Maurice Named Japan's Horse of the Year

Kazumi Yoshida's Maurice has been named the Japan Racing Association's 2015 Horse of the Year and best sprinter or miler.

 

The son of Screen Hero, trained by Noriyuki Hori, was perfect in all six of his 2015 starts, including three in group I events: the Yasuda Kinen (Jpn-I) at Tokyo in June, the Mile Championship (Jpn-I) at Kyoto in November, and the Hong Kong Mile (HK-I) at Sha Tin in December.

 

Bred by Togawa Bokujo, Maurice dominated the voting for the Horse of the Year award with 215 votes out of 291. Lovely Day and Duramente received 55 and 19, respectively.

 

The Horse of the Year title is the highest honor given to JRA-registered horses and is selected by the Horse of the Year selection committee, represented by journalists of various publications.

 

The JRA Awards ceremony will be held Jan. 25.

 

Other JRA award winners (sire): 

 

Best 2-year-old colt: Leontes (King Kamehameha)

 

Best 2-year-old filly: Major Emblem (Daiwa Major)

 

Best 3-year-old colt: Duramente (King Kamehameha)

 

Best 3-yaer-old filly: Mikki Queen (Deep Impact)

 

Best older colt or horse: Lovely Day (King Kamehameha)

 

Best older filly or mare: Shonan Pandora (Deep Impact)

 

Best dirt horse: Copano Rickey (Gold Allure)

 

Best steeplechase horse: Up to Date (Kurofune)

 

In awards for people: 

 

*Best Trainer (races won): Noriyuki Hori (56 wins)

 

*Best Trainer (winning average): Noriyuki Hori (23.4%)

 

*Best Trainer (money earned): Yasutoshi Ikee (¥1,931,479,600)

 

*Best Trainer (training technique): Mikio Matsunaga

 

JRA Best Jockey (races won): Keita Tosaki (130 wins)

 

JRA Best Jockey (winning average): Christophe Lemaire (0.195%)

 

JRA Best Jockey (money earned): Mirco Demuro (¥283,146,000)

 

**MVJ-Most Valuable Jockey (newly established category): Keita Tosaki (54 points)

 

Best Steeplechase Jockey: Yusuke Igarashi (11 wins)

 

Best Jockey (newcomer): Katsuma Sameshima (39 wins)

 

*Trainers' figures include National Association of Racing (NAR; racing by local governments) and overseas race results.

 

**The MVJ is determined by points allotted a jockey for his or her ranking in four different categories for designated JRA, NAR and overseas races. The four categories are "number of wins," "win average," "earnings," and "number of rides for the year." The MVJ award is bestowed upon the jockey with the highest total points.