Japan’s Grade 1 turf racing season ends in style on December 28 at Nakayama Racecourse with the Arima Kinen (G1T), the “Grand Prix”, featuring horses nominated by popular vote seeking a purse equal to that of the Japan Cup (G1T) for the season’s richest.
The winner over 2,500 yards (about 12 1/2 furlongs) of turf wins about $3.2 million. The total purse is just under US$7 million.
This is one of two annual events that offer fans the opportunity to vote for the horses they want to see in the field. This year’s top pick, with more than 612,700 votes, is last year’s winner, Regaleira . Coincidentally, she won the 2-year-old Hopeful Stakes (G1T) that same weekend at Nakayama in 2023.
Also among the top 10 on the ballot and entered in the race are Danon Décile , The museum kilometer, Meisho Tabaru And Justin Palace .
Regaleira, trained by Tetsuya Kimura for Sunday Racing, looks in good form after some ups and downs over the past 12 months. She was inactive due to a medical issue from last year’s Arima Kinen until June 15, when she finished 11th in the Takarazuka Kinen (G1) at Hanshin Racecourse. After another three-month break, the 4-year-old daughter of Richard the suave changed the game by winning the Sankei Sho All Comers (G2T) at Hanshin in September and the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1T) on November 16 at Kyoto Racecourse.
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Assistant coach Yu Ota said his connections were looking for improvement from Regaleira’s door at the Arima Kinen.
“His break was a bit off last time out in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup,” Ota said. “The main problem is the gate. The start is not in front of the grandstand this time, which should make things easier.”
Regaleira, the only female in the 16-horse field, was the first 3-year-old filly winner in the Arima Kinen in 64 years and would become the first distaff to score back-to-back victories in the event. Christophe Lemaire, who overtook Keita Tosaki to take the lead in the Japanese jockey rankings, takes over aboard the filly.
Lemaire leads Tosaki with 138 wins to 131 despite having completed 186 fewer races.
A few established rivals stand in the way of a repeat.
Danon Decile, third last year at the Arima Kinen, won the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1T) in April, beating the eventual Japan Cup (G1T) winner. Calandagan then finished fifth in the International Stakes (G1) at York Racecourse in England and finished third last month behind Calandagan and Masked ball in the Japan Cup.
Regular rider Tosaki remains with Danon Decile on Regaleira, and trainer Shogo Yasuda said the jockey still has work to do with the 4-year-old son of Epiphany .
“I felt like he was quite nervous on the day of the Japan Cup, and in the final stretch he seemed to have been a little difficult,” Yasuda said of Danon Décile. “It’s maybe something we still need to work on, but he ran really well in the straight. The first two were very strong.”
Museum Mile, a 3 year old colt by Leontes take a remote test. He won this year’s Satsuki Sho (Japanese Two Thousand Guineas, G1T) over 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles), but then finished sixth in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1T) when challenged over 2,400 meters (about 1 1/2 miles). He has since won the 2,200-meter Asahi Hai St. Lite Kinen (G2T) (approximately 1 3/8 miles) and finished second in the 2,000-meter Tenno Sho (Fall) (G1T).
