HH Sheikh Mohammed Racing Excellency Award Winners Revealed

 The winners of the His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Racing Excellence Awards, with Japanese superstar Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) named the Best Horse Award winner, were announced during the Super Saturday card at Meydan Racecourse on Saturday.

The award winners are selected on criteria designated by the Dubai Racing Club (DRC), overseen by the Trustee's Committee. The public selects the People's Choice Award. The full list of winners are as follows:

  • Best Horse: Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn})
  • Best Jockey: Ryan Moore
  • Best Trainer: Aidan O'Brien
  • Best Owner: Silk Racing
  • People's Choice: Hamdan Sultan Al Sabusi
  • Lifetime Achievement: Colonel Ali Khamis Al Jafleh & Sheikh Abdulla Al Qasemi
  • Excellence Award: Saeed bin Suroor

“We are honoured to receive a prestigious award such as this one,” said Masashi Yonemoto, representing Silk Racing. “Equinox's win here in Dubai was very special and we enjoyed watching the horses who finished behind him go on to win several big races around the world.”

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Equinox Repeats As Japanese Horse Of The Year; Palace Malice’s Jantar Mantar Named Top Juvenile Colt

Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), the Longines World's Best Racehorse for 2023, has been named the Japanese Horse of the Year for the second consecutive year, the Japanese Racing Association (JRA) Award Winner Selection Committee announced on Tuesday.

The Silk Racing Company-owned 4-year-old received 293 votes out of a total 295 votes cast by reporters. A flawless four-for-four last term, Equinox equaled his sire's achievement of two Horse of the Year titles in 2016/2017. Beginning his campaign at Meydan in March, the Tetsuya Kimura trainee won the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, and returned to his native land with a thrilling score in the G1 Takarazuka Kinen in late June. Benched until the autumn, Equinox won both the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) in October and the G1 Japan Cup a month later and retired in style.

Another dual award winner is the 2023 Japanese Champion Miler Songline (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), who claimed the Champion Older Female title and the Champion Miler award. A representative of Sunday Racing Company and trainer Toru Hayashi, the 5-year-old won both the G1 Vitoria Mile and the G1 Yasuda Kinen last spring.

Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), who was also in the running for Horse of the Year, won the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown and was second in Equinox's Japan Cup. Already the champion juvenile filly in 2023, the Sunday Racing Company silksbearer was awarded the champion 3-year-old filly title. Her male counterpart, Tastiera (Jpn) (Satono Crown {Jpn}), won both the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) and the G2 Deep Impact Kinen, and was runner up in the other two legs of the Japanese Triple Crown for Carrot Farm Company.

G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. and G2 Daily Hai Nisai S. winner Jantar Mantar (Jpn) (Palace Malice) was named the top juvenile colt, and the award is timely, as it was announced last year that his sire would stand at Darley Japan. The Shadai Race Horse Company colourbearer won all three of his starts in 2023.

Sunday Racing's Ascoli Piceno (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) was best of the juvenile fillies with victories in the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies and G3 Niigata Nisai S. in a similarly undefeated campaign.

Tops for the sprinters was G1 Sprinters S. heroine Mama Cocha (Jpn) (Kurofune) for Kaneko Makoto Holdings, while the dependable Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid) led in the dirt horse category for Godolphin after wins in the G1 February S. and G1 Champions Cup.

The complete list of award winners is as follows:

Horse of the Year/Champion Older Male: Equinox

Champion 2-Year-Old Colt: Jantar Mantar

Champion 2-Year-Old Filly: Ascoli Piceno

Champion 3-Year-Old Colt: Tastiera

Champion 3-Year-Old Filly: Liberty Island

Champion Sprinter: Mama Cocha

Champion Miler/Champion Older Female: Songline

Champion Dirt Horse: Lemon Pop

Champion Steeplechaser: Meiner Grand (Jpn) (Gold Ship {Jpn})

Special Award: Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn})

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Dubai Sheema Classic Win Of Equinox Voted World Pool Moment Of The Year

The dramatic victory of the world's highest rated racehorse Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in March has been voted the World Pool Moment of the Year. It is the second year of the award, which was given to G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and her groom Annabel Willis in 2022.

The groom of near black superstar, Tomohiro Kusunoki, is the recipient of a VIP trip to the 2024 Hong Kong Derby or the 2024 Champions Day along with three guests. Trained by Tetsuya Kimura, Equinox received 47% of the vote to defeat Group 1-winning sprinter Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) and other top-level winners Ozzmosis (Aus) (Zoustar {Aus}) and Quickthorn (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). There were 27 individual World Pool Moment of the Day winners in 2023, with each winning groom receiving £4,000 (approx. HK$38,350), and an independent panel from the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) narrowed that down to the four finalists.

Michael Fitzsimons, executive director, wagering products of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said, “It's a great pleasure to reveal Equinox as our 2023 World Pool Moment of the Year winner and present his groom Tomohiro Kusunoki with the winning prize of a VIP trip for four to Hong Kong next year.

“Extraordinary performances like Equinox's Dubai Sheema Classic win don't happen by chance and World Pool are proud to support the dedication and daily care provided by grooms and stable staff of these great equine athletes. We look forward to welcoming Tomohiro and his guests to Hong Kong next year.”

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Equinox Obliterates Tokyo Course Record In Tenno Sho

There had been hints that reigning Japanese Horse of the Year Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) was not your average champion, most especially with his geared-down tour-de-force in the desert in March, but the Silk Racing Company's colourbearer was in a zip code all his own with his course-record breaking performance in defence of his G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) title at Tokyo on Sunday. He covered the 2000-metre trip over a firm Tokyo course in 1:55.20, 0.9 seconds faster than the previous record.

