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Equinox Extends His G1 Winning Streak to Four in the All-Star Takarazuka Kinen

Overwhelming favorite Equinox who acquired the most votes from the fans won this year’s Takrazuka Kinen to extend his G1 winning streak to four, which includes the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (2,000m) and the Arima Kinen (2,500m) last year and the Dubai Sheema Classic (2,410m) in March this year. The 2022 Horse of the Year also became the 16th horse to win both “Grand Prix” races, the Arima Kinen and this race. This is the fifth JRA-G1 win for trainer Tetsuya Kimura following last year’s Arima Kinen with this colt. For jockey Christophe Lemaire, this is the 45th JRA-G1 victory following his win in this year’s Tenno Sho (Spring) with Justin Palace and his second Takarazuka Kinen title since 2021 with Chrono Genesis.

Equinox, breaking smoothly from stall five, eased back to second from last and continued to travel near the rear in the backstretch, saving his strength for the right time. The Kitasan Black colt gradually advanced forward turning the last two corners the widest, displayed a powerful turn of foot in the lane, passing his rivals one by one, and sustained his speed after taking the lead passing the 200-meter pole to hold off the strong challenge by Through Seven Seas by a neck.

“Though we were unable get a good position toward the front due to the fast pace at the beginning, the horse was relaxed in the rear and I wasn’t worried at all. As the inner track condition was not so good, we made bid from the outside early and turned wide to the straight where he stretched really well. Hanshin’s inner course is tricky and Takarazuka Kinen is a difficult race to win even for champion horses, so I’m very happy that I was able to win the race with the No. 1 horse in the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings. I realized again how strong he is. I hope to win more big races with him in Autumn,” commented Christophe Lemaire.

Tenth pick Through Seven Seas settled in the very rear and steadily advanced position behind the race favorite rounding the last corners. Though meeting traffic entering the lane, the five-year-old mare by Dream Journey weaved her way through the horses and closed in on Equinox with the fastest closing speed but was a neck short at the wire in second.

Other Horses:
4th: (11) Geraldina—positioned around 14th early, made headway in backstretch, entered lane in 4th, rallied for lead, unable to find another gear in last 100m
5th: (10) Deep Bond—sat 3-wide around 7th, passed rivals one by one, needed more
6th: (7) Pradaria—traveled around 11th, showed effort between horses until 100m out
7th: (4) Boccherini—saved ground around 12th, quickened on inner stretch, weakened in last 100m
8th: (8) Vela Azul—settled around 14th near winner, entered stretch in last, passed tiring rivals
9th: (13) Geoglyph—ran 3-wide around 7th, lacked needed kick
10th: (17) Dura Erede—stalked leader, took brief lead just before 200m pole, failed to sustain bid
11th: (12) Ask Victor More—sat around 4th, rallied for lead up to 200m pole
12th: (14) Breakup—chased leaders around 3rd, remained in contention until 150m out
13th: (3) Danon the Kid—raced in 4-5th, gradually fell behind
14th: (16) Mozu Bello—traveled 3-wide around 10th, outrun after 1,000m to go
15th: (15) Unicorn Lion—set pace, maintained lead up to 200m pole, used up
16th: (2) Karate—traced leaders around 3rd on rails, dropped back in last 250m
17th: (1) Lilac—hugged rails around 7th, faded after 3rd corner

THE 64TH TAKARAZUKA KINEN (G1)
3-year-olds & up, 2,200 meters (about 11 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, June 25, 2023         Hanshin Racecourse          11th Race           Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 475,200,000 (about US$ 3,628,000 <US$1=¥131>)
3-y-o: 53kg (about 117 lbs), 4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares,
1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2019, 3kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2020
Course Record: 2:09.7         Race Record: 2:09.7 [Titleholder (JPN, by Duramente), 2022]
Safety factor: 18 runners     Going: Good to Firm           Weather: Cloudy

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 27,363,184,100       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 37,072,699,700       Attendance: 44,297

Winner= 8 starts: 6 wins & 2 seconds / Added money: ¥ 223,696,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 1,489,188,100

* Takarazuka Kinen (G1)

The Takarazuka Kinen, established in 1960, opened its doors to foreign-trained horses in 1997 and became the first international grade-one race designated by the International Cataloguing Standards Committee (ICSC) held in western Japan in 2001. The race joined the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series in 2011, enabling its winner to earn automatic starting position in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1, 2,400m). The winner is also eligible to start in the Cox Plate (G1, 2,040m) since 2019. In 2018, the race welcomed Hong Kong’s 2015/16 Horse of the Year Werther (NZ, by Tavistock) who finished a neck second. He was the second foreign contender to challenge the race since Australian-trained Seto Stayer (AUS, by Bellotto; 9th) in 1997.
It is a Grand Prix (All-Star) race, along with the year-end Arima Kinen (G1, 2,500m), in which the runners are selected by a fan poll. The fans can cast their votes online to select the ten most popular runners. 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.
This year’s contenders that were among the top ten horses voted included: Equinox (1st), Horse of the Year and Dubai Sheema Classic (G1, 2,410m, Mar.25) winner; Geraldina (3rd), victor of the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1, 2,200m); Justin Palace (5th), champion of the Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1, 3,200m, Apr.30); Deep Bond (6th), three-time runner-up in the Tenno Sho (Spring); Ask Victor More (7th), winner of the 2022 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1, 3,000m); and Vela Azul (10th), victor of last year’s Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m).
Other contenders within the top 50 horses voted included Dura Erede (19th), Danon the Kid (31st), Karate (39th), Lilac (42nd), Breakup (43rd), Geoglyph (46th) and Boccherini (48th).
Horses that were ranked among the top ten but passed up their entry were: Titleholder (JPN, H5, by Duramente; 2nd); Jack d’Or (JPN, H5, by Maurice; 4th); Liberty Island (JPN, F3, by Duramente; 8th); and Do Deuce (JPN, C4, by Heart’s Cry; 9th).