Japan: Efforia leads stellar field in Arima Kinen
Efforia’s consistency puts him at the fore of a field of 16 in Sunday’s Grade 1 Arima Kinen at 1 9/16 miles at Nakayama Racecourse. The $5.02 million Arima Kinen consists of a field partially determined by a vote of fans and brings together many of Japan’s leading horses.
The ultra-consistent Efforia has lost once in six starts in Japan, finishing a nose behind Shahryar in the Grade 1 Japanese Derby in May.
Shahryar was later third in the Grade 1 Japan Cup last month. Efforia has been sharper, winning his only subsequent start in the autumn running of the Grade 1 Tenno Sho at Tokyo on Halloween.
Efforia leads the list of contenders along with Chrono Genesis, who won the 2020 Arima Kinen and was seventh in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris on Oct. 3; Deep Bond, who won the Group 2 Prix Foy at Longchamp in September and was 14th in the Arc; and Titleholder, who won the Group 1 Japanese St. Leger on Oct. 24.
Others of note are Akai Ito, a 4-year-old filly who won the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup for fillies and mares at 1 3/8 miles on Nov. 14, and Stella Veloce, who was third in the Japanese Derby but only fourth in the St. Leger.
Efforia and Chrono Genesis were sent to farms after their latest races.
Efforia, trained by Yuichi Shikato, returned to a training center in Japan on Dec. 3 and has worked steadily in recent weeks for the Arima Kinen, which will be the longest race of his career.
“He looks about the same as he did before the Tenno Sho,” Shikato told Japan Racing Association publicists. “He was in excellent shape for the Tenno Sho, and I’d say he’s close that now.
“Since he’s only 3, he’s still in the position of a challenger.”
Chrono Genesis is scheduled to be retired and bred in 2022. A winner of 8 of 16 starts, Chrono Genesis is trained by Takashi Saito and can win her fifth Grade 1 in the Arima Kinen.
Saito warned recently that Chrono Genesis has not had recent workouts to his expectations since she returned to serious training earlier this month.
“She hasn’t been able to move as well as she normally would,” he said. “She is the type that does improve with each workout, though.
“She has always given it her all in the three years since her debut at Kokura as a 2-year-old. She is quite a horse.”
The Arima Kinen has a post time of 1:25 a.m. Eastern on Sunday or 10:25 p.m. Pacific on Saturday.