The Arima Kinen (有馬記念) is a Grade I flat horse race in Japan open to Thoroughbreds which are three-years-old or above and the world's largest betting horserace.[2] It is run over a distance of 2,500 metres (approximately 1 mile and 4+12 furlongs) at Nakayama Racecourse, and it takes place annually in late December. It is one of the two "All-Star" races in Japanese horse racing; the other is the Takarazuka Kinen in late June.

Arima Kinen
Nakayama Grand Prix
有馬記念
中山グランプリ
Grade I race
2019 Arima Kinen winner Lys Gracieux
LocationNakayama Racecourse
Inaugurated1956
Race typeThoroughbred - Flat race
Websitejapanracing.jp
Race information
Distance2,500 metres (1m 4+12f)
SurfaceTurf
TrackRight-handed
QualificationThree-years-old and up
Weight56 kg (3yo); 58 kg (4yo+)
Allowances
2 kg for fillies and mares
2 kg for S. Hemisphere 3yos
Purse¥ 1,080,000,000 (as of 2023)
1st: ¥ 500,000,000
2nd: ¥ 200,000,000
3rd: ¥ 125,000,000
BonusesWinner of Tenno Sho (Autumn), Japan Cup, Arima Kinen[1]
Domestic: ¥ 200,000,000

International: ¥ 100,000,000

The event was first run in 1956, and it was initially titled the Nakayama Grand Prix (中山グランプリ). The following year it was renamed in memory of Yoriyasu Arima (1884–1957), the founder of the race. The distance was originally set at 2,600 metres, and it was shortened to the present length, 2,500 metres, in 1966.

The majority of the runners (10 out of 16) in the field are selected by a vote from racing fans, which must be a Japan Racing Association horse. If at least one horse in top 10 decided not to participate in the race, the void will be filled with next available horse until 10 available runners are filled. The remainder of 6 (including National Association of Racing (NAR) and foreign-based horses) are determined by the amount of prize money won.

Until 1999 the Arima Kinen was open to Japanese trained horses only. However, the Japan Racing Association introduced a new condition in 2000 which allowed for the participation of a foreign trained horse, if it had won that year's Japan Cup (although no such eligible horse has participated in this race). The Arima Kinen was classed as a Domestic Grade I until 2006, and it was then promoted to an International Grade I in 2007. Consequently, it is now possible for more foreign trained horses to compete in the race. The maximum number of these was set at four in 2007, and this increased to six for the 2008 running.

Records

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Speed record:

Most wins:

Most wins by a jockey:

