Vodka, after her history-making three-year-old season in 2007, continued with a highly successful 2008 campaign befitting JRA`s highest honor. With two G1 titles against top runners of all ages and both genders, the Tanino Gimlet filly attracted 180 of 300 total votes for the Horse of the Year title, and also collected 196 votes for the Older Filly or Mare Award.

Vodka is the first filly/mare to claim the JRA Horse of the Year title in eleven years, and third overall, after Tomei (1971) and Air Groove (1997). Her great performance in the Tenno Sho Autumn (G1) was no doubt the highlight of her outstanding four-year-old season. The race, which featured a lineup of quality G1 runners at their best, was run at a considerable pace that saw the four top finishers all broke the race record by at least 0.8 second and the next five horses cross the wire within 0.5 second of the winner.

But Vodka won the competition for Horse of the Year by a comfortable margin; Daiwa Scarlet (JPN), who was just 2cm behind in the Tenno Sho and the subsequent winner of the Arima Kinen, collected 79 votes, and Deep Sky (JPN), the season`s derby winner who finished third to Vodka in the Tenno Sho but beat the filly to second in the following Japan Cup (G1), took 37 votes.

Vodka concluded her 2008 season with a third-place finish in the Japan Cup, but her connections are already getting her ready for another overseas challenge in Dubai in March during her five-year-old campaign. Six out of 10 awards presented to horses this year were won by vote totals exceeding 200, among which Deep Sky was unanimously voted Best Three-Year-Old Colt and Kane Hekili made a spectacular comeback to reclaim his first Best Dirt Horse title since 2005.

Trainer Yasutoshi Ikee reached the top of the leader board to claim his first JRA trainer`s award for races won, adding to the winning average award he earned in 2006. Hideaki Fujiwara took his second consecutive winning average award and Katsuhiko Sumii won his second title for money earned, the first coming in 2005. Superstar jockey Yutaka Take maintained his position as the leading jockey in races won and winning average, while Yasunari Iwata concluded the season with the largest total for purses.

Makoto Nishitani reached the milestone of 100 wins over obstacles to claim his third consecutive steeplechase jockey title. Jockey Kosei Miura broke Take`s longstanding record of 69 wins in a debut season in March 2008, and then went on to smash the old mark by more than 20 with 91 total victories.

The Equine Culture Award, which recognizes noteworthy achievements and contributions to Japanese equine culture, was presented to "It`s Another Day in the Life of Racing: a travel column for race lovers," a book in which Takeshi Kamewada details his travels to nationwide and overseas racetracks, big and small, as well as the towns and people he experienced along the way.