2021 JRA Awards

Do Deuce (JPN)

Video (Do Deuce)
Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1 - English) Video

Age (Date of Foaling)	2 (May 7, 2019)
Sex / Color	Colt / Bay
Sire	Heart's Cry
Dam (Sire of Dam)	Dust and Diamonds (Vindication)
Owner	Kieffers Co., Ltd.
Breeder	Northern Farm
Trainer	Yasuo Tomomichi
Jockey	Yutaka Take
Season Record / Earnings	3 starts: 3 wins / ¥ 95,274,000 (US$ 0.9 M)
Principal Wins in 2021	Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1)

Do Deuce was chosen Best Two-Year-Old Colt by amassing 251 votes – a crushing defeat of Hopeful Stakes-winner Killer Ability who collected 44 – based on his perfect three wins out of as many starts, including in the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes. The undefeated colt will commence his three-year-old campaign in the Yayoi Sho Deep Impact Kinen (G2, 2,000m) on March 6.

Heavily favored in his September debut start, the progeny of Heart's Cry steadily accelerated from mid-pack and beat his only threat by a neck after a fierce duel over the last furlong. As second pick in the listed Ivy Stakes a month later, the colt showed good speed after inheriting the lead well before the furlong marker and held off a strong late charge by Gran Cielo for another neck win.

The Yasuo Tomomichi-trained colt then made his grade-race debut in the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes. Traveling wide in mid-pack, he closed strongly down the middle of the straight and drew even with two-time graded winner Serifos after the furlong pole, then tied for the fastest late speed as he battled stride-for-stride to the line before shaking off the favorite in the final strides to capture the title by half a length.

Circle of Life (JPN)

Video (Circle of Life)
Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1 - English) Video

Age (Date of Foaling)	2 (March 24, 2019)
Sex / Color	Filly / Bay
Sire	Epiphaneia
Dam (Sire of Dam)	Sea Breeze Life (Admire Japan)
Owner	Masatake Iida
Breeder	Chiyoda Farm Shizunai
Trainer	Sakae Kunieda
Jockey	Mirco Demuro
Season Record / Earnings	4 starts: 3 wins & 1 third / ¥ 102,573,000 (US$ 1.0 M)
Principal Wins in 2021	Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1) Artemis Stakes (G3)

Circle of Life secured the title for 2021 Best Two-Year-Old Filly with her G1 victory in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies. The Epiphaneia filly, who concluded her two-year-old season with three wins out of four starts, will commence her three-year-old campaign in the Tulip Sho (G2, 1,600m) on March 5 prior to a G1 challenge in the 2022 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, 1,600m).

Circle of Life made her two-year-old debut in August last year and got into a battle with subsequent graded winner Equinox but was unable to sustain her bid and finished a seven-length third. However, her full potential surfaced in her next start, where, despite missing her break, the speedy filly made ground quickly from the rear to trail only the leader turning for home before pulling away from 200 meters out for a 2 1/2-length victory. Sent to post seventh choice in the following Artemis Stakes, the bay filly timed the fastest finish over the last three furlongs after taking a ground-saving route around seventh position to eventually finish off the leader by a neck.

In the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, Circle of Life traveled off the rails in mid-field throughout most of the race and was still way behind turning for home, but still had the energy to move farther out for a clear path down the stretch and into contention after the furlong pole. Engaged in a four-horse rally in the last 100 meters, she took command with just 50 meters remaining and prevailed for a half-length victory.

Sodashi (JPN)

Video (Sodashi)
Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) (G1 - English)Video

Age (Date of Foaling)	3 (March 8,2018)
Sex / Color	Filly / White
Sire	Kurofune
Dam (Sire of Dam)	Buchiko (King Kamehameha)
Owner	Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co., Ltd.
Breeder	Kaneko Makoto Holdings Inc.
Trainer	Naosuke Sugai
Jockey	Hayato Yoshida
Season Record / Earnings	5 starts: 2 wins / ¥ 202,769,000 (US$ 2.0 M)
Career Record / Earnings	9 starts: 6 wins / ¥ 337,142,000 (US$ 3.3 M)
Principal Wins in 2021	Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) (G1) Sapporo Kinen (G2)

Sodashi made history as the first white horse to capture a classic victory by claiming the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) in a course-record time, earning her the title of 2021 Best Three-Year-Old Filly.

