Daiwa Major

Daiwa Major (Japanese: ダイワメジャー) is a retired Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. A horse who excelled at distances of one mile to one and a quarter miles (1600–2000 metres) he won the Satsuki Shō, the first leg of the Japanese Triple Crown in 2004. His greatest success, however, came later in his career when he won several of Japan's most important weight-for-age races including the Tennō Shō, the Yasuda Kinen and two runnings of the Mile Championship. He was twice named Japan's champion miler. Daiwa Major made a successful start to his stud career, siring a Group One winner in his first crop.

Daiwa Major
Daiwa Major at Tokyo Racecourse in 2005
Sire	Sunday Silence
Grandsire	Halo
Dam	Scarlet Bouquet
Damsire	Northern Taste
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	2001
Country	Japan
Colour	Chestnut
Breeder	Shadai Farm
Owner	Keizo Oshiro
Trainer	Hiroyuki Uehara
Record	28: 9-4-5
Earnings	¥1,061,810,900
Major wins
Satsuki Shō (2004) Lord Derby Challenge Trophy (2005) Yomiuri Milers Cup (2006) Mainichi Ōkan (2006) Tennō Shō (Autumn 2006) Mile Championship (2006, 2007) Yasuda Kinen (2007)
Awards
JRA Award for Best Sprinter or Miler (2006, 2007)

Background

Daiwa Major is a chestnut horse with a white blaze bred by the Shadai Farm in Hokkaido. He is an unusually large Thoroughbred, standing 16 hands 2½ inches high[1] and weighing more than 530 kilograms during his racing career.[2] He was sired by Sunday Silence, who won the 1989 Kentucky Derby, before retiring to stud in Japan where he was champion sire on thirteen consecutive occasions. His dam, Scarlet Bouquet, was a successful racemare, winning four times at Group Three level,[3] who produced several other winners, most notably the filly Daiwa Scarlet. As a descendant of the American broodmare Your Hostess, she came from the same branch of Thoroughbred family 4-d which produced Majestic Prince, Secreto and Real Quiet.[4] The horse was trained throughout his racing career by Hiroyuki Uehara.

Racing career

2003: two-year-old season

The racing career of Daiwa Major began on 27 December at Nakayama Racecourse where he contested a one-mile event for previously unraced horses. He finished second of the twelve runners, two lengths behind the winner.

2004: three-year-old season

Daiwa Major recorded his first success by winning a nine furlong maiden race at Nakayama and then finished fourth in a race over the same course and distance a month later. Despite his modest form he was moved up in class for the Group Two Spring Stakes and exceeded expectations by finishing third to Black Tide at odds of 72/1. In April, Daiwa Major was one of eighteen runners for the ten furlong Satsuki Shō, the first leg of the Japanese Triple Crown. Ridden by the first time by the Italian jockey Mirco Demuro he started a 31/1 outsider and won the Group One event by one and a quarter lengths from the favourite Cosmo Bulk.[5] Daiwa Major failed to reproduce his best form in his remaining races that season. On 30 May he was moved up in distance for the Tokyo Yūshun (Japanese Derby) over one and a half miles at Tokyo Racecourse and, on his first start away from Nakayama, finished sixth behind King Kamehameha. In the autumn he was tried in all-aged competition and was unplaced in the All-Comers Stakes at Nakayama before finishing last of the seventeen runners behind Zenno Rob Roy in the autumn running of the Tennō Shō.[6] At the end of the year, the colt underwent surgery to correct a respiratory problem.

2005: four-year-old season

Daiwa Major's only success in five starts as a four-year-old came on his debut when he won the Group Three Lord Derby Challenge Trophy at Nakayama in April.[7] He then ran unplaced in the Yasuda Kinen in June and was beaten in a Group Three race at Niigata Racecourse in July. Returning in autumn, he ran unplaced in the Group Two Mainichi Okan but then displayed much improved form when he finished second by a nose to Hat Trick in the Group One Mile Championship at Kyoto Racecourse in November.[8]

2006: five-year-old season

2006 autumn Tennō Shō: Daiwa Major beats Swift Current

Daiwa Major began his most successful season by finishing second to Balance of Game in the Nakayama Kinen in February. In April he recorded his most important victory for two years when he defeated the mare Dance in the Mood by three quarters of a length in the Milers' Cup at Hanshin Racecourse: in this race he was ridden for the first time by Katsumi Andō, who became his regular jockey.[9] In June he finished fourth behind the Hong Kong champion Bullish Luck in the Yasuda Kinen and was then fourth again behind Deep Impact in the eleven furlong Takarazuka Kinen.

