Japan: Equinox notches fourth consecutive win with Takarazuka Kinen
No matter which side of Asia he races, Equinox has been brilliant in 2023.
Equinox, the 2022 Japanese Horse of the Year, won his first start of the year in the Group 1 Sheema Classic in Dubai in March. On Sunday, Equinox won his fourth consecutive race at the highest level in the Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan.
With the win, Equinox earned fees-paid berths to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 4, as well as the Group 1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Australia on Oct. 28, that country’s leading weight-for-age race.
A 4-year-old colt, Equinox ($2.30) won for the sixth time in his eighth career start in the $2.94 million Takarazuka Kinen. Ridden by Christophe Lemaire, Equinox steadily closed from 16th in a field of 17 to take the lead in the final furlong, winning by a neck over the outsider Through Seven Seas.
“Though we were unable to get a good position toward the front due to the fast pace at the beginning, the horse was relaxed in the rear and I wasn’t worried at all,” Lemaire told Japan Racing Association publicity.
“We made (a) bid from the outside early and turned wide into the straight, where he stretched really well,” Lemaire said. “I realized again how strong he is.”
Equinox, who is trained by Tetsuya Kimura for Silk Racing Co., Ltd., ended his 2022 campaign with wins in the autumn running of the Grade 1 Tenno Sho at 1 1/4 miles at Tokyo in October and the Grade 1 Arima Kinen at 1 9/16 miles at Nakayama Racecourse on Christmas Day.
The 5-year-old mare Through Seven Seas finished in the top three in a Grade 1 for the first time in the Takarazuka Kinen. She was ninth in the Grade 1 Japanese Oaks in 2021.
Justin Palace and Geraldina finished third and fourth in the Takarazuka Kinen.
Justin Palace won the Grade 1 spring running of the Tenno Sho at two miles at Kyoto on April 30.
Geraldina won the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at 1 3/8 miles at Hanshin last November and was third in the Arima Kinen.
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