As a two-year-old, the Kurofune filly marked four wins in four starts, including the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, becoming the first white horse to score a JRA-G1 title while also securing the 2020 Best Two-Year-Old Filly title.

Kicking off the 2021 season as the Oka Sho favorite, she broke sharply but settled patiently on the rails behind the pace. After entering the straight in third, Sodashi had no trouble pinning the two leaders to power clear 300 meters out and then hold off the desperate closers to land her second G1 victory by a neck. In the following Yushun Himba, however, the undefeated filly failed to respond in the stretch due to a longer distance and was a disappointing eighth.

Given a three-month break from her first defeat, Sodashi bounced back well to notch the Sapporo Kinen in August. Traveling right behind the pace, she made an early bid rounding the third corner and sustained her lead to the wire to score a 3/4-length win, defeating three older G1 horses including Loves Only You, the subsequent winner of the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. Sent off heavy favorite in the Shuka Sho, the white filly failed to fire in the stretch after settling behind the frontrunner and was beaten to 10th, possibly due to a gum injury sustained at the gate that led to bleeding in her mouth. She was then sent off to the G1 Champions Cup to test her talent in dirt races and set the pace before weakening in the last 400 meters, finishing 12th.

Contrail (JPN)

Video (Contrail)
Japan Cup (G1-English) Video

Age (Date of Foaling)	4 (April 1, 2017)
Sex / Color	Colt / Brown
Sire	Deep Impact
Dam (Sire of Dam)	Rhodochrosite (Unbridled's Song)
Owner	Shinji Maeda
Breeder	North Hills Co,. Ltd.
Trainer	Yoshito Yahagi
Jockey	Yuichi Fukunaga
Season Record / Earnings	3 starts: 1 win, 1 second & 1 third / ¥ 399,184,000 (US$ 3.9 M)
Career Record / Earnings	11 starts: 8 wins, 2 seconds & 1 third / ¥ 1,195,294,000 (US$ 11.6 M)
Principal Wins in 2021	Japan Cup (G1)

Contrail, who only raced three times during 2021, his final season, nevertheless turned in a convincing victory in the Japan Cup to cap off a stellar career to earn 282 votes as the season's Best Older Colt or Horse. Since debuting as a two-year-old, the Deep Impact colt won eight out of 11 starts over three seasons, including five G1 titles and within the money in his remaining three G1 starts. The brown colt retired in 10th on the JRA list of career earnings with JPY 1,195,294,000. He will now stand at Shadai Stallion Station where he is hoped to be as successful as his sire Deep Impact in his new career.

Contrail won all three starts in 2019, including the G1 Hopeful Stakes, to claim an overwhelming number of votes as the season's Best Two-Year-Old Colt. He remained successful in his three-year-old campaign, following in the footsteps of his sire as an undefeated Triple Crown winner – only the third in JRA history. His undefeated record ended in the 2020 Japan Cup where he finished second to legendary Almond Eye, but was still selected unanimously as the Best Three-Year-Old Colt.

In his four-year-old debut, the Osaka Hai, Contrail struggled with the course's rain-soddened turf and finished third. Given a long break in the hope of bouncing back to form in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), he was slow to pick up speed, trailed leader Efforia by over a length in mid-pack and couldn't make up ground despite angling out in the stretch, settling for second.

