Kitasan Black Swan Song in Arima Kinen

In the final start of his career, six-time grade 1 winner Kitasan Black will try to land one of Japan's top prizes: the grade 1 Arima Kinen (Grand Prix), Dec. 24 at Nakayama.

Fans vote for the horses they would like to see start in the race and Kitasan Black was the overwhelming choice for this year's field—the second year in a row he was the top choice. Also set to go the 2,500 meters (about 12 1/2 furlongs) in the field of 16 are the fans' third pick, two-time group 1 winner Satono Crown, as well as this year's Japan Cup (G1T) winner Cheval Grand. 

Kitasan Black, a 5-year-old son of Black Tide, certainly is going in the right direction in terms of the Arima Kinen. He was third in the 2015 renewal and second a year ago, behind only Satono Diamond (JPN), the fans' No. 2 choice, who bypasses this year's running.

A victory also would be a fitting finale for the popular horse, who ran out of gas in the final 100 meters of the Japan Cup in his previous start, finishing third after leading through much of the stretch. After that run, trainer Hisashi Shimizu gave Japan's 2016 Horse of the Year a tough workout on the woodchips at his training center.

"I gave instructions to push him hard and I think that was the most I ever saw (work rider) Yu Kuroiwa push him," Shimizu said. "His responses were good. His overall time was good and he clocked 12.2 seconds over the last lap."

But Shimizu admitted the pressure is building along with the excitement of his horse's final race.

"Kitasan Black won the most fan votes by a landslide and he hasn't won this race yet," the trainer said. "I so very much want him to get good results this time."

Then there's the money. The purse for the Arima Kinen is about US$5.635 million, with US$2.609 going to the winner.

Satono Crown, a 5-year-old by Marju, is a grade/group 1 winner both in Japan and Hong Kong. He got by Highland Reel in the final strides to win the 2016 Longines Hong Kong Vase and landed the Takarzuka Kinen at Hanshin in June. He had a bad day in the Japan Cup, finishing 10th. On Oct. 29, however, he was second behind Kitasan Black in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1T) at Tokyo.

Cheval Grand, a 6-year-old son of Heart's Cry, earned his first grade 1 score in the Japan Cup. Prior to that, he was second to Kitasan Black in the Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1T) at Kyoto. Cheval Grand is owned by Kazuhiro Sasaki, former Seattle Mariners pitcher and 2000 American League Rookie of the Year.