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The event was first run in 1956, and it was initially titled the Nakayama Grand Prix (中山グランプリ).
Blow The Horn capped his remarkable ascension to the top of Japanese racing with a dominant victory in Sunday's rain-affected Group 1 Takarazuka Kinen at Kyoto.
T O Royal continued his remarkable recovery from a leg injury and put a possible Melbourne Cup tilt on the agenda with a powerful display in the two-mile G1 Tenno Sho Spring at Kyoto on Sunday.
The Arima Kinen (有馬記念) is a Group 1 flat horse race in open to thoroughbreds which are three-years-old or above and the world’s largest betting horserace. It is run over a distance of 2,500 metres (approximately 1 mile and 4+1⁄2 furlongs) at Nakayama Racecourse and it takes place annually in late December. It is one of the two “All-Star” races in Japanese horse racing; the other is the Takarazuka Kinen in late June.
The event was first run in 1956, and it was initially titled the Nakayama Grand Prix (中山グランプリ). The following year it was renamed in memory of Yoriyasu Arima (1884–1957), the founder of the race. The distance was originally set at 2,600 metres, and it was shortened to the present length, 2,500 metres, in 1966.
The majority of the runners (10 out of 16) in the field are selected by a vote from racing fans, which must be a Japan Racing Association horse. If at least one horse in top 10 decided not to participate in the race, the void will be filled with next available horse until 10 available runners are filled. The remainder of 6 (including National Association of Racing (NAR) and foreign-based horses) are determined by the amount of prize money won.
Until 1999 the Arima Kinen was open to Japanese trained horses only. However, the Japan Racing Association introduced a new condition in 2000 which allowed for the participation of a foreign trained horse, if it had won that year’s
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