Carrying a rating of 129 on the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings making him the world's highest-rated racehorse since demolishing a classy international field in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan, the blaze-faced dark bay became only the third horse to win back-to-back Tenno Shos. Notable sire Symboli Kris S. (Jpn) (Kris S.) first accomplished that feat in 2002 and 2003, and he was followed by fellow Silk Racing representative and Japanese Horse of the Year Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in 2019 and 2020.

He defeated the closing Justin Palace (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), a half-brother to GI Belmont winner and Grade I sire Palace Malice (Curlin) and a winner of the 3200-metre G1 Tenno Sho (Spring), by 2 1/2 lengths. It was another quarter-length back to Prognosis (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in third. The latter, a winner of the G2 Sapporo Kinen in the lead up to this contest, was second to Saturday's G1 Cox Plate victor and Hong Kong's leading middle-distance horse Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup in April.

Bet down to 30 cents on the dollar, Equinox jumped well and secured an ideal tracking position in third, as Jack d'Or (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) set out hard on the steel while tracked by Gaia Force (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}). The field was well spread out, with the frontrunner covering the first 800 metres in :46.30, 1000 metres in :57.70, and the 1200-metres in 1:09.10. It was, however, an unsustainable tempo, and Jack d'Or abruptly threw in the towel with a quarter mile to run after covering the 1600 metres in 1:32.10. Gaia Force briefly seized the advantage with a looming Equinox making his run three deep, but the grey had attended too closely to the hot pace and folded 100 metres later. Equinox steamed home with a pair of sub-12 second 200 metre splits, getting his final 400 metres in :23.10 to win as he pleased. Justin Palace made a brave run from well off the pace, but it was too little too late to catch the champ.

“First of all, I am relieved to have been able to show the world, which I know was watching how the race favorite would run, that he is indeed a deserving colt to be named the highest rated colt,” said regular rider Christophe Lemaire. “He's not exactly

what you call a horse with incredible speed but he was able to keep up with today's rapid pace and get into another gear at the end–but I was actually surprised when I realized that we had won in a record.

“He is a versatile horse that can run from any position, stay calm during the race and make use of his speed at the finish. He can also run at longer distances such as when he won the Arima Kinen, so although there was much pressure coming into such a prestigious race as race favorite, I was confident knowing what he is capable of.”

A crowd of 77,870 attended the Tenno Sho, including the Japanese Emperor Naruhito and the Empress Masako.

Never worse than second in his nine lifetime starts, Equinox was unbeaten at two with his season-ending victory in the G2 Hai Nisai S. Second in the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) and G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) in his first two outings at three, he has yet to taste defeat since October of 2022. All five of his victories beginning with last October's Tenno Sho (Autumn) have occurred at Group 1 level. After taking the 2400-metre Arima Kinen (Grand Prix) in December, the Dubai Sheema Classic went his way this March. The Takarazuka Kinen was secured narrowly in June, his final start until Sunday's stirring effort.

Pedigree Notes

The Japanese Champion 3-Year-Old Colt of 2022, Equinox is one of seven stakes winners for his Shadai Stallion Station-based sire. Kitasan Black, who was a dual Japanese Horse of the Year in 2016/2017 with seven career Group 1 wins including the 2017 Tenno Sho (Autumn), also has the G1 Satsuki Sho hero Sol Oriens (Jpn) to his credit and three other group winners.

Equinox, a half-brother to G3 Radio Nikkei Sho winner Weiss Meteor (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}), is the third foal of his dam, the G3 Mermaid S. heroine Chateau Blanche (Jpn) (King Halo {Jpn}), who also raced for Silk Racing. She has a 3-year-old filly by Just A Way (Jpn), a juvenile filly named Garza Blanca (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) and a full-sister to the winner born this year.

Out of the winning Blancherie (Jpn) (Tony Bin {Ire}), his dam is from the extended family of sires G3 Prix de la Jonchere winner Bellypha (Ire) (Lyphard), G1 Premio Ernesto Ayulo Pardo victor Run And Deliver (Danzig), and G2 Prix Eugene Adam hero Bellman (Fr) (Riverman).

Sunday, Tokyo, Japan
TENNO SHO (AUTUMN)-G1, ¥421,420,000, Tokyo, 10-29, 3yo/up, 2000mT, *1:55.20 (NCR), fm.
1–EQUINOX (JPN), 128, c, 4, by Kitasan Black (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Chateau Blanche (Jpn) (GSW-Jpn,
                                $1,096,970), by King Halo (Jpn)
                2nd Dam: Blancherie (Jpn), by Tony Bin (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Maison Blanche (Jpn), by Alleged
O-Silk Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Tetsuya Kimura;
J-Christophe Lemaire. ¥222,394,000. Lifetime Record: HotY-
Jpn, Ch. 3yo Colt-Jpn, G1SW-UAE, 9-7-2-0, $12,558,118. *1/2
to Weiss Meteor (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}), GSW-Jpn,
$820,531. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Justin Palace (Jpn), 128, c, 4, Deep Impact (Jpn)–Palace
Rumor, by Royal Anthem. (¥190,000,000 Ylg '20 JRHAJUL).
O-Masahiro Miki; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥88,684,000.
3–Prognosis (Jpn), 128, h, 5, Deep Impact (Jpn)–Velda (GB), by
Observatory. O-Shadai Race Horse; B-Shadai Farm (Jpn);
¥55,342,000.
Margins: 2HF, 1/4, HD. Odds: 0.30, 34.10, 10.40.
Also Ran: Danon Beluga (Jpn), Gaia Force (Jpn), Admire Hadar (Jpn), Do Deuce (Jpn), Echt (Jpn), Hishi Iguazu (Jpn), North Bridge (Jpn), Jack d'Or (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video.

 

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