The National Association of Racing (NAR), the national level regulatory body for the Racing by Local Governments in Japan, has announced the 2017 NAR Grand Prix Awards for the year’s outstanding horses, trainers, jockeys, and others within the industry.
Winning Horses
| Award | Horse (sex, age) |
Owner | Trainer (Affiliation) |
Breeder | Sire Dam (Dam sire) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horse of the Year Best 3-Year-Old Colt |
Higashi Will Win (3yo Colt) |
MMC Co. Ltd. | Kenji Sato (Funabashi) |
Grand Stud | South Vigorous Primo Time (Brian's Time) |
| Best 2-Year-Old Colt | Haseno Pyro (2yo Colt) |
Fumio Hasegawa | Kenji Sato (Funabashi) |
Minoru Hironaka | Pyro Taiki Avenue (Timber Country) |
| Best 2-Year-Old Filly | Strong Heart (2yo Filly) |
Grand Bokujo Co. Ltd. | Hideki Kadokawa (Hokkaido) |
Grand Stud | South Vigorous First Lady (Smart Boy) |
| Best 3-Year-Old Filly | Step of Dance (3yo Filly) |
Katsumi Yoshida | Terunobu Fujita (Oi) |
Northern Farm | Gold Allure Luca Dance (Hector Protector) |
| Best Older Colt or Horse Best Sprinter or Miler |
Bulldog Boss (5yo Horse) |
Him Rock Racing | Satoshi Kokubo (Urawa) |
Keiichi Samekawa | Daiwa Major Lyphard Cannes (Danehill) |
| Best Older Filly or Mare | Lalabel (5yo Mare) |
Teruya Yoshida | Katsunori Arayama (Oi) |
Shadai Farm | Gold Allure Breezy Woods (Timber Country) |
| Best Ban-ei (Draft) Horse | Oreno Kokoro (7yo Horse) |
Katsuhiro Omori | Shigeto Tsukidate (Ban-ei) |
Jitsuko Muguruma | |
| Best Turf Horse | Double Sharp (2yo Colt) |
Katsumi Kobayashi | Noboru Yonekawa (Hokkaido) |
Masanori Murakami | Behkabad Mejiro Ruchbah (Agnes Tachyon) |
| Dirt Grade (Principal Dirt) Race Special Prize |
Copano Rickey (7yo Horse) |
Sachiaki Kobayashi | Akira Murayama (JRA) |
Yanagawa Bokujo | Gold Allure Copano Nikita (Timber Country) |
| Special Award | N/A | ||||
Note: Horse ages are for 2017
Winning Trainers and Jockeys
| Award | Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| Best Trainer (Races Won) | Teruya Tsunoda | Aichi |
| Best Trainer (Money Earned) | Satoshi Kokubo | Urawa |
| Best Trainer (Winning Average) | Tsuyoshi Kawanishi | Aichi |
| Grand Prize Trainer | Kenji Sato | Funabashi |
| Katsunori Arayama | Oi | |
| Best Jockey (Races Won) | Osamu Shimohara | Hyogo |
| Best Jockey (Money Earned) | Taito Mori | Funabashi |
| Best Jockey (Winning Average) | Isao Yamaguchi | Saga |
| Grand Prize Jockey | Fumio Matoba | Oi |
| Kentaro Usui | Funabashi | |
| Best Apprentice Jockey | Yu Suzuki | Iwate |
| Best Female Jockey | Hitomi Miyashita | Aichi |
| Best Fair Play Jockey | Makoto Okabe | Aichi |
| Special Award | Koichi Yamano |
Note: Ban-ei (Draft) races: run by "heavy" horses such as the sturdy Percherons, Bretons and Belgians. Ban-ei Horses pull a sleigh weighing any where from 1,000 pounds to one ton, along a 200-meter separated straight track over two small hills, which are located along the course.