Winners since 1984

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Year
Winner
Age
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Time
1984 Symboli Rudolf 3 Yukio Okabe Yuji Nohira Symboli Stud 2:32.8
1985 Symboli Rudolf 4 Yukio Okabe Yuji Nohira Symboli Stud 2:33.1
1986 Dyna Gulliver 3 Sueo Masuzawa Kichisaburo Matsuyama Shadai Race Horse 2:34.0
1987 Mejiro Durren 4 Yoshiyuki Muramoto Yasuo Ikee Mejiro Farm 2:33.9
1988 Oguri Cap 3 Yukio Okabe Tsutomu Setoguchi Isao Sahashi 2:33.9
1989 Inari One 5 Masato Shibata Kiyoshi Suzuki Hiroki Hotehama 2:31.7
1990 Oguri Cap 5 Yutaka Take Tsutomu Setoguchi Shunsuke Kondo 2:34.2
1991 Daiyusaku 6 Shigefumi Kumazawa Shigeharu Naito Kohei Hashimoto 2:30.6
1992 Mejiro Palmer 5 Taisei Yamada Masaaki Okubo Mejiro Farm 2:33.5
1993 Tokai Teio 5 Seiki Tabara Shouichi Matsumoto Masanori Uchimura 2:30.9
1994 Narita Brian 3 Katsumi Minai Masaaki Okubo Hidenori Yamaji 2:32.2
1995 Mayano Top Gun 3 Seiki Tabara Masahiro Sakaguchi Yu Tadokoro 2:33.6
1996 Sakura Laurel 5 Norihiro Yokoyama Katsutaro Sakai Sakura Commerce 2:33.8
1997 Silk Justice 3 Shinji Fujita Masaaki Okubo Silk Co Ltd 2:34.8
1998 Grass Wonder 3 Hitoshi Matoba Mitsuhiro Ogata Y. Hanzawa 2:32.1
1999 Grass Wonder 4 Hitoshi Matoba Mitsuhiro Ogata Y. Hanzawa 2:37.2
2000 T M Opera O 4 Ryuji Wada Ichizo Iwamoto Masatsugu Takezono 2:34.1
2001 Manhattan Cafe 3 Masayoshi Ebina Futoshi Kojima Ken Nishikawa 2:33.1
2002 Symboli Kris S 3 Olivier Peslier Kazuo Fujisawa Symboli Stud 2:32.6
2003 Symboli Kris S 4 Olivier Peslier Kazuo Fujisawa Symboli Stud 2:30.5
2004 Zenno Rob Roy 4 Olivier Peslier Kazuo Fujisawa Shinobu Oosako 2:29.5
2005 Heart's Cry 4 Christophe Lemaire Kojiro Hashiguchi Shadai Racehorse 2:31.9
2006 Deep Impact 4 Yutaka Take Yasuo Ikee Kaneko Makoto Holdings 2:31.9
2007 Matsurida Gogh 4 Masayoshi Ebina Sakae Kunieda Fumie Takahashi 2:33.6
2008 Daiwa Scarlet 4 Katsumi Ando Kunihide Matsuda Keizo Oshiro 2:31.5
2009 Dream Journey 5 Kenichi Ikezoe Yasutoshi Ikee Sunday Racing 2:30.0
2010 Victoire Pisa 3 Mirco Demuro Katsuhiko Sumii Yoshimi Ichikawa 2:32.6
2011 Orfevre 3 Kenichi Ikezoe Yasutoshi Ikee Sunday Racing 2:36.0
2012 Gold Ship 3 Hiroyuki Uchida Naosuke Sugai Eiichi Kobayashi 2:31.9
2013 Orfevre 5 Kenichi Ikezoe Yasutoshi Ikee Sunday Racing Co. Ltd. 2:32.3
2014 Gentildonna 5 Keita Tosaki Sei Ishizaka Sunday Racing Co. Ltd. 2:35.3
2015 Gold Actor 4 Hayato Yoshida Tadashige Nakagawa Kaname Ishiro 2:33.0
2016 Satono Diamond 3 Christophe Lemaire Yasutoshi Ikee Hajime Satomi 2:32.6
2017 Kitasan Black 5 Yutaka Take Hisashi Shimizu Ono Shoji 2:33.6
2018 Blast Onepiece 3 Kenichi Ikezoe Masahiro Otake Silk Racing Co Ltd 2:32.2
2019 Lys Gracieux 5 Damian Lane Yoshito Yahagi Carrot Farm 2:30.5
2020 Chrono Genesis 4 Yuichi Kitamura Takashi Saito Sunday Racing 2:35.0
2021 Efforia 3 Takeshi Yokoyama Yuichi Shikato Carrot Farm 2:32.0
2022 Equinox 3 Christophe Lemaire Tetsuya Kimura Silk Racing Co Ltd 2:32.4
2023 Do Deuce 4 Yutaka Take Yasuo Tomomichi Kieffers Co Ltd 2:30.9

Vote leaders since 1984

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Year
Leader
Age
Votes Received
Race Result
1984 Mr C B 4 171,979 3rd
1985 Symboli Rudolf[3] 4 140,753 Winner
1986 Miho Shinzan[3] 4 168,210 3rd
1987 Sakura Star O[3] 3 141,494 Did Not Finish
1988 Tamamo Cross[3] 4 183,473 2nd
1989 Oguri Cap[3] 4 197,682 5th
1990 Oguri Cap[3] 5 146,738 Winner
1991 Mejiro McQueen[3] 4 155,353 2nd
1992 Tokai Teio[3] 4 177,926 11th
1993 Biwa Hayahide[3] 3 146,218 2nd
1994 Narita Brian[3] 3 178,471 Winner
1995 Hishi Amazon[3] 4 173,689 5th
1996 Mayano Top Gun[3] 4 155,122 7th
1997 Air Groove[3] 3 142,596 3rd
1998 Air Groove[3] 4 165,357 5th
1999 Special Week[3] 4 165,734 2nd
2000 T M Opera O[3] 4 109,140 Winner
2001 T M Opera O[3] 5 93,217 5th
2002 Narita Top Road[3] 6 91,122 4th
2003 Symboli Kris S[3] 4 125,116 Winner
2004 Zenno Rob Roy[1][3] 4 100,052 Winner
2005 Deep Impact[3] 3 160,297 2nd
2006 Deep Impact[3] 4 119,940 Winner
2007 Vodka[3] 3 105,441 11th
2008 Vodka[3] 4 136,619 Not in race
2009 Vodka[3] 5 105,059 Not in race[2]
2010 Buena Vista[4] 4 111,323 2nd
2011 Buena Vista[5] 5 109,247 7th
2012 Orfevre[6] 4 90,474 Not in race
2013 Orfevre[7] 5 81,198 Winner
2014 Gold Ship[8] 5 66,796 3rd
2015 Gold Ship[9] 6 120,981 8th
2016 Kitasan Black[10] 4 137,353 2nd
2017 Kitasan Black[11] 5 124,641 Winner
2018 Rey de Oro[12] 4 110,293 2nd
2019 Almond Eye[13] 4 109,885 9th
2020 Chrono Genesis[14] 4 214,472 Winner
2021 Efforia[15] 3 260,742 Winner
2022 Titleholder[16] 4 368,304 9th
2023 Equinox[17] 4 342,637 Not in race

