The Grade 1 Arima Kinen was held over 2500m at Nakayama racecourse today, and Deep Impact demolished a field of Japan's best horses to record his 7th Grade 1 win, and end his career on a tremendous high.
In front of a huge crowd, many of whom had lined up for days before the gates opened, champion Japanese jockey Yutaka Take took Deep Impact to the back of the field immediately after the start with only Sweep Tosho and Swift Current behind him in the early and middle stages. Admire Main led the field by a big space until the final 800m when he was gradually overhauled. One of the first to move was third favorite Daiwa Major who had been 2nd throughout most of the race, and fourth favorite Meisho Samson tried to go with him. Second favorite Dream Passport had been sitting behind Pop Rock during the race, but both of these horses had trouble getting into the clear at the top of the straight.
Meanwhile, Take had started his move on Deep Impact, and the champ responded - certainly better than he did in this race last year, and possibly better than he ever had before. After beginning his run as the field began to round the final turn, Deep Impact hit the lead in a flash, and the race was over at the 200m mark. Daiwa Major battled away on the fence, and Pop Rock and Dream Passport challenged him, but Deep Impact was in a race of his own, and Take was able to ease him down after checking how far he was ahead over his shoulder on the big screen inside the racecourse.
The official margin was 3 lengths, with Pop Rock finishing well under Olivier Peslier to get 2nd, 3/4 lengths ahead of Daiwa Major who just held off the unlucky Dream Passport to hold onto 3rd place by a nose.
Deep Impact is owned by Kaneko Makoto Holdings, trained by Yasuo Ikee, and today was his 7th Grade 1 win equaling the record number of Grade 1 wins for a Japanese trained horse. This was the last race for the son of Sunday Silence (out of Alzao mare Wind In Her Hair), and after last year's shock when he was held off in the final straight by Heart's Cry, he can now retire with a victory in Japan's biggest race - the Arima Kinen - on his resume. In total he raced 14 times, for 12 wins, one second and one third placing that resulted in a disqualification. The 180 million yen first prize today takes his career winnings well over 1.5 billion yen (approximately USD 13 million).
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