HISTORICALLY the Group 1 Arima Kinen is the closing spectacle of the racing season. However, the addition of two extra JRA Group 1 races has slightly shifted its place at the end of the fixture list. However, the prestige and frantic public interest firmly remains intact.

Held at Nakayama Racecourse, the Arima Kinen competes with the Japan Cup and the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) for the biggest race day of the year. This comparison is made in terms of betting turnover and average attendance.

This year’s Arima Kinen renewal is set to eclipse both the Japan Cup and Derby with consummate ease. Various factors have aligned that the 2,500 metre showpiece will see the highest profile horses set to converge on Nakayama racecourse.

Seven individual Group 1 winners will make up the field of 16 runners. Impressive Tenno Sho Spring and Takarazuka Kinen winner, Titleholder, returns to domestic action after a fruitless trip to Longchamp for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Japan Cup winner, Vera Azul, has been declared fit to run by trainer Kunihiko Watanabe to potentially complete his meteoric rise through the JRA rankings.

The 2021 Arima Kinen winner Efforia, 2022 QEII winner Geraldina and Tenno Sho (Autumn) winner Equinox will all go to post in a race that will define the result of the Horse of the Year title.

The Arima Kinen is an ‘All Star Race’, meaning the field is largely determined by three separate but cumulative public votes. Over four million total votes were cast, Titleholder received the highest number of nominations recording 368,304 votes.

Fukunaga to transition to training in spring 2023

FORMER champion jockey, Yuichi Fukunaga has shocked racing fans by announcing that he will retire from the saddle in March 2023. On the eve of his 46th birthday, Fukunaga declared that he had passed the strict licensing requirements to enter the JRA training ranks.

To date, Fukunaga has ridden 98 winners in 2022, including Group 1 winners Geoglyph and Café Pharoah. With five days of JRA remaining, Fukunaga looks set to surpass 100 winners in a season for the 13th time.

The Shiga-born native made his debut in the JRA in March 1996 as a 19-year-old. He won on his first mount at Chukyo racecourse and went on to capture the Leading Apprentice Award in that year.

An illustrious 27-year career has thus far returned 2315 winners in the JRA. He has ridden 34-Group 1 winners. While partnering a catalogue of elite JRA performers, Fukunaga’s association with 2020 Triple Crown winner Contrail, will live long in the memory of racing fans.

Fukunaga’s father, Yoichi, was a legendary nine-time champion jockey in Japan. In the late 70s, Fukunaga Senior suffered a horrific racecourse fall with the rider being left in a quadriplegic state.

Liberty Island stuns rivals in two-year-old Group 1

THE JRA racing calendar has just three Group 1 races for juveniles. The Hanshin Juvenile Fillies is the sole G1 restricted to two-year-olds of the finer sex. Historically, the race winner is guaranteed the title of Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.

Liberty Island entered the race as the well-touted favourite. The daughter of Duramente affirmed her connections confidence with a stunning two and a half-length victory. Such was her dominance, fans and racing media are already drawing comparisons to JRA superstars Almond Eye and Gentildonna.

The Futurity Stakes (December 18th) and the Hopeful Stakes (December 28th) are the remaining two-year-old Group 1 races.

American import leads freshman sire race

TWO-year-old racing in the JRA runs from June to December. The condensed 6-month program guarantees the accolade of Leading First Season Sire is hotly contested every year. In 2021, three-time Group 1 winning US sprinter, Drefong (Gio Ponti), dominated the freshman category.

While two Group 1 races for juveniles are still up for grabs, it’s another American import and dirt specialist that looks perfectly positioned to claim the throne of leading young sire.

Mind Your Biscuits (Posse) has sired 27 winners (six turf and 21 dirt) from 73 individual runners. His leading performer is NAR JPN1 dirt winner Derma Sotogate.

Shadai Stallion Station resident, Mind Your Biscuits has had his fee doubled to €27,000 for the upcoming breeding season.

Racing in the JRA is heavily weighted towards turf races. If the first-crop rankings are isolated to turf performers, Real Steel (Deep Impact) heads the class of 2022 with 11 individual turf winners.

Deep Impact remains

in a league of his own

FOR the 11th consecutive year, Deep Impact will be crowned champion sire in Japan. It is his third posthumous leading stallion award.

The stallion market in Japan remains in a state of flux. Just five out of the Top 10 stallions (by earnings) are in active stud duty. With no heir apparent, Japanese breeders have a wide selection of young stallions to speculate on as potential mates for their most valuable bloodstock.

Epiphaneia remains as the most expensive stallion in Japan, commanding a fee of €120,000. Despite being the most prolific source of two-year-old winners in Japan, Epiphaneia has sired just one group winner in 2022.

Kizuna and Lord Kanaloa continue to be a consistent source of winners in the JRA, both stallions will stand for a fee of €83,000 in 2023.

Kitasan Black has enjoyed some notable successes with his first classic-crop this year. Group 1 winner Equinox and group winners Gaia Force and Ravel have forced the seven-time Group 1 winner’s fee to double to €70,000.