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Gentildonna aims to go out on top in Arima Kinen

Two-time Japan Cup winner Gentildonna bids adieu to her fans in Sunday's Arima Kinen at Nakayama (Tomoya Moriuchi/Horsephotos.com) Japanese superstar Gentildonna, fourth when attempting an unprecedented three-peat in the November 30 Japan Cup, aims to bow out in style in Sunday's Grade 1 Arima Kinen at Nakayama. If she can reverse the form with the respective top two from the Japan Cup, Epiphaneia and Just a Way, the five-year-old mare would turn her scheduled retirement ceremony into a victory celebration. One of seven in the 16-strong field sired by the legendary Deep Impact, Gentildonna is on the verge of tying his Japanese record of seven Grade 1 titles. The Sei Ishizaka trainee has swept a memorable sextet – the 2012 Fillies' Triple Crown, the 2012-13 runnings of the Japan Cup as well as the March 29 Dubai Sheema Classic. Winless in her three starts since returning from Meydan, Gentildonna encountered rain-affected tracks either side of her fine second in the Tenno Sho (Autumn). She has drawn post 4 for her swan song, but first try at the tight right-handed Nakayama, with Keita Tosaki in the saddle. Epiphaneia, a son of champions Symboli Kris S and Cesario, lived up to his glittering bloodlines with a four-length romp in the Japan Cup. Although that marked an overdue first win of the season, the Katsuhiko Sumii charge had no shortage of back class from his sophomore campaign. The hero of last year's Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) was also runner-up in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) and Satsuki Sho (Japanese Two Thousand Guineas), the latter right here at Nakayama. Epiphaneia, who proved a handful for Christophe Soumillon in the Japan Cup, will be ridden for the first time by Yuga Kawada. He will be joined in the gate by stablemates Denim and Ruby, 11th in the Japan Cup, and Lachesis, victorious over distaffers in the November 16 Queen Elizabeth II Cup.

Just a Way has been clinging to the top of the World's Best Racehorse Rankings despite his two recent losses, an eighth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and a second in the Japan Cup. A rebound here, in his final career outing, would clinch the honors. The five-year-old veteran established an early grip on the leaderboard thanks to a blowout in the March 29 Dubai Duty Free, breaking the Meydan course record in the process. His photo-finish verdict in the June 8 Yasuda Kinen on desperate ground might have sapped him, however, and he was not seen again until the Arc. The about 1 9/16-mile trip could be a shade far, but Just a Way is very effective over this course, where he ripped home in the March 2 Nakayama Kinen.

Yet Just a Way is arguably not even the leading hope from his own barn, for trainer Naosuke Sugai has a prime threat in Gold Ship. The notoriously temperamental gray captured the 2012 Arima Kinen, the crowning touch of his campaign as champion three-year-old colt, and he was third to Orfevre in his title defense here last December. The only horse in history ever to repeat in the Takarazuka Kinen, Gold Ship figured to make his presence felt in the Arc, only to throw in one of his clunkers and end up 14th. He is reportedly back on his game, however, ahead of this engagement. Gold Ship is an enormously popular runner in Japan. The fans play a role in selecting the bulk of the Arima Kinen field, and they made him the top vote-getter.

One and Only and Fenomeno were just seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Japan Cup, but each could show more here. One and Only, the reigning Japanese Derby winner, was cutting back in trip last time off a ninth in the October 26 Kikuka Sho. Fenomeno, the reigning two-time victor of the Tenno Sho (Spring) over two metric miles, also boasts a score in the 2013 Nikkei Sho at this course and distance. He will be making his third start off a layoff in this spot.

The rapidly improving Last Impact brings a two-race winning streak into the biggest test of his career, taking the October 14 Kyoto Daishoten and the December 6 Kinko Sho in record time at Chukyo. Back in March, he was third to Win Variation in the course-and-distance Nikkei Sho.

Win Variation, best known as a Grade 1 bridesmaid, garnered minor awards behind Orfevre in two-thirds of Japan's Triple Crown in 2011 as well as last year's Arima Kinen. He is a horse for the course, though, with a 4-1-2-0 record at Nakayama.

Trainer Yasutoshi Ikee fields a three-strong team, led by blueblood To the World. By champion King Kamehemeha and out of champion To the Victory, To the World was second to the high-class Isla Bonita in the April 20 Satsuki Sho here and in the September 21 St. Lite Kinen. He was well beaten last time in the Kikuka Sho, but dropping back in distance should help, and he gets a rider switch to William Buick. While To the World rates as a sleeper, his stablemates Ocean Blue and Satono Noblesse appear as bit players.

Tosen Ra, most recently fourth as the defending champion in the November 23 Mile Championship, has plied his trade honorably over longer in the past. Rounding out the field are two also-rans behind Lachesis in the QE II Cup, Verxina and Meisho Mambo. Verxina, two-time heroine of the Victoria Mile, was third to Gold Ship in the June 29 Takarazuka Kinen, but Meisho Mambo has fallen well off her championship form of 2013. Her only good effort this year was a close second to Verxina in the May 18 Victoria Mile.

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