Euphoria for Efforia fans as favourite plunders the word's biggest betting event

Efforia justified his number-one vote in the Grade 1 Arima Kinen at Nakayama on Sunday, prevailing by three-quarters of a length over Deep Bond to bag the colossal first prize of more than £2 million.

The Arima Kinen was designed to be a season-end grand prix, in which runners are selected by fan poll. Due to Covid-19 - the crowd at Nakayama was recorded at just 6,140 - fans could cast their votes only online to select the ten most popular runners, as voting at JRA racecourses and off-track betting sites was cancelled.

It is wildly popular event with fans and punters, and is the world's biggest betting race, dwarfing the Grand National. Even with the hit on betting sites and crowd, turnover came to 49,097,246,400 yen (£320m/€378m), up 2,670,000,000 yen on 2020.

Among the horses entered in the race, the ten runners with the most votes are entitled to run, while the rest of the field is determined in order of earnings.

Sixteen went to post on Sunday, headed by Efforia, who topped the poll. The colt had previously won both the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2,000 Guineas) and Tenno Sho (Autumn) this year.

He registered his third top-flight win here under Takeshi Yokoyama, for trainer Yuichi Shikato and owners Carrot Farm Co.

Takeshi’s father is active jockey Norihiro Yokoyama, who also won the Arima Kinen in 1996, and they become the second father and son to win the title following Kunihiko and Yutaka Take.

Defeated only once in seven career starts, Efforia now tops the list of the most money earned in the 2021 season. As a three-year-old, his earnings of 719,347,000 yen (£4.67m/€5.54m) rank him second behind Orfevre’s record (805,524,000 yen) in 2011.

The field broke evenly, with Panthalassa gunning for the lead followed by Win Kiitos and Titleholder, while Efforia was relaxed on the heels of biggest rival, Chrono Genesis, in midfield. As the pacesetter’s five-length lead began to fizzle out rounding the final turns, Efforia slowly made headway from the outside, taking over the lead after the furlong marker and shaking off a stubborn Deep Bond, who did much better here than when finishing last of 14 in the Arc in October.

Chrono Genesis, who was to have a retirement ceremony later, was an honourable third.

Winning rider Yokoyama said: “Efforia wasn’t in the same perfect condition today as in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), in which he was 120 per cent, but he was still able to give a remarkable performance even with the added distance — 2,500 metres (extended mile and four furlongs) was the longest he’s ever run.

"Unlike in the Derby, he was relaxed and positioned well and was able to show his true strength."

Deep Bond had won the Prix Foy before failing to cut any ice in the Arc, and his rider Ryuji Wada said: "The pace was good for us. I drove him to be on the inside, but the winner was so strong. After going abroad it was good he had this performance in him, and I expect more success in the next year."

Chrono Genesis's rider Christophe Lemaire said: "She was good in the race. At the back straight I marked out Efforia and her response was so good. She ran well for home after Efforia and did her best but the winner and runner-up were strong."

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