Japan: Equinox runs away to triumph Sunday in Arima Kinen

In only his sixth career outing, 3-year-old colt Equinox added to his autumn Tenno Sho (G1) title by winning Sunday’s Grade 1, $6.5 million Arima Kinen at Nakayama. That made him the least experienced horse ever to win in the 67 runnings of Japan’s richest race.

Trainer Tetsuya Kimura captured his fourth Japan Grade 1 victory, and jockey Christophe Lemaire marked his 43rd, including his third Arima Kinen title following his victories with Heart's Cry in 2005 and Satono Diamond in 2016.

The winning time was 2:34.4 without a run-up for the 2,500 meters, about 1 9/16 miles, on a right-handed turf course rated good to firm for the 16-horse field.

The race started with second choice Titleholder (5-2) immediately surging out to set the pace while Equinox (6-5), the post-time favorite, eased back to around ninth. Equinox, the son of 2017 Arima Kinen victor Kitasan Black, traveled wide in good striking position, made headway turning the final corners wide and, once taking the lead entering the lane, responded willingly to the jockey’s urging with a strong burst of speed that timed the second-fastest closing speed while easily holding off the rest of the field with a 2-1/2-length margin.

“We were able to make a good start, and the horse was keen to go, so I held him and responded strongly when I brought him to the outside,” Lemaire said. “Though he was not mature yet during his spring campaign, he became really strong from this fall, and I look forward to his performance next year.”

Slow out of the gate, sixth pick Boldog Hos (13-1) settled second from last by the rails but angled out and accelerated strongly rounding the last corners. The Screen Hero colt entered the stretch right behind the race favorite and, though unable to threaten the leader, showed an impressive kick that timed the fastest last three furlongs to finish second.

Third choice Geraldina (6-1), coming off her victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) last month, broke poorly and sat third from the rear. Driven after the third corner, the Maurice filly launched her late kick and closed in on Equinox and Boldog Hos but had too much ground to make up. She finished third, 1 1/2 lengths behind Boldog Hos.

Equinox won the Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes (G2) as a 2-year-old but failed to capture this year’s spring classics, finishing second in both the Satsuki Sho (G1) and the Tokyo Yushun (G1).

Established in 1956 under the name Nakayama Grand Prix, the race was renamed to Arima Kinen, meaning Arima memorial, a year later after the sudden passing of the second Japan Racing Association president Yoriyasu Arima. He 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 at Tokyo Racecourse.

The Arima Kinen was designed to be a season-end grand prix in which the runners were selected by fan poll to fill the all-star event in Japan racing.

For the third year in a row since voting at JRA racecourses and off-track betting sites was canceled, fans cast their votes only online to select the 10 most popular runners. The rest of the field was determined in order of earnings.

Foreign runners that won the Japan Cup (G1) became eligible to race in the Arima in 2000, and the race was designated as an international Grade 1 race in 2007.

There were 47,000 fans at the track on a 38-degree day, according to Japan-based racing journalist Graham Pavey. The crowd was capped because of ongoing COVID restrictions. The total handle was $392,837,339, the 11th largest pool in the 67 runnings of the race. It was up 3.6 percent from last year.