Japan: Zenno Rob Roy best

Zenno Rob Roy has been named Japanese Horse of the Year for 2004 by the Japan Racing Association. A son of Sunday Silence, the colt ended his 4-year-old season by becoming the only horse other the than all-time leading money-earner, T.M. Opera O, to land the Autumn Tenno Sho-Japan Cup-Arima Kinen triple.

Trained by Kazuo Fujisawa, who took honors as Japan's leading trainer, Zenno Rob Roy also was named best older horse.

King Kamehameha, a distant second in Horse of the Year voting, was named best 3-year-old colt. Dance in the Mood, second to Ticker Tape in the American Oaks at Hollywood Park, took the 3-year-old filly championship through her victory in the Japanese 1000 Guineas.

Admire Groove was named best older filly or mare, Durandal best sprinter or miler, and Admire Don best dirt horse. Meiner Recolte, a son of Chief Bearhart, is the champion 2-year-old colt, while the Sunday Silence filly Shonan Peintre took juvenile filly honors.

Fujisawa, who also trained Dance in the Mood, won with 20.5 percent of his 292 starters in 2004. The leading jockey was Yutaka Take, who won his 14th national title with a record 219 victories in 966 starts for earnings of $42.2 million.