Titleholder is a 5-year-old male horse belonging to the Kurita stable, who has won three G1 (highest grade horse races) to date. His powerful races have earned him high praise from horse racing fans.

At the end of this year, Titleholder faced his last race, the 68th Arima Kinen, heading towards retirement. This race was held on the grass course of 2500 meters at the Nakayama Racecourse, where 16 horses competed fiercely on good going.

As a result, Titleholder bravely took the lead right from the start, establishing a runaway lead. With the reins handled by jockey Kazuo Yokoyama, the strategy of pulling away from the other horses with a powerful front-running strategy paid off, resulting in a third-place finish. This was the moment when he became the subject of betting tickets again, following his victory at the Takarazuka Kinen last year.

In the training before the race, Titleholder marked a good time of 66.3 seconds for 4F and 15.1 seconds on the slope at Miho. He showed a run that was faster than it looked. In relation to this, Assistant Miho evaluated, saying, It’s good. I’m satisfied with the finish, and whetted high expectations for the upcoming race.

And that strong showing in the Arima Kinen lived up to those expectations. Titleholder decorated his retirement race with a powerful run and brought a great deal of emotion to the horse racing world.