Friday, 25 December 2009: The Arima Kinen, the race that attracts the highest betting turnover in the world, will be run at Nakayama on Sunday for the 54th time.
Originally known as the Nakayama Grand Prix, it was founded in December of 1956 at the urging of Japan Racing Association president Yoriyasu Arima, who felt compelled to stage a race at Nakayama that could rival the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) at Fuchu in terms of prestige and popularity.
Introducing the truly novel concept of the field being selected by the votes of the public has made it the world's most popular race with punters.
The first race was held over 2600 meters and was renamed in 1957 after Arima passed away.
The Arima Kinen was adjusted to the current distance of 2500m in 1966 and has been open to foreign bred horses since 1971.
The race qualified for Grade 1 status in 2007, opening up the door to as many as six entries from abroad.
The Arima Kinen is a lap and a half around the inner oval at Nakayama Racecourse, where the final straight is a relatively short 310 meters but rises steeply over the last 200 metres.
Compared to the Sprinters Stakes or the Asahihai Futurity Stakes held on the outside course, the turns are tighter and the race tends to favour the frontrunners.
The early favorites among the 32 nominations are:
BUENA VISTA: Few would have thought she would be winless after three races this fall, but that's exactly where the expected betting favorite trained by Hiroyoshi Matsuda, stands. The 3YO filly had the second most votes behind Vodka, after winning the first two legs of the fillies' Triple Crown - the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) and the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) - in the spring.
Her performances had been so riveting that the Sunday Racing ownership group targeted the Arc in October, but Buena Vista came up short in the Sapporo Kinen in late August, a loss which scrapped her plans to race at Longchamp. Then came the Shuka Sho in which she was demoted to third for interference, failing in her bid to become just the third horse ever to win the filly's Triple Crown.
Tough luck continued for the daughter of Special Week in last month's Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup behind long shots Queen Spumante and T M Precure. Buena Vista settled for third, finishing the last three furlongs in a brilliant 32.9 seconds.
That effort underlined the filly's quality as one of the best racehorses in the country, offering more hope than disappointment for the Arima Kinen. Feeling the need for a fresh start, the owners have handed the reins to Norihiro Yokoyama, who has won the Tokyo Yushun, the Tenno Sho (Autumn) and Mile Championship this year.
No 3YO filly has won the Arima Kinen in 48 years but one has to like Buena Vista's chances with 53kg.
DREAM JOURNEY: The Takarazuka Kinen champion is poised to bounce back as he goes back to running clockwise, having won seven of his eight victories running right handed. He finished sixth in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) on the left handed Tokyo course and trainer Yasutoshi Ikee came away convinced the result had everything to do with him running counter clockwise.
In his first race of the autumn campaign, the 5YO took second to Matsurida Gogh in the Grade 2 2200m Sankei Sho All Comers with 59kg. The original plan was for him to run in Hong Kong, yet Ikee had second thoughts, wanting him to run in the familiar conditions at Nakayama in the Arima Kinen with ample preparation time.
Dream Journey finished fourth in this race last year, but Ikee says there's no comparison to last December.
"I would say he's at least twice, maybe three times the horse he was compared to last year," Ikee said.
FORGETTABLE: Trainer Yasuo Ikee's colt has been anything but his name this fall, coming off victory in the G2 3600m Sports Nippon Sho Stayers Stakes at Nakayama under Christophe Soumillon, after finishing runner up to Three Rolls in the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger).
Ikee thought this exceptional blueblood would need time to fill out his frame but Forgettable is coming into his own sooner than expected. Suspended Soumillon has been replaced by equally talented French jockey Christophe Lemaire, who returns from a suspension of his own in time for the grand finale, which he famously won in 2005 aboard Heart's Cry.
MATSURIDA GOGH: The winner of the 2007 Arima Kinen fizzled badly in his latest race, trainer Sakae Kunieda's 6YO coming off a next-to-last performance in the Tenno Sho last month as he heads into the final race of his career.
No one will dispute Matsurida Gogh is a different horse when he races at Nakayama, where he has produced eight of his career 10 wins including six graded victories. In September, he won the Sankei Sho All Comers for an amazing third consecutive year.
Kunieda says Matsurida Gogh has been training well since the Tenno Sho and Masayoshi Ebina, who guided him to victory in the Arima Kinen two years ago, will try to see that his partner goes out in style.
MEINER KITZ: Matsurida Gogh's stablemate hasn't been able to follow up on his impressive victory in the Tenno Sho (Spring) in May. The 6YO finished seventh in the Takarazuka Kinen, seventh again in the Kyoto Daishoten and eighth in the Japan Cup coming up from last on the long Fuchu stretch.
Kunieda says Meiner Kitz will have to run a more aggressive race in the Arima Kinen, as he did in the Tenno Sho when jockey Masami Matsuoka made his move before the turn for home. Replacing suspended Matsuoka in the saddle will be 20-year-old sophomore superstar Kosei Miura, who will make his Arima Kinen debut.
If he rides as Kunieda says, Meiner Kitz could surprise a lot of people.
REACH THE CROWN: The Japanese Derby runner up does not have fond memories of his last and only run at Nakayama, finishing 13th in the 2000m Satsuki Sho in April.
Both trainer Kojiro Hashiguchi and jockey Yutaka Take have admitted it was a mistake to try to hold back the 3YO rather than letting him go at a pace he likes. While Reach The Crown has not won in five starts since February, the colt has clearly looked more at ease since being given the freedom to run at his own rhythm.
If he's left unmarked and travels without interruption Reach The Crown - who Hashiguchi puts in the class of Dance in the Dark and Heart's Cry - could end the year on a very positive note.
THREE ROLLS: Three Rolls wasn't among the top picks when he won the Kikuka Sho but don't expect him to be overlooked again. There was nothing fluky about the victory, Suguru Hamanaka's mount fighting off Forgettable at the wire to seize the last race of the Triple Crown.
Three Rolls made his debut in October last year, a race that also featured Buena Vista, Unrivaled and Reach the Crown where he took fourth behind the much-hyped trio. Three Rolls took his time coming into his own, a credit to trainer Kohei Tanaka's patience and it all came together in the Japanese St. Leger.
Kikuka Sho winners have always run well in the Arima Kinen.
UNRIVALLED: Perhaps no other horse among the nominations for the Arima Kinen is in dire need of a good performance this weekend. Trainer Yasuo Tomomichi's colt rose to the top of the 3YO class in April, winning the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) with a swashbuckling run on the stretch for jockey Yasunari Iwata.
The startling victory was followed by a disastrous 12th place outing in the Japanese Derby, a better but unconvincing fourth-place effort in the G2 Kobe Shimbun Hai in September, before crumbling to 15th place in the Kikuka Sho.
Unrivalled is 2-for-2 at Nakayama and perhaps the new partnership with Italian rider Mirco Demuro is what he needs.