In the Japan Cup, breaking well from the second-most inner stall, Contrail settled in mid-pack and two-wide behind Kiseki, who made rapid headway in the backstretch from the rear and led by six to seven lengths. By the time the field hit the straight, the brown colt had shifted to the roomy outside and then displayed his trademark explosive kick, shaking off Shahryar after a brief rally at the furlong pole and then shifted into top gear to easily put away Authority 100 meters out for a convincing two-length win.

Loves Only You (JPN)

Age (Date of Foaling)	5 (March 26, 2016)
Sex / Color	Mare / Bay
Sire	Deep Impact
Dam (Sire of Dam)	Loves Only Me (Storm Cat)
Owner	DMM Dream Club Co., Ltd.
Breeder	Northern Farm
Trainer	Yoshito Yahagi
Jockey	Yuga Kawada
Season Record / Earnings	6 starts: 4 wins, 1 second & 1 third / ¥ 666,243,700 (US$ 6.5 M)
Career Record / Earnings	16 starts: 8 wins, 2 seconds & 3 thirds / ¥ 913,948,700 (US$ 8.9 M)
Principal Wins in 2021	Hong Kong Cup (Hong Kong, G1) Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (USA, G1) Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Hong Kong, G1) Kyoto Kinen (G2)

Loves Only You became the first Japanese horse to claim three overseas G1 titles in the same year – two in Hong Kong and one in the U.S., which also made her the first Japanese-trained horse to win a Breeders' Cup race. The globetrotting mare will now begin her new career as a broodmare at Northern Farm where she herself was bred.

Full sister to 2016 Dubai Turf winner Real Steel, the Deep Impact filly was undefeated when she won the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) in her fourth career start as a three-year-old. Thereafter, however, she was winless for nearly two years but took third in both the 2019 and 2020 Queen Elizabeth II Cup.

After scoring her first win in seven starts in her 2021 kickoff, the Kyoto Kinen, the five-year-old mare flew to the UAE for the Dubai Sheema Classic, where she rallied with Mishriff and Chrono Genesis to register a close third. A month later, Loves Only You returned to Hong Kong and claimed her first overseas G1 title in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, where she settled in fourth and then gradually accelerated to take command 200 meters out, pulling away from fillies' Triple Crown winner Daring Tact and holding off another Japanese rival, Glory Vase, for a 3/4-length victory.

Marking a runner-up effort in her comeback start, the Sapporo Kinen, Loves Only You next flew to the U.S. for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. Racing in fifth with little room coming into the stretch, she showed an impressive turn of speed as soon as she found an opening and took the lead before the wire for her historic victory. The busy bay then flew directly from the U.S. to Hong Kong where she won another G1 race, the Hong Kong Cup, before retirement. In the Cup, the Deep Impact mare met traffic early in the stretch after racing in fifth, but she slid through a narrow path 300 meters out to join a three-horse rally and then found another gear in the last 100 meters to score a head victory.

Gran Alegria (JPN)

Video (Gran Alegria)
Mile Championship (G1 - English) Video

Age (Date of Foaling)	5 (January 24, 2016)
Sex / Color	Mare / Bay
Sire	Deep Impact
Dam (Sire of Dam)	Tapitsfly (Tapit)
Owner	Sunday Racing Co., Ltd.
Breeder	Northern Farm
Trainer	Kazuo Fujisawa
Jockey	Christophe Lemaire
Season Record / Earnings	5 starts: 2 wins, 1 second & 1 third / ¥ 353,598,000 (US$ 3.4 M)
Career Record / Earnings	15 starts: 9 wins, 2 seconds & 2 thirds / ¥ 1,073,813,000 (US$ 10.4 M)
Principal Wins in 2021	Mile Championship (G1) Victoria Mile (G1)

Gran Alegria successfully defended her Mile Championship title to become the race's first back-to-back winner since Daiwa Major (2006-07), thereby securing her second consecutive JRA title as Best Sprinter or Miler. The classy daughter of Deep Impact ended her stellar racing career with six G1 titles as the sixth female runner to exceed career earnings of JPY1 billion. She will begin her new career at Northern Farm, where she is expected to be served by Epiphaneia.

