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Race Favorite Equinox Bests a Strong Field in This Year’s Arima Kinen

Three-year-old Equinox claimed this year’s Arima Kinen to capture the title with the fewest career starts. Sired by 2017 Arima Kinen victor Kitasan Black, the brown colt marked two wins out of the same starts including the Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes (G2, 1,800m) as a two-year-old but failed to capture this year’s spring classic titles, finishing second in both the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m) and the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m). The Arima Kinen was the sixth career outing for the colt who came off a victory in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1, 2,000m). Trainer Tetsuya Kimura captured his fourth JRA-G1 victory following his Tenno Sho (Autumn) title with this colt and jockey Christophe Lemaire marked his 43rd JRA-G1 win and third Arima Kinen title following his victories with Heart's Cry (2005) and Satono Diamond (2016).

The race started with Titleholder immediately surging out to set the pace while race favorite Equinox eased back to around ninth. The son of Kitasan Black traveled wide in good striking position, made headway turning the final corners wide and, once taking the lead entering the lane, responded willingly to the jockey’s urging with a strong burst of speed that timed the second fastest closing speed while easily holding off the rest of the field with a 2-1/2-length margin.

“What happens twice will happen thrice. I won the Arima Kinen with Heart’s Cry and Satono Diamond both on Christmas Day, and I’m really happy to be able to win the race on Christmas Day again. We were able to make a good start and the horse was keen to go so I held him and responded strongly when I brought him to the outside. Though he was not mature yet during his spring campaign, he became really strong from this fall and I look forward to his performance next year,” commented Christophe Lemaire.

Slow out of the gate, sixth pick Boldog Hos settled second from last by the rails but angled out and accelerated strongly rounding the last corners. The Screen Hero colt entered the stretch right behind the race favorite and, though unable to threaten the leader, showed an impressive kick that timed the fastest last three furlongs to finish second, 1-1/2 lengths in front of Geraldina.

Third choice Geraldina, coming off her victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup last month, broke poorly and sat third from the rear. Driven after the third corner, the Maurice filly launched her late kick and closed in on Equinox and Boldog Hos but had too much ground to make up to finish third.

Other Horses:
4th: (2) Izu Jo no Kiseki—positioned around 7th on rails, slightly angled out at early stretch, quickened
5th: (7) Efforia—sat 3-wide around 5th, rallied for lead briefly, unable to keep up with top finishers
6th: (8) Win Mighty—took economic trip in 10-11th, passed one by one at stretch
7th: (10) Justin Palace—hugged rails around 3rd, sustained bid until 100m out
8th: (16) Deep Bond—tracked leaders around 3rd from widest stall, weakened in last 200m
9th: (13) Titleholder—set pace, failed to find another gear, surrendered lead at early stretch
10th: (6) Vela Azul—raced 3-wide around 11th, showed brief effort, even paced in last 200m
11th: (14) Boccherini—settled around 5th, unable to remain in contention in last 300m
12th: (12) Potager—ran around 8th inside winner, failed to respond after final corner
13th: (11) Last Draft—traveled 3-wide around 11th, showed little at stretch
14th: (4) Aristoteles—saved ground around 11th, outrun turning last corners
15th: (1) Akai Ito—unhurried and trailed in rear, never fired at stretch
16th: (15) Breakup—chased pace from wide draw, faded after 3rd corner

THE 67TH ARIMA KINEN (G1)
3-year-olds & up, 2,500 meters (about 12.5 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, December 25, 2022        Nakayama Racecourse         11th Race       Post time: 15:25
Total prize money: ¥ 864,000,000 (about US$ 7,514,000 <US$1=¥115>)
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 2019
Course Record: 2:29.5                Race Record: 2:29.5 [Zenno Rob Roy (JPN, by Sunday Silence), 2004]
Safety factor: 16 runners             Going: Good to Firm            Weather: Fine

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 52,155,046,600       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 65,536,144,300       Attendance: 39,670

Winner= 6 starts: 4 wins, 2 seconds / Added money: ¥ 403,360,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 806,602,000

* 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. Following the previous two years, fans could only cast their votes online to select the ten most popular runners, as voting at JRA racecourses and off-track betting sites was cancelled. 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 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 horses voted included; Titleholder (1st), three-time G1 winner who aimed to bounce back from a disappointing 11th in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1, 2,400m, Oct.2); Efforia (2nd), defending champion and 2021 Horse of the Year who returned to racing from a sixth in the spring Grand Prix, the Takarazuka Kinen (G1, 2,200m, Jun.26); Equinox (3rd), who came off a win in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1, 2,000m, Oct.30) ; Geraldina (7th), who claimed her first G1 title in her latest Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1, 2,200m, Nov.13) start; Deep Bond (8th), last year’s runner-up who finished 18th in the Arc; and Potager (10th), victor of this year’s Osaka Hai (G1, 2,000m) who was 13th in the Tenno Sho (Autumn).
Other notable contenders included Akai Ito (16th) and Vela Azul (18th), respective victors of last year’s Queen Elizabeth II Cup and this year’s Japan Cup, Boldog Hos (32th) and Justin Palace (35th) who came off a second and a third, respectively, in the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m, Oct.23).
Horses that were ranked among the top ten but passed up their entry were: Do Deuce (JPN, C3, by Heart’s Cry; 4th); Ask Victor More (JPN, C3, by Deep Impact; 5th); Sodashi (JPN, F4, by Kurofune; 6th); and Stars on Earth (JPN, F3, by Duramente; 9th).