# Arima Kinen

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. It is run over a distance of 2,500 metres (approximately 1 mile and 4+1⁄2 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.
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

Speed record:
* 2:29.5 – Zenno Rob Roy (2004)
Most wins:
* 2 – Speed Symboli (1969, 1970)
* 2 – Symboli Rudolf (1984, 1985)
* 2 – Oguri Cap (1988, 1990)
* 2 – Grass Wonder (1998, 1999)
* 2 – Symboli Kris S (2002, 2003)
* 2 - Orfevre (2011, 2013)
Most wins by a jockey:
* 4 - Kenichi Ikezoe (2009, 2011, 2013, 2018)
* 4 - Yutaka Take (1990, 2006, 2017, 2023)

## Winners since 1979

| 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 |

## Vote leaders since 1984

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

* 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