Gran Alegria scored two victories, including the Saudi Arabia Royal Cup (G3), from three starts as a two-year-old. She landed a record-breaking victory in the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1) as a three-year-old, but after finishing fifth in the following NHK Mile Cup she was sidelined due to a hoof abscess in her left foreleg. She resumed racing in the year-end Hanshin Cup (G2), where she demonstrated her extraordinary speed in an overwhelming five-length victory against her seniors and thereby was named JRA's Best Three-Year-Old Filly of 2019. The four-year-old Deep Impact filly went on to win three more G1 titles – the Yasuda Kinen, Sprinters Stakes and Mile Championship – from four starts in 2020 and was just one vote short of a unanimous selection as the 2020 Best Sprinter or Miler.

In her 2021 kick-off start, the Osaka Hai, she embarked on a new challenge by stepping up in distance to 2,000 meters, but she struggled to find her best speed over the heavy turf and finished fourth. However, in the Victoria Mile, the five-year-old mare settled in mid-division around 10th and then took the front 200 meters out with a tremendous kick for a four-length victory. She missed by a head in attempting to defend her title in the Yasuda Kinen, where she met traffic at the straight before making a belated charge after finding a clear path, but finished second.

Gran Alegria showed signs of epiglottic entrapment when training, which required surgery in the summer, but she made her comeback in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), another 2,000-meter challenge. She chased the leaders in third and assumed command with 300 meters left but was out-finished by Efforia and Contrail to third. But she did not disappoint at her best distance in the following Mile Championship, which she won comfortably with the fastest finishing speed despite racing wide and well behind in the early stages, giving her another G1 title in her finale.

T O Keynes (JPN)

Video (T O Keynes)
Champions Cup (G1 - English) Video

Age (Date of Foaling)	4 (April 27, 2017)
Sex / Color	Colt / Chestnut
Sire	Sinister Minister
Dam (Sire of Dam)	Maxim Cafe (Manhattan Cafe)
Owner	Tomoya Ozasa
Breeder	Yanagawa Bokujo
Trainer	Daisuke Takayanagi
Jockey	Kohei Matsuyama
Season Record / Earnings	5 starts: 4 wins / ¥ 240,319,000 (US$ 2.3 M)
Career Record / Earnings	15 starts: 8 wins, 2 seconds & 2 thirds / ¥ 303,117,000 (US$ 2.9 M)
Principal Wins in 2021	Champions Cup (G1) Antares Stakes (G3) Teio Sho (LR)

T O Keynes claimed the 2021 Best Dirt Horse title by marking four wins out of five starts, including the Champions Cup, where he registered his first JRA-G1 title with a six-length margin, a record since the race moved to Chukyo Racecourse in 2014. He is scheduled to kick off his 2022 season in the Saudi Cup (G1, dirt, 1,800m) on February 26 in Saudi Arabia, which will be his first overseas endeavor.

Having raced only on dirt since his debut in October of his two-year-old season, the son of Sinister Minister marked a win and two thirds that year and then landed three more wins out of seven starts the following year, which included his first graded challenge in NAR's yearend Tokyo Daishoten (G1, dirt, 2,000m), where he finished sixth.

After winning his first start of the 2021 season in the Nagoyajo Stakes, the chestnut scored his first grade-race title in the Antares Stakes, where he entered the lane in second after sitting in sixth and then easily assumed command 300 meters out for a 1 3/4-lengths victory. T O Keynes followed up by extending his winning streak to three in the Teio Sho, which he dominated by three lengths.

Though finishing fourth after a slow break in his autumn kickoff, the JBC Classic, he bounced back to form in the Champions Cup. Overcoming a weak start, T O Keynes broke smoothly, settled around sixth, negotiated traffic at the top of the stretch to thread a slot outside, and then finally broke loose 300 meters out with a remarkable burst – the fastest last three furlongs – for an overwhelming six-length victory.

