Japan: Efforia surges in final furlong of Arima Kinen
Efforia, Japan’s top 3-year-old this year, may very well be that nation’s Horse of the Year.
On Sunday at Nakayama Racecourse, Efforia won his third Grade 1 race of the year in the $5.02 million Arima Kinen at 1 9/16 miles against older horses.
Sent off favored in a field of 16, Efforia closed from the middle of the field under jockey Takeshi Yokoyama to take the lead with less than a furlong remaining. Efforia won by three-quarters of a length over 20-1 Deep Bond.
Chrono Genesis (2-1) finished third in her final start. A 5-year-old mare, Chrono Genesis won the 2020 Arima Kinen.
Efforia has won 6 of 7 starts, with his only loss a nose defeat to Shahryar in the Grade 1 Japanese Derby in May. Efforia won the autumn running of the Grade 1 Tenno Sho at Tokyo Racecourse on Oct. 31, one of the country’s top races for older horses.
Trained by Yuichi Shikato for Carrot Farm Co. Ltd., Efforia won the Grade 1 Japanese 2000 Guineas in April in his first start of the year at the highest level.
The Arima Kinen was Efforia’s longest race.
“He wasn’t in the same perfect condition today as in the Tenno Sho, in which he was 120 percent, but his potential proved he still could give a remarkable performance even with the added distance,” Yokoyama told Japan Racing Association publicists.
“He was relaxed and well positioned and was able to show his true strength.”
The field for the Arima Kinen is partially determined by a ballot by racing fans. Efforia was the top vote-getter.
Chrono Genesis and Deep Bond were seventh and 14th in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris on Oct. 3. Deep Bond won the Group 2 Prix Foy at Longchamp in September.