Japan: See top horses for Sunday’s $6.5 million Arima Kinen

Six runners from the fans’ top choices, including Titleholder, Efforia and Equinox, plus Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) winner Geraldina are expected to also be the most popular betting options Sunday in the Grade 1, $6.5 million Arima Kinen, the 67th annual Grand Prix of Japan.

Staged at Nakayama, the 1 9/16-mile race boasts Japan’s top purse, which ties the Japan Cup with its first-place bounty of $3 million. Like the Takarazuka Kinen, the Arima Kinen solicits fans to vote for the horses they most want to see run. Post time is 1:25 a.m. EST on Sunday.

Horses ages 4 and up will carry 126 pounds each while 3-year-olds carry 121. Fillies and mares are given a five-pound allowance.

Here is a look at the expected top picks:

Titleholder. Although he was the No. 1 pick of the fans for the Arima Kinen lineup, Titleholder made only three appearances at home this year. He aced them all, starting with the Nikkei Sho (G2) over the 1 9/16 miles at Nakayama. He followed that with a win in the spring Tenno Sho (G1) over two miles at Hanshin. At the end of June he won 1 1/4-mile Takarazuka Kinen (G1). Titleholder then went overseas to take on the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1). Wearing himself out with a forward attack over grueling heavy going, he finished 11th of 20. Back on familiar turf, good things are expected of the son of Duramente. Regular jockey Kazuo Yokoyama is expected to have the ride.

Equinox. The son of 2017 Arima Kinen winner Kitasan Black, Equinox heads into the Arima Kinen with a record of 5: 3-2-0. Unlike his seven-time Grade 1 winning sire, Equinox has traveled a somewhat different path to the Arima Kinen. He was a close second in both the Satsuki Sho (G1) and the Tokyo Yushun (G1) classics despite having drawn the far outside gate in both races. He then passed on the Kikuka Sho (G1) and went straight to the autumn Tenno Sho, where he notched his first Grade 1 win with only four starts behind him. If Equinox can win Sunday, he will upstage his sire once again.

Vela Azul. The 5-year-old Eishin Flash-sired Vela Azul is fresh off a victory in the Japan Cup (G1). An incredible and outstanding feat, it would have not have been imaginable less than a year ago, when Vela Azul already had 16 starts in his career and still was seeking his third win. When trainer Kunihiko Watanabe switched him from dirt to turf, however, Vela Azul was as if transformed. He made the top three in his next five starts, including three wins, before taking on his first Grade 1 and bagging $3 million. The Japan Cup was ridden by Ryan Moore, but jockey Kohei Matsuyama is expected to be in the saddle for the Arima Kinen. Matsuyama first was paired with Vela Azul in the Kyoto Daishoten (G2), which he won. Vela Azul finished third over 1 9/16 miles of the Nakayama course in April on his second start after switching to turf. If he can win, he will become the first horse since Deep Impact in 2006 to complete the Japan Cup-Arima Kinen double in the same year.

Geraldina. Being a blue-blooded daughter of six-time Grade 1 winner Maurice and a seven-time Grade 1 champion mare Gentildonna, Geraldina began to shine later in her career. After finishing seventh in the 2020 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1), she remained in the lower levels until late 2021, when three wins in a row took her to her first graded-stakes test. She started to show her talent when she ran second in the Naruo Kinen (G3) over 1 1/4 miles at Chukyo this year. In late September she finally captured the Sankei Sho All Comers (G2) over 1 3/8 miles at Nakayama for her first win in a graded race. Then she triumphed the Queen Elizabeth II Cup over 1 3/8 miles at Hanshin riding on the momentum. She easily caught and passed rivals Daring Tact, Stunning Rose, Namur and Win Marilyn, who went on to win the Hong Kong Vase (G1). Her partner in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup was Cristian Demuro, and he is expected up Sunday.

Efforia. A win in the Satsuki Sho (G1) over 1 1/4 mils at Nakayama last year extended Efforia’s winning streak to four as he topped Titleholder by three lengths. He relinquished the Tokyo Yushun to Shahryar by a nose, but then he topped 2020 Japan Triple Crown champion Contrail in the autumn 2021 Tenno Sho by a length. With one amazing performance after the other, just two months later he cruised to victory in the Arima Kinen, catching and topping Deep Bond by three-quarters of a length. Although the Epiphaneia-sired Efforia seemed invincible, this year not only the winner’s circle but also the top spots eluded him. He had only two starts and disappointed with lackluster results, including a ninth in the Osaka Hai (G1) seven-tenths of a second off the winner and a sixth in the Takarazuka Kinen nine-tenths of a second back. He is going to the Arima Kinen unprepped for his first race in six months. If he can come through with a return to his favorite venue, he will become only the fifth horse in the race’s history to notch back-to-back wins. Regular rider Takeshi Yokoyama is expected to have the ride.

Deep Bond. Also returning from the Arc is last year’s runner-up Deep Bond, a 5-year-old by Kizuna. Although he has run in nine Grade 1s, he has yet to win one, but the experienced stayer still has ample chance. Last year he went from a 14th in the Arc to a second in the Arima Kinen. This year he finished 18th in the Arc’s field of 20. Second in this year’s spring Tenno Sho and fourth in the Takarazuka Kinen, Deep Bond is not one to overlook, especially as Japan’s current leading jockey Yuga Kawada will be partnered with him again.

Boldog Hos. A name that has not been heard much is Boldog Hos. The son of 2008 Japan Cup winner Screen Hero, the 3-year-old colt lost the Kikuka Sho by a nose in his first Grade 1 bid. It was an impressive run, even more so given the race was clinched in record time. He has yet to win a graded stakes, but Boldog Hos has come close with two thirds at the Grade 2 level. A consistent runner who has raced solely over 1 1/4 miles and up, he has only missed the top three in two of his nine outings. Slow at the break, he races from the rear but can unleash an excellent late kick. Though it is not a racing style particularly conducive to winning at Nakayama, Boldog Hos is looking to prove a popular dark horse. Expected in the saddle is Yuichi Fukunaga, who has just passed his trainer’s test and announced his retirement. Fukunaga, who just hit the 100-win mark for the year and has captured 17 of the Japan Racing Association’s Grade 1 races, many of them numerous times, he has yet to win the Arima Kinen.

Others to watch. The 2021 Hopeful Stakes (G1) runner-up Justin Palace was unable to come close in the first two races of the Triple Crown this year but managed a third in the Kikuka Sho last out. The Deep Impact colt will be up against older horses for his first time, but will enjoy the weight allowance allowed him in the Arima Kinen, 2kg less than he carried in the Kikuka Sho (G1). The 4-year-old Breakup captured his first graded stakes in the Copa Republica Argentina (G2) over 1 9/16 miles at Tokyo in early November. Two starts earlier he had finished second to Japan Cup winner Vela Azul in the June Stakes over 1 1/2 miles at Tokyo. His second-place result in the Sunshine Stakes over 1 9/16 miles at Nakayama in late January also is a mark in his favor. Jockey Keita Tosaki will have the ride Sunday.