Three-year-old Equinox claimed this year’s Arima Kinen to capture the title with the fewest career starts. Sired by 2017 Arima Kinen victor Kitasan Black, the brown colt marked two wins out of the same starts including the Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes (G2, 1,800m) as a two-year-old but failed to capture this year’s spring classic titles, finishing second in both the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1, 2,000m) and the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m). The Arima Kinen was the sixth career outing for the colt who came off a victory in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1, 2,000m). Trainer Tetsuya Kimura captured his fourth JRA-G1 victory following his Tenno Sho (Autumn) title with this colt and jockey Christophe Lemaire marked his 43rd JRA-G1 win and third Arima Kinen title following his victories with Heart's Cry (2005) and Satono Diamond (2016).
The race started with Titleholder immediately surging out to set the pace while race favorite Equinox eased back to around ninth. The son of 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.
“What happens twice will happen thrice. I won the Arima Kinen with Heart’s Cry and Satono Diamond both on Christmas Day, and I’m really happy to be able to win the race on Christmas Day again. 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. 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,” commented Christophe Lemaire.
Slow out of the gate, sixth pick Boldog Hos 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, 1-1/2 lengths in front of Geraldina.
Third choice Geraldina, coming off her victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup 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 to finish third.
Other Horses:
4th: (2) Izu Jo no Kiseki—positioned around 7th on rails, slightly angled out at early stretch, quickened
5th: (7) Efforia—sat 3-wide around 5th, rallied for lead briefly, unable to keep up with top finishers
6th: (8) Win Mighty—took economic trip in 10-11th, passed one by one at stretch
7th: (10) Justin Palace—hugged rails around 3rd, sustained bid until 100m out
8th: (16) Deep Bond—tracked leaders around 3rd from widest stall, weakened in last 200m
9th: (13) Titleholder—set pace, failed to find another gear, surrendered lead at early stretch
10th: (6) Vela Azul—raced 3-wide around 11th, showed brief effort, even paced in last 200m
11th: (14) Boccherini—settled around 5th, unable to remain in contention in last 300m
12th: (12) Potager—ran around 8th inside winner, failed to respond after final corner
13th: (11) Last Draft—traveled 3-wide around 11th, showed little at stretch
14th: (4) Aristoteles—saved ground around 11th, outrun turning last corners
15th: (1) Akai Ito—unhurried and trailed in rear, never fired at stretch
16th: (15) Breakup—chased pace from wide draw, faded after 3rd corner
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