Horse Racing

Takarazuka Kinen Preview: Bellagio Opera is the Fans' Top Choice

For the 66th Takarazuka Kinen, one of two Grand Prix (All-Star) races on the JRA calendar, the Lord Kanaloa progeny received nearly 230,000 votes.

by
JRA News
June 14, 2025

The Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse on Sunday, June 15, rounds out the JRA Grade 1 action for the first half of 2025.

This year's Takarazuka Kinen will be run a couple of weeks earlier than usual, in order to try and avoid the onset of the very hot weather in Japan during the summer months.

The race is one of the two Grand Prix (All Star) races on the JRA calendar ― the other being the Grade 1 Arima Kinen in December ― where fans get to vote for the horses they want to see run against each other.

Topping the fans' poll this time for the early summer showpiece is Bellagio Opera, with close to 230,000 votes. Regaleira is in second place and Urban Chic is third. All being well, all three of them will appear in Sunday's race. Any horse among the entries within the top 10 in number of votes is eligible to run. Remaining berths are allocated based on prize money earnings.

The Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen was first run in 1960 over 1,800 meters. Now it is contested over a distance of 2,200 meters, a change that was introduced in 1966. It became an international Grade 1 event in 1997.

Top-level races in other jurisdictions throughout the world at this time of year have meant few overseas runners taking on the Takarazuka Kinen. But Werther from Hong Kong ran a great race (en route to a second-place finish) in 2018 to prove it can be done.

The race is for 3-year-olds and up. Younger horses are set to carry 53 kg, while 4-year-olds and up carry 58 kg.

The 2025 Takarazuka Kinen

There were 18 early nominations for Sunday's race, which will have a maximum field of 18. The winner's check is ¥300 million JPY (roughly $2 million USD). In addition, the winner receives an automatic entry to the Breeders' Cup Turf in the United States and the Cox Plate in Australia.

Over the past decade, just two first favorites have won the Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen (Equinox was the last one in 2023). It tends to favor 5-year-olds, who have won seven times in that same period. Record time for the race was set by Titleholder, when he won it in 2 minutes, 9.7 seconds in 2022.

There are two Grade 1 races this year that some of this week's runners have taken on. They are the Osaka Hai in April and the Tenno Sho (Spring) in May. The 66th running of the Takarazuka Kinen will be Race 11 on the Sunday card at Hanshin, with a post time of 3:40 PM.

Here's a look at some of the runners expected to be in the lineup:

Fan Favorite Bellagio Opera in the Spotlight

Bellagio Opera, a 5-year-old offspring of Lord Kanaloa, is the fans' top pick. And with his second consecutive win of the Grade 1 Osaka Hai in his last race, he looks to have a good chance of claiming his third G1 title on Sunday.

"He's been as usual since his return from the farm. But he seems better than the last time he came back before the Osaka Hai, when he needed to have a bit more work," trainer Hiroyuki Uemura said. "He's been training well, and the weather's not too hot yet. So we don't have to worry about that with the race being two weeks earlier this year."

Regaleira Awaits 1st Race of 2025

Jockey Keita Tosaki partnered with 4-year-old filly Regaleira to earn a narrow victory in the 2024 Arima Kinen. He looks set to ride her again, in what will be her first race at the Hanshin track. It will also be Regaleira's first run of 2025.

"Even though she hasn't run since the Arima Kinen, she seems to have filled out and matured in the meantime," assistant trainer Yu Ota commented. "She looks well in her coat and is in good condition."

Ota then said, "She's better mentally too. We just want to improve her balance before this next race."

Urban Chic Teams Up with Lemaire

The 4-year-old colt by Suave Richard has also tasted Grade 1 success, after winning the 2024 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) over 3,000 meters at Kyoto. He also triumphed at a distance of 2,200 meters in the Grade 2 St Lite Kinen at Nakayama in September 2024.

"It was a pity he lost in the Nikkei Sho last time [on March 29], but the going was bad, and I still thought he ran a good race," trainer Ryo Takei said of Urban Chic's third-place finish.

"The jockey (Christophe Lemaire) also put it down to it being the horse's first race in a while. In training, he can be a little difficult when he first comes out onto the track, as he hasn't fully matured yet. But once he gets into a good rhythm, he concentrates better."

Read the rest of this article about the Takarazuka Kinen and the Japanese horses in contention on JRA News.

Author: JRA News