Oju Chosan (JPN)

Video (Oju Chosan)
Nakayama Daishogai (J-G1) Video

Age (Date of Foaling)	10 (April 3, 2011)
Sex / Color	Horse / Bay
Sire	Stay Gold
Dam (Sire of Dam)	Shadow Silhouette (Symboli Kris S)
Owner	Chosan Co., Ltd.
Breeder	Naoyoshi Nagayama
Trainer	Shoichiro Wada
Jockey	Shinichi Ishigami
Season Record / Earnings*	3 starts: 1 win & 1 third / ¥ 83,150,000 (US$ 0.8 M) *steeplechases only
Career Record / Earnings*	28 starts: 17 wins, 2 seconds & 3 thirds / ¥ 839,087,000 (US$ 8.1 M) *steeplechases only
Principal Wins in 2021	Nakayama Daishogai (J-G1)

Oju Chosan became the first horse to land the same JRA Award title four times by being named the 2021 Best Steeplechase Horse, after consecutive titles from 2016 to 2018. In his third triumph in the Nakayama Daishogai, following 2016 and 2017, the son of Stay Gold became the first horse over nine years of age, since Kyoei Warrior in 1989, to win the race. With his five victories in the Nakayama Grand Jump, the 10-year-old bay now has eight J-G1 titles. He will remain in training this season and start in the Hanshin Spring Jump (J-G2, 3,900m) on March 12 prior to another record-making challenge in the Nakayama Grand Jump.

Winless in two starts on the flat as a two-year-old, Oju Chosan was given a year break to restart his racing career over obstacles and soon excelled. In his 12th career start over obstacles, the 2016 Nakayama Grand Jump, he claimed his first of five consecutive J-G1 victories as well as 13 straight graded wins over obstacles. He finally was defeated to third in the J-G3 Kyoto Jump Stakes in November of 2020 and was sidelined thereafter with a minor leg problem.

He came back in the 2021 Nakayama Grand Jump, aiming for a sixth consecutive triumph, but after vying for the lead early and then chasing the leader in second or third, he struggled to keep up in the closing stages, failing to launch his trademark late drive and finishing a distant fifth to 2020 Best Steeplechase Horse Meisho Dassai.

Given another six months to regain his form, he finished a two-length third in his comeback start in the Tokyo High-Jump. In the following Nakayama Daishogai, Oju Chosan chased the leaders along the rails in fourth from a smooth break, continued to race prominently while changing hands to the left, and then advanced to second and to the inside as the field changed hands again after the giant hedge. The seven-time J-G1 winner took command after the 10th jump and, although briefly overtaken by Blason d'Amour at the last obstacle, quickly regained the lead turning for home and pulled away with a furlong to go for a three-length victory.

JRA EQUINE CULTURE AWARD SPECIAL AWARD

Winner: Uma to Kodai Shakai (book about horses and ancient society)

This book compiles the latest academic studies and research to reveal the roles of horses in ancient societies, thereby contributing to our understanding of ancient horse culture from diverse viewpoints, drawing on fields including archaeology and historical language study (philology). Its detailed coverage of extensive fields as well as its consolidation of wide-ranging research shines new light on the diversity and profundity of horse culture. The book was so highly evaluated that this special award was created since only one Equine Culture Award is presented each year.

Recipients:
Kenichi Sasaki

President of the Society for the Study of Ancient Transportation, specializing in ancient Japanese history.

Akio Kawajiri

Professor at the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University, specializing in ancient Japanese history.

Kazuhiko Kurozumi

Advisor for the Cultural Properties Division, Taisei Engineering Co., Ltd, specializing in Japanese archaeology.

Results of the 2021 JRA Awards (Total Votes: 296)

2021 JRA Trainers Ranking

2021 JRA Jockeys Ranking