Almond Eye Set for Arima Kinen After Hong Kong No-Show

With Almond Eye, Japan's star racing attraction, added to the Arima Kinen (G1) field after a no-show in Hong Kong, Japanese racing will end a banner year with a bang in the Dec. 22 event at Nakayama Racecourse.

It could be "the race of the decade," according to Almond Eye's regular rider, Christophe Lemaire.

The Arima Kinen, or Grand Prix, is the final grade 1 event of the season for older horses and normally is important for sorting out year-end honors. It is one of two races for which fans vote on the field with the top 10 vote-getters having first call on spots in the starting gate.

The 2018 winner, Blast Onepiece, was only 19th in the fan voting, well behind favorite Rey de Oro. Blast Onepiece then went on to defy odds of nearly 9-1 to defeat the fan favorite by a neck with Cheval Grand, winner of the 2017 Japan Cup (G1), finishing third.

This year's Arimia Kinen already expected a deep and talented field with many of the participants in the hotly contested Nov. 24 Japan Cup, including Rey de Oro, Cheval Grand, Wagnerian, and the winner, Suave Richard, all among the possibilities.

Almond Eye, though, is the biggest attraction of all.

The 4-year-old daughter of Lord Kanaloa, who races in the powder blue-and-red colors of Silk Racing, did not participate in the 2018 Arima Kinen after sweeping the Japanese Fillies Triple Crown and winning the Japan Cup against older males. She nonetheless was named Japan's 2018 Horse of the Year, then went on to win the Dubai Turf Sponsored by DP World (G1) on World Cup night in Dubai March 30.

Trainer Sakae Kunieda said Almond Eye needed extended rest and recuperation from that trip, ruling out a campaign that would have culminated in a showdown with Enable in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1). Instead, the filly was pointed toward the Dec. 8 Longines Hong Kong Cup (G1) at Sha Tin, only to be withdrawn when she spiked a fever shortly before her scheduled travel.

After reassessing Almond Eye's condition, Kunieda said, "I would be able to run (her) in the Arima."

"We missed her in Hong Kong but she's set for the Arima Kinen," jockey Christophe Lemaire said in a video posted by World Horse Racing while traveling to the Miho Training Center early Dec. 10 to work Almond Eye. "It could be the race of the decade with a lot of group 1 winners. Hopefully, Almond Eye will show her class again."

Lemaire also mentioned Lys Gracieux, Saturnalia, and Kiseki as potential runners.

No matter the final shape of the race, it will be a fitting end to a season that saw Japanese horses winning at the top level from Dubai to England, Australia, and Hong Kong. Even without Almond Eye, three of the four group 1 events in the Longines Hong Kong International Races went to Japanese runners.