The JRA has announced its 2022 JRA Award winners, with Horse of the Year being Equinox, who won two Group 1s for the older horses in the autumn, the Tenno Sho Autumn and Arima Kinen.
Equinox received 282 of the 288 votes – the other six were for Titleholder.A colt by Kitasan Black out of King Halo’s Graded stakes-winning mare Chateau Blanche, Equinox also showed his ability in the Japanese Classics last spring, when the runner-up in both the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2,000 Guineas) and the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) under Christophe Lemaire, who has ridden him in all his races.

Horse of the Year: Equinox (Trainer Tetsuya Kimura)

Best two-year-old colt: Dolce More (Naosuke Sugai)

Best two-year-old filly: Liberty Island (Mitsumasa Nakauchida)

Best three-year-old colt: Equinox (Tetsuya Kimura)

Best three-year-old filly: Stars On Earth (Mizuki Takayanagi)

Best older colt or horse: Titleholder (Toru Kurita)

Best older filly or mare: Geraldina (Takashi Saito)

Best sprinter or miler: Serifos (Mitsumasa Nakauchida)

Best dirt horse: Cafe Pharoah (Noriyuki Hori)

Best steeplechase horse: Oju Chosan (Shoichiro Wada)