Arima Kinen

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The Arima Kinen (有馬記念) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old and above thoroughbreds run over a distance of 2,500 metres (approximately 1 mile 4½ furlongs) at Nakayama Racecourse (中山競馬場) in late December.

It was first run in 1956 as the Nakayama Grand Prix (中山グランプリ), and was re-named the following year to honour Yoriyasu Arima, who founded the race.

The race is run on turf, and initially the distance was set at 2,600 metres, which was shortened to the present distance in 1966.

The majority of the runners in the field are selected by a vote from racing fans, while the remainder are determined by the amount of prizemoney won.

The Arima Kinen has traditionally been open to Japanese trained horses only, but in 2000 a new condition was introduced by the Japan Racing Association which allows a foreign trained winner of the Japan Cup to participate, although the victory must have been in the same year.

[edit] Winners since 2000

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
2000	T M Opera O	4	Ryuji Wada	Ichizo Iwamoto	Masatsugu Takezono	2:34.1
2001	Manhattan Café	3	Masayoshi Ebina	Futoshi Kojima	Ken Nishikawa	2:33.1
2002	Symboli Kris S	3	Olivier Peslier	Kazuo Fujisawa	Symboli Stud	2:32.6
2003	Symboli Kris S	4	Olivier Peslier	Kazuo Fujisawa	Symboli Stud	2:30.5
2004	Zenno Rob Roy	4	Olivier Peslier	Kazuo Fujisawa	Shinobu Oosako	2:29.5
2005	Heart's Cry	4	Christophe Lemaire	Kojiro Hashiguchi	Shadai Racehorse Co Ltd	2:31.9

[edit] Earlier winners