Popular Japanese race horse Vodka will her horse racing career in the Dubai World Cup, in March 2010, as informed this week by her trainer Katsuhiko Sumii. The record-tying seven time Grade One winner will retire after successful years in the horse racing world and being the most popular race horse in Japan.

The five year old mare will go to a stud farm in Ireland in April, as reported by her connections. Vodka suffered a nosebleed at the Japan Cup on November 29, when she became the first mare to win this competition. As a consequence of the nosebleed, she was suspended from racing for a month and will end the season ending Arima Kinen on December 27.

The mare was voted by fans as the most popular in the field, but they’ll have to end until March to see her run again and for the last time. “Dubai will be her last run. She has been recovering well after the Japan Cup. We want to put her out to pasture and prepare for the next spring,” trainer Katsuhiko Sumii told the press.

He also commented that Vodka is in fine condition. “There is no more worry about nose bleeding which is not something unusual among race horses, “Katsuhiko Sumii added. Vodka’s next competition, the Dubai World Cup, is the richest horse race in the world with total prize money of 10 million dollars. This will be the third time the mare goes to Dubai, having finished in the fourth and seventh places in the Dubai Duty Free in 2008 and in 2009.

During her career, Vodka has won 10 out of 21 races at home and won the heart of all horse racing fans in her country when she became the first mare in 64 years to win the Japanese Derby in 2007. She has tied with T.M. Opera O, Symboli Rudolf and Deep Impact for the most Grade One victories in Japan.

Fans will have a last chance to see her in action at Dubai, although Vodka will always be remembered by horse racing enthusiasts from all over the world as one of the most remarkable Japanese racing mare. She has won more than 8 million dollars during her entire career.