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Three-Year-Old Museum Mile Powers Past Rivals to Claim 2025 Arima Kinen

Third favorite Museum Mile claimed his second G1 title by dominating the year-end “All-Star” Grand Prix, the Arima Kinen. The son of Leontes marked two wins in his two-year-old debut year and concluded the season with a second in the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1, 1,600m). This year, he kicked off with a fourth-place finish before capturing the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m), then finished sixth in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m). His autumn campaign began with a graded win in the St. Lite Kinen (G2, 2,200m) in September, followed by a 3/4-length second in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1, 2,000m), his first start against older foes in early November. Trainer Daisuke Takayanagi claimed his fourth JRA-G1 title following his win in the Satsuki Sho with the colt, while jockey Cristian Demuro, who narrowly missed last year’s Arima Kinen with Shahryar by a nose, registered his seventh JRA-G1 victory, following his Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes win with Cavallerizzo just a week earlier.

A bit slow out of gate four, Museum Mile settled toward the rear, around 11th-12th from the front. The son of Leontes shadowed Danon Decile for most of the trip, swung wide around the final two corners and unleashed a powerful late charge behind the second pick with a time-tied fastest last-three-furlong drive. The three-year-old dark bay passed his rivals one by one, outrunning the last two frontrunners—Danon Decile and then Cosmo Kuranda—in the final strides to reach the wire a half-length in front to claim his Arima Kinen title.

“I’m really happy to win the race on the last day of racing of this year. It was a revenge from last year. Last year, Regaleira cut my dream and this year, I brought it back. I just followed Danon Decile all the way—he opened the way for us in the last stretch—and when we came outside, I knew we could beat him. The horse likes the Nakayama track, so it was a big advantage for us. I’m very happy to win the Arima Kinen on its 70th anniversary,” commented Cristian Demuro.

Coming into the race with 1-4-1 out of eight starts at Nakayama, twelfth choice Cosmo Kuranda chased the pace in second or third after briefly rallying for the lead early and took command at the top of the stretch. The Al Ain colt sustained the bid and maintained the lead but was denied by the winner just before the wire, finishing a half-length behind in second while holding off the rest of the field by a neck.

Posted second pick again this year, Danon Decile broke smoothly from gate nine and traveled wide in ninth. The four-year-old son of Epiphaneia improved his position while sweeping wide around the final corners and produced an impressive burst of speed down the lane but was overtaken by the fast-closing Museum Mile in the last 50 meters and finished a neck behind Cosmo Kuranda in third.

Race favorite Regaleira was forced to race toward the rear, around 14th, after a poor break. Meeting traffic entering the lane, the defending champion found a narrow opening between horses in the last 100 meters and exerted her strong late kick—the fastest last three furlongs, tied with the winner—but was too late to catch the top three and finished half a length behind Danon Decile in fourth.

Other Horses:
5th: (7) Sunrise Zipangu—positioned near rear, launched 3rd fastest late drive, belatedly
6th: (16) Tastiera—settled in 3rd early, entered lane in good striking position, ran gamely until 100m out
7th: (3) Justin Palace—trailed in rear, advanced while circling wide, passed tired rivals
8th: (1) Excite Bio—hugged rails around 10th, rounded wide in last corners, needed more
9th: (12) Meiner Emperor—raced around 7th, advanced to 4th in backstretch, lacked needed kick
10th: (8) Chevalier Rose—traveled around 12th, even paced
11th: (13) Admire Terra—sat in 4th, advanced after 3rd corner, failed to sustain bid
12th: (15) Elton Barows—ran around 7th on rails, showed little at stretch
13th: (6) Meisho Tabaru—tracked leader in 2nd or 3rd early, led at 2nd corner, faded in last 200m
14th: (2) Shin Emperor—saved ground around 5th, blocked behind horses at stretch
15th: (14) Arata—took economic trip around 12th, no factor
16th: (11) Mystery Way—rallied for lead to set pace, faded after 3rd corner

THE 70TH ARIMA KINEN (G1)
3-year-olds & up, 2,500 meters (about 12.5 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, December 28, 2025         Nakayama Racecourse         11th Race       Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 1,090,000,000 (about US$ 6,943,000 <US$1=¥157>)
3-y-o: 56kg (about 123-124 lbs), 4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs),
2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares, 2kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2022
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: ¥ 71,345,206,100       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 90,387,204,800       Attendance: 56,409

Winner= 10 starts: 5 wins, 2 seconds & 1 third / Added & stakes money: ¥ 503,528,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 961,799,000

* 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, and 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, while the rest of the field is determined in order of earnings. The race was designated as an international G1 race in 2007 with the winner’s prize money raised to 500 million last year, making it the richest race along with the Japan Cup.
The Arima Kinen has been known as a final stage before retirement for JRA’s legendary runners 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) who capped off their stellar racing careers with impressive wins in this race.
This year’s contenders who were among the top ten horses voted by fans included: defending champion Regaleira (1st) who came off her third G1 victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2,200m; Nov. 16); Meisho Tabaru (4th), victor of the Takarazuka Kinen (G1, 2,200m); Justin Palace (6th), winner of the 2023 Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1, 3,200m); Museum Mile (7th), the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m) champion who went on to finish second in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1, 2,000m; Nov. 2); and Danon Decile (8th), winner of the 2024 Tokyo Yushun (G1, 2,400m) and this year’s Dubai Sheema Classic (G1, 2,410m) who came off a third in the Japan Cup (G1, 2,400m; Nov. 30).
Also among the field, ranked within the top 40 fan-voted horses, were two-time G1 champion Tastiera (25th), multiple graded winner Shin Emperor (30th) and G2 victors Admire Terra (31st) and Mystery Way (40th).
Horses ranked among the top ten in the fan poll that passed up their entry were Croix du Nord (JPN, C3, by Kitasan Black; 2nd), Masquerade Ball (JPN, C3, by Duramente; 3rd), Bellagio Opera (JPN, H5, by Lord Kanaloa; 5th), Energico (JPN, C3, by Duramente; 9th) and Redentor (JPN, C4, by Rulership; 10th).