Arima Kinen

Horse race From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

ClassGrade I
LocationNakayama Racecourse
InauguratedDecember 23, 1956
Race typeThoroughbred - Flat race
Quick facts Class, Location ...
Arima Kinen
Nakayama Grand Prix
有馬記念
中山グランプリ
2019 Arima Kinen winner Lys Gracieux
ClassGrade I
LocationNakayama Racecourse
InauguratedDecember 23, 1956
Race typeThoroughbred - Flat race
Websitejapanracing.jp
Race information
Distance2,500 metres (1m 4+1⁄2f)
RecordZenno Rob Roy, 2:29.5
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 2025)
  • 1st: ¥ 500,000,000
  • 2nd: ¥ 200,000,000
  • 3rd: ¥ 125,000,000
BonusesWinner of the following in the same year:
Tenno Sho (Autumn), Japan Cup, Arima Kinen[1]
Domestic: ¥ 300,000,000
International: ¥ 150,000,000
Winner of any three of the following in the same year:
Ōsaka Hai, Tenno Sho (Spring/Autumn), Japan Cup, Takarazuka Kinen, Arima Kinen
Domestic: ¥ 200,000,000
International: ¥ 100,000,000
Close

The event was first run in 1956, and 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 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 any horse among the 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. 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 increased to six for the 2008 running.

Records

Speed record:

Multiple winners:

Most wins by a jockey:

  • 4 – Kenichi Ikezoe (2009/Dream Journey, 2011, 2013/Orfevre, 2018/Blast Onepiece)
  • 4 – Yutaka Take (1990/Oguri Cap, 2006/Deep Impact, 2017/Kitasan Black, 2023/Do Deuce)

Most wins by a trainer:

  • 4 – Yasutoshi Ikee (2009, 2011, 2013, 2016)

Most wins by an owner:

  • 7 – Sunday Racing (2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2020, 2024, 2025)
  • The youngest winning jockey: Yutaka Take (1990 Oguri Cap, 21 Years old, 9 Months 9 Days)
  • The oldest winning jockey: Yutaka Take (2023 Do Deuce, 54 Years old 9 Months 10 Days)

Winners since 1979

More information Year, Winner ...
Year
 Winner
 Age
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Time
1979 Green Grass 6 Shoichi Osaki Takao Nakano Kichishiro Hanzawa 2:35.4
1980 Hoyo Boy 5 Kazuhiro Kato Toshio Nihonyanagi Yoshiharu Furukawa 2:33.7
1981 Amber Shadai 4 Shinji Azuma Toshio Nihonyanagi Zenya Yoshida 2:35.5
1982 Hikari Duel 5 Hiroshi Kawachi Hikozo Sugai Zenkichi Hashimoto 2:36.7
1983 Lead Hoyu 3 Seiki Tabara Masatoshi Hattori Yoshio Kumamoto 2:34.0
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
2024 Regaleira 3 Keita Tosaki Tetsuya Kimura Sunday Racing 2:31.8
2025 Museum Mile 3 Cristian Demuro Daisuke Takayanagi Sunday Racing 2:31.5
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Vote leaders since 1984

More information Year, Leader ...
Year Leader Age Votes Received Race Result Ref
1984 Mr. C. B. 4 171,979 3rd
1985 Symboli Rudolf 4 140,753 Winner [3]
1986 Miho Shinzan 4 168,210 3rd [3]
1987 Sakura Star O 3 141,494 Did Not Finish [3]
1988 Tamamo Cross 4 183,473 2nd [3]
1989 Oguri Cap 4 197,682 5th [3]
1990 Oguri Cap 5 146,738 Winner [3]
1991 Mejiro McQueen 4 155,353 2nd [3]
1992 Tokai Teio 4 177,926 11th [3]
1993 Biwa Hayahide 3 146,218 2nd [3]
1994 Narita Brian 3 178,471 Winner [3]
1995 Hishi Amazon 4 173,689 5th [3]
1996 Mayano Top Gun 4 155,122 7th [3]
1997 Air Groove 3 142,596 3rd [3]
1998 Air Groove 4 165,357 5th [3]
1999 Special Week 4 165,734 2nd [3]
2000 T. M. Opera O 4 109,140 Winner [3]
2001 T. M. Opera O 5 93,217 5th [3]
2002 Narita Top Road 6 91,122 4th [3]
2003 Symboli Kris S 4 125,116 Winner [3]
2004 Zenno Rob Roy[1] 4 100,052 Winner [3]
2005 Deep Impact 3 160,297 2nd [3]
2006 Deep Impact 4 119,940 Winner [3]
2007 Vodka 3 105,441 11th [3]
2008 Vodka 4 136,619 Not in race [3]
2009 Vodka 5 105,059 Not in race[2] [3]
2010 Buena Vista 4 111,323 2nd [4]
2011 Buena Vista 5 109,247 7th [5]
2012 Orfevre 4 90,474 Not in race [6]
2013 Orfevre 5 81,198 Winner [7]
2014 Gold Ship 5 66,796 3rd [8]
2015 Gold Ship 6 120,981 8th [9]
2016 Kitasan Black 4 137,353 2nd [10]
2017 Kitasan Black 5 124,641 Winner [11]
2018 Rey de Oro 4 110,293 2nd [12]
2019 Almond Eye 4 109,885 9th [13]
2020 Chrono Genesis 4 214,472 Winner [14]
2021 Efforia 3 260,742 Winner [15]
2022 Titleholder 4 368,304 9th [16]
2023 Equinox 4 342,637 Not in race [17]
2024 Do Deuce 5 478,415 Scratched [18]
2025 Regaleira 4 612,771 4th [19]
Close

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

  • 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

In popular culture

The TBS Television TV Series Passing the Reins [ja] revolves around the main characters aiming to win the Arima Kinen with a horse from Hidaka.[20]

In addition, a number of the races have been portrayed in Umamusume: Pretty Derby in anime and manga by the personifications of the horses who participated in them:

  • The 1988 race, which was Tamamo Cross' retirement race and Oguri Cap's first and only win against Tamamo Cross, is portrayed in Cinderella Gray, which portrays Oguri Cap's racing career, in both manga and "Gray Phantom," the 22nd episode of Season 1 of its anime.[21][22] The Nakayama Racecourse Horse Owners' Association also invited Umamusume's voice actresses for Oguri Cap (Tomoyo Takayanagi), Tamamo Cross (Naomi Ōzora) and Super Creek (Kana Yūki) to attend the 2025 race coinciding with the airing of "Gray Phantom", and the three also participated in the award ceremony.[23]
  • The 1990 race – Oguri Cap's retirement race – is also the final race of the Cinderella Gray manga.
  • The 1993 race, which was Tokai Teio's comeback and ultimately final race after a year injured, is portrayed in "Galloping After Our Dreams," the finale of the second season of the main Umamusume: Pretty Derby anime. The scene also incorporates the actual words of the broadcast call.[24][25]
  • The 2015 race, which was Gold Ship's retirement race, is portrayed in "The Dream Never Ends", the 3rd episode of Season 3 of the main anime.[26]
  • The 2016 race, which featured Satono Diamond winning the race and Kitasan Black coming in second, is portrayed in "Our Arima Kinen", the 7th episode of the same season.[27]
  • The 2017 race, which was Kitasan Black's retirement race, is portrayed in "And Yours...", the 13th episode of the same season.[28]

See also

References

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