The return to competition of Equinox, the world’s top-rated horse, highlights the G1 Takarazuka Kinen (2200m) at Hanshin on Sunday afternoon (25 June) when eight Grade 1 winners clash.

The fans’ favourite with a record almost 216,000 votes, the superstar stayer is unanimously seen as the horse to beat.

Japan’s 2022 Horse of the Year who is now rated 129 in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, three-time Group 1 winner Equinox has reigned supreme inside and outside of Japan. The four-year-old son of champion Kitasan Black has missed the winner’s circle only twice in his seven starts and those two misses (the 2022 Satsuki Sho and Japanese Derby) saw him finish in second, by a length and a neck, respectively.

He has won at Tokyo, Nakayama, Niigata and Meydan. He’s on a three-way Group 1 roll, after scooping the Tenno Sho Autumn (2000m), the Arima Kinen (2500m) and, most recently, the Dubai Sheema Classic (2410m). But, he has yet to test his mettle at Hanshin.

He’ll surely be the overwhelming favourite on Sunday, but Justin Palace, Ask Victor More and Geraldina are seen as close contenders. Justin Palace, by Deep Impact, is returning from winning the G1 Tenno Sho Spring, a gruelling race over 3200m at Kyoto. Ask Victor More, of the same age and sire, is well primed and back at a more suitable distance than he’s recently been given. Geraldina returns from the G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m) in Hong Kong and is looking to bag her first race since Japan’s Queen Elizabeth II Cup four starts ago over 2200m at Hanshin.

A handful of others – Deep Bond (fourth place here last year), Boccherini (just won a G3 over the Hanshin 2000m), 2022 G1 Japan Cup (2400m) winner Vela Azul, Breakup (with early speed and stamina) and Danon The Kid (also returning from Hong Kong and a fifth in the FWD QEII Cup) – are also receiving regular mentions.

One mustn’t forget that, though all will likely go off at better odds than Equinox or even many others, given the Takarazuka Kinen’s track record of unpredictability, all are solidly in the running for the 220-million-yen (approx. HK$12.342 million) first prize, or at least a smaller piece of the overall 475-million-yen (approx. HK$26.658 million) pie.

The Takarazuka favourite often does not make it home in the top three, and it’s not unusual to see longshots who do. The race, this year marking its 64th running, is run on the venue’s inner course, known for its short straight and rather tight turns. The pace is often strong from the start and a good outcome often tends to favour horses with stamina, not necessarily those with the fastest turn of foot in the final stage.

Nonetheless, come post time Sunday, all eyes will be fixated on the brightest star — Equinox. Christophe Lemaire, who has ridden all the colt’s seven starts so far, will be up. On 14 June, the Frenchman breezed Equinox over the flat course at Ritto, where the colt was training for the first time.

According to Sports Hochi newspaper, Lemaire said: “He’s an adult now and he has more power and can respond more quickly than he could before. His stamina has improved too.” Lemaire chuckled when asked what the colt’s strong points were. “He has everything. Speed, stamina and the acceleration needed at the Group 1 level. I’d say he’s pretty near perfect.”