In October, Daiwa Major returned to win the Group Two Mainichi Okan and was then sent to Tokyo for the autumn edition of the Tennō Shō. He started at odds of 6/1 in a field which included Admire Moon, Dance in the Mood, Cosmo Bulk, Hat Trick, Sweep Tosho and Company. He raced in second place before taking the lead in the straight and winning by half a length from Swift Current with Admire Moon in third.[10] On 19 November Daiwa Major started 13/10 favourite for the Group One Mile Championship at Kyoto Racecourse. Andō repeated his tactics from the Tennō Shō by positioning the horse in second place before going to the front in the straight and Daiwa Major held the late challenge of Dance in the Mood to win by a neck.[11] In December, Daiwa Major was one of fourteen runners invited to contest the Arima Kinen over twelve and a half furlongs at Nakayama. Racing well beyond his favoured distance, he finished third behind Deep Impact and Pop Rock

At the end of the season, Daiwa Major won the JRA Award for Best Sprinter or Miler gaining 200 of the 289 available votes. He also received one vote in the polls for Japanese Horse of the Year and JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse, which was enough to place him second behind Deep Impact in both categories.[12] In the 2006 World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings, he was ranked the 20th best racehorse in the world.[13]

2007: six-year-old season

In March 2007, Daiwa Major was sent to the United Arab Emirates to represent Japan in the nine furlong Dubai Duty Free at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse. He finished third of the sixteen runners behind Admire Moon and the South African challenger Linngari. The unplaced horses included English Channel, Miesque's Approval and Lava Man. On his return to Japan, Daiwa Major won the Yasuda Kinen at the third attempt, beating Kongo Rikishio by a neck, with the Hong Kong champion Good Ba Ba unplaced.[14] Andō praised the horses performance, pointing out that he had been unsuited by the moderate pace, whilst Uehara expressed his relief that the horse had shown no ill effects from his trip to Dubai.[15] Three weeks later the horse was moved up in distance for the Takarazuka Kinen and finished unplaced behind Admire Moon.

Daiwa Major's autumn campaign began disappointingly in October when he was beaten as the odds-on favourite for the Mainichi Okan and then finished unplaced behind Meisho Samson in the Tennō Shō. In November he returned to form to take the Mile Championship for the second successive time, as he "dug in gamely"[16] to win by a neck from the four-year-old Super Hornet.[17] Daiwa Major ended his racing career in December when he again moved up in distance to contest his second Arima Kinen. He finished third behind Matsurida Gogh, with second place being taken by his sister Daiwa Scarlet. The unplaced runners included Meisho Samson, Vodka, Pop Rock and Delta Blues.

At the end of the season, Daiwa Major won his second JRA Award for Best Sprinter or Miler gaining 234 of the 289 available votes. He also finished third in the poll for the Best Older Male Horse.[18] In the 2007 World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings Daiwa Major was ranked the 29th best racehorse in the world.[19]

Stud record

Daiwa Major retired to become a breeding stallion at the Shadai Stallion Station. In his first season at stud he sired the NHK Mile Cup winner Curren Black Hill.[20]

Major winners

c = colt, f = filly

Foaled	Name	Sex	Major Wins
2009	Curren Black Hill	c	NHK Mile Cup
2010	Copano Richard	c	Takamatsunomiya Kinen
2013	Major Emblem	f	Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, NHK Mile Cup
2014	Reine Minoru	f	Oka Sho
2016	Admire Mars	c	Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, NHK Mile Cup, Hong Kong Mile
2017	Resistencia	f	Hanshin Juvenile Fillies

Pedigree

Pedigree of Daiwa Major (JPN), chestnut horse 2001[21]

Sire Sunday Silence (USA) 1986	Halo (USA) 1969	Hail to Reason	Turn-To
			Nothirdchance
		Cosmah	Cosmic Bomb
			Almahmoud
	Wishing Well (USA) 1975	Understanding	Promised Land
			Pretty Ways
		Mountain Flower	Montparnasse
			Edel Weiss
Dam Scarlet Bouquet (JPN) 1988	Northern Taste (CAN) 1971	Northern Dancer	Nearctic
			Natalma
		Lady Victoria	Victoria Park
			Lady Angela
	Scarlet Ink (USA) 1971	Crimson Satan	Spy Song
			Papila
		Consentida	Beau Max
			La Menina (Family 4-d)[4]

References

1. "Daiwa Major｜Stallions in Japan 2012". Jrha.or.jp. Archived from the original on 2013-06-20. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
2. "Spring Stakes". JBIS. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
3. "Daiwa Major｜Race Record and Family｜Stallions in Japan 2012". Jrha.or.jp. Archived from the original on 2013-07-06. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
4. "Thoroughbred Bloodlines – Manganese – Family 4-d". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
5. "Satsuki Sho". JBIS. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
6. "Tenno Sho (autumn 2004)". Racing Post. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
7. "Lord Derby Challenge Trophy". JBIS. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
8. "Mile Championship 2005". Racing Post. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
9. "Milers' Cup 2006". Racing Post. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
10. "Tenno Shaw (autumn 2006)". Racing Post. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
11. "Mile Championship 2006". Racing Post. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
12. "JRA Awards for 2006" (PDF). JRA. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
13. http://www.horseracingintfed.com/resources/2006Rankings/2006_WorldRankings.asp
14. "Yasuda Kinen 2007". Racing Post. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
15. "Daiwa Major Captures Yasuda Kinen, Asian Mile Series". BloodHorse. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
16. Shinar, Jack. "'Major Repeats in Mile Championship". BloodHorse. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
17. "Mile Championship 2007". Racing Post. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
18. "2007 JRA Awards". Japanracing.jp. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
19. http://www.horseracingintfed.com/resources/2007Rankings/2007_WorldRankings.asp
20. "Daiwa Major Stud Record". Racing Post. 2012-02-15. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
21. "Daiwa Major". Equineline. 2012-05-08. Retrieved 2012-12-27.