at stretch
13th: (1) Babbitt—set slow pace, faded after surrendering lead at top of stretch
14th: (12) Authority—tracked leader around 2nd, ridden after 3rd corner but outrun
15th: (11) Mozu Bello—broke poorly, trailed in rear, no factor
FF: (2) Blast Onepiece—stalked leader, fell back in backstretch, pulled up due to atrial fibrillation

THE 65TH ARIMA KINEN (G1)
3-year-olds & up, 2,500 meters (about 12.5 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, December 27, 2020        Nakayama Racecourse         11th Race       Post time: 15:25
Total prize money: ¥ 648,000,000 (about US$ 6,000,000 <US$1=¥108>)
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 2017
Course Record: 2:29.5                Race Record: 2:29.5 [Zenno Rob Roy (JPN, by Sunday Silence), 2004]
Safety factor: 16 runners     Going: Firm           Weather: Fine

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 46,425,894,400       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 58,640,260,100        Attendance: 3,516

Winner= 13 starts, 7 wins, 2 seconds, 3 thirds / Added money: ¥ 303,402,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 873,420,000

* 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 are selected by fan poll—an “All-Star” event in Japanese racing. This year, the fans could only cast their votes online to select the ten most popular runners, as the voting at JRA racecourses and off-track betting sites was cancelled due to COVID-19. Among the horses entered in the race, ten runners with the most votes are entitled to run in the race while 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.
Recent Arima Kinen victors such as Orfevre (JPN, by Stay Gold; ’13), Gentildonna (JPN, by Deep Impact; ’14), Kitasan Black (JPN, by Black Tide; ’17) and Lys Gracieux (JPN, by Heart’s Cry; ’19) have capped off their stellar racing careers with an impressive win in the race.
This year’s contenders that were among the top ten in the poll were: Chrono Genesis (1st), winner of the Takarazuka Kinen (G1, 2,200m) in June; Lucky Lilac (2nd) who captured a back-to-back Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1, 2,200m) title last month; Fierement (4th), 2019-20 Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1, 3,200m) champion; Kiseki (6th) and World Premiere (9th), victor of the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m) in 2017 and 2019, respectively; and Blast Onepiece (10th), winner of the 2018 Arima Kinen.
Other notable contenders included: You Can Smile (17th), three-time graded winner; Curren Bouquetd'or (19th), the Japan Cup fourth-place finisher; Loves Only You (24th), 2019 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1, 2,400m) victor; and Authority (28th) who came off a Copa Republica Argentina (G2, 2,500m, Nov.8) victory.
Horses that were ranked among the top ten but declined to run were Contrail (JPN, C3, by Deep Impact; 3rd), Daring Tact (JPN, F3, by Epiphaneia; 5th), Saturnalia (JPN, C4, by Lord Kanaloa; 7th) and Almond Eye (JPN, M5, by Lord Kanaloa; 8th).