1 In 2004 vote, Zenno Rob Roy was estimated to have received fewer votes than Cosmo Bulk (Deduced from the official result of Internet vote). However, as Cosmo Bulk was not a Japan Racing Association horse (but belonged to Hokkaido Keiba from NAR) all votes cast for him were invalid.
2 Vodka was not allowed to participate in the 2009 race, as she was on a 1-month suspension due to nose bleeding in the Japan Cup.

Earlier winners

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  • 1956 - Meiji Hikari
  • 1957 - Hakuchikara
  • 1958 - Onward There
  • 1959 - Garnet
  • 1960 - Star Roch
  • 1961 - Homareboshi
  • 1962 - Onslaught
  • 1963 - Ryu Forel
  • 1964 - Yamato Kyodai
  • 1965 - Shinzan
  • 1966 - Korehide
  • 1967 - Kabuto Ciro
  • 1968 - Ryuzuki
  • 1969 - Speed Symboli
  • 1970 - Speed Symboli
  • 1971 - Tomei
  • 1972 - Ishino Hikaru
  • 1973 - Strong Eight
  • 1974 - Tanino Chikara
  • 1975 - Ishino Arashi
  • 1976 - Tosho Boy
  • 1977 - Ten Point
  • 1978 - Kane Minobu
  • 1979 - Green Grass
  • 1980 - Hoyo Boy
  • 1981 - Amber Shadai
  • 1982 - Hikari Duel
  • 1983 - Lead Hoyu

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "同一年度に本会が定める競走に優勝した馬に対する褒賞金交付基準" (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Racing Association.
  2. ^ The Arima Kinen - The World's Biggest Betting Race Retrieved Jan 17/2021
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y "有馬記念ファン投票ベストテン全史" 優駿 [Complete history of the Best 10 of the Arima Kinen fan voting]. Yushun (in Japanese). January 2011. pp. 35–37.
  4. ^ "【有馬記念】ブエナ雪辱へ堂々のファン投票1位". Sports Nippon. 2010-12-10. Archived from the original on 2014-12-11. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  5. ^ "ブエナビスタが2年連続1位 有馬記念ファン投票". Sports Nippon. 2011-12-08. Archived from the original on 2014-12-11. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  6. ^ "【有馬記念ファン投票】〜最終結果発表、オルフェーヴル1位". netkeiba.com. 2012-12-06. Archived from the original on 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  7. ^ "【有馬記念】ファン投票・最終発表〜1位オルフェ、2位キズナ、3位ゴールド". netkeiba.com. 2013-12-05. Archived from the original on 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  8. ^ "【有馬記念】ファン投票最終集計〜1位ゴールドシップ、2位ジェンティルドンナ". netkeiba.com. 2013-12-11. Archived from the original on 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  9. ^ "【有馬記念】ラスト走ゴールドシップが1位 ファン投票最終結果". Sponichi Annex. Sports Nippon. 2015-12-10. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  10. ^ "【有馬記念】ファン投票最終結果発表~1位キタサンブラック". netkeiba.com. 2016-12-08. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  11. ^ "有馬記念ファン投票 最終結果発表!". Japan Racing Association (in Japanese). 2017-12-07. Archived from the original on 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  12. ^ "有馬記念ファン投票 最終結果発表!" (in Japanese). Japan Racing Association. 2018-12-06. Archived from the original on 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  13. ^ "有馬記念ファン投票 最終結果発表!" (in Japanese). Japan Racing Association. 2019-12-05. Archived from the original on 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  14. ^ "有馬記念ファン投票 最終結果発表!" (in Japanese). Japan Racing Association. 2020-12-10. Archived from the original on 2021-11-19. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  15. ^ "有馬記念ファン投票 最終結果発表!" (in Japanese). Japan Racing Association. 2021-12-09. Archived from the original on 2021-12-09. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  16. ^ "有馬記念ファン投票 最終結果発表!" (in Japanese). Japan Racing Association. 2022-12-08. Archived from the original on 2022-12-08. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  17. ^ "有馬記念ファン投票 最終結果発表!" (in Japanese). Japan Racing Association. 2023-12-07. Archived from the original on 2023-12-07. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  18. ^ "有馬記念". Netkeiba.
  19. ^ "Arima Kinen (The Grand Prix)". Netkeiba.