win by a neck

競馬の秋のクラシックレース、菊花賞が今月25日に行われ、演歌歌手の北島三郎さんがオーナーのキタサンブラックが優勝を飾りました。また、レース後には北島さんが自身の曲である『まつり』を歌い上げ、会場をさらに盛り上げました。

Kitasan Black brings G-1 victory to enka star

Fifth-favorite Kitasan Black won the Kikka-sho by a neck on Sunday, giving popular enka singer and de facto owner Saburo Kitajima his first Grade-1 race victory in a half-century of owning race horses.

Kitasan Black burst into the lead in the homestretch and held off the charge of Real Steel, the second favorite, to win in 3 minutes 3.9 seconds over 3,000 meters at the Kyoto racecourse. Top pick Lia Fail finished third, a half-length further behind.

Following the win in the final race of the male Classic Races series, the 79-year-old Kitajima celebrated by singing his hit song “Matsuri” (festival) in front of the crowd, fulfilling a pledge he made before the race to perform if his horse won. He said the song was filled with gratitude for everyone who loves horse racing.

“I’ll soon become 80, but this is the most emotional I’ve ever been,” Kitajima said.

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002520685

今回取り上げるのは、“win by a neck”という表現です。LDOCEで“by a neck”を調べてみると、“if a race, especially a horse race, is won by a neck, the winner is only a very short distance in front”と定義されており、特に競馬のレースで用いられていることが分かります。さらに『ジーニアス英和辞典G4 大修館書店』でも確認してみると、「｟略式｠わずかな差で、かろうじて」「｟競馬｠首の差で」といった意味が載っており、今回の記事では「クビ差で菊花賞を制した」となります。ちなみに、「クビ差」は約80cmを表していて、この他にも「ハナ差（約20cm）」「アタマ差（約40cm）」などの単位があるようです。(ninetails)