Orfevre, Buena Vista set for big showdown

Triple Crown champion Orfevre looks set to be the morning line favorite ahead of retiring superhorse Buena Vista for the 56th Arima Kinen on Sunday in what is shaping up to be a historic clash of the titans.

The 3-year-old Orfevre, who became just the seventh Triple Crown winner in Japanese racing history with victory in the Kikka-sho in October, was the early pick of the punters through Saturday's betting for the ?416 million Arima Kinen.

The Arima Kinen, which draws the curtain on the racing season, rivals only Britain's Grand National as the race with the highest turnover in the world. Last season, the 2,500-meter contest at Nakayama Racecourse raked in ?38.8 billion.

The first 10 horses of the field are chosen by fans.

Buena Vista, the top vote-getter who will retire after Sunday's race, is coming off victory in the Japan Cup on Nov. 27, the 5-year-old mare's sixth Grade 1 title.

She also has career earnings of close to ?1.4 billion, the most ever by a female horse in Japan.

A win in the Arima Kinen will give her No. 7, which would match the all-time high jointly held by Deep Impact, T M Opera O, Symboli Rudolf and Vodka — all Hall of Fame thoroughbreds.

Buena Vista has finished second in the Arima Kinen the last two years.

"She's got her confidence back after winning the Japan Cup," Buena Vista's jockey Yasunari Iwata said. "All I need to do is ride with belief in myself."

Orfevre has rattled off five straight graded wins and according to both trainer Yasutoshi Ikee and jockey Kenichi Ikezoe, is in even better form than he was when the colt crushed the competition in the 3,000-meter Kikka-sho.

The Arima Kinen will be Orfevre's first test against the older horses. In the 2005 race when Deep Impact ran as the unbeaten Triple Crown champion, he came up short, finishing runnerup to Heart's Cry.

"His time in the workout was fast, and he had good movement," Ikee said. "I'm more than satisfied with what I've seen."

The stellar field of 13 — after 3-year-old Pelusa was scratched early Saturday — also features the race's defending champion and Dubai World Cup holder Victoire Pisa, this year's two Tenno-sho winners Hiruno d'Amour (spring) and Tosen Jordan (autumn) as well as Takarazuka Kinen champion Earnestly.

Victoire Pisa fizzled to 13th in the Japan Cup — his first start since winning the Dubai World Cup back in March — but should vastly improve in performance and result this time.

"He's in much better shape without question," trainer Katsuhiko Summi said. "He's sharper and he's starting to show the competitive fire."

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