Japanese heroine Buena Vista has been retired after an unplaced run behind Orfevre in the G1 Arima Kinen at Nakayama on Christmas Day.

In a scene that could surely happen only in Japan, some 60,000 fans braved freezing temperatures and icy winds to farewell the champion mare.  They stood shoulder-to-shoulder down the length of the home straight in a moving ceremony after the last race.

Earlier in the day, Buena Vista was boxed in and unable to produce her trademark finish.  “She went out and came back safely – that’s the most important thing,” trainer Hiroyoshi Matsuda said.  “She has give us some wonderful memories.”

Buena Vista (5m Special Week – Biwa Heidi by Caerleon) had landed her sixth Group 1 win in last month’s Japan Cup.  It made amends for the 2010 Japan Cup which she lost on protest.

Buena Vista won the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in 2008 and completed the 1000 Guineas – Oaks double in 2009.  The Victoria Mile and Tenno Sho (Autumn) followed in 2010 before a controversial decision saw her demoted for interference in the Japan Cup under Christophe Soumillon.

Buena Vista retires to Northern Farm in Hokkaido where she will be covered by King Kamehameha.