IRL:Fuji Kiseki

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Fuji Kiseki
フジキセキ
Main
Silks
Romaji	fuji kiseki
Foaled	April 15, 1992
Died	December 28, 2015
Sire	Sunday Silence
Dam	Millracer
Sex	Stallion
Color	Dark Bay
Trainer	Sakae Watanabe
Race Record	4: 4-0-0
Earnings	129,650,000 JPY
Major wins
Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes (1994) Yayoi Sho (1995)

What If

What If

It may be said that many such what-ifs can be applied to Fuji Kiseki, but the final kick everyone saw on that Nakayama straight was no illusion, it was real.
Rather, the illusion that no one could see was the true form, ability, and run Fuji Kiseki would show at his full power.
His true potential will forever be shrouded in mystery.
—umafuri.com

Fuji Kiseki was a Japanese racehorse that was active from 1994 to 1995. He is the first G1 winning progeny of breed changing import sire Sunday Silence, before his racing career came to an abrupt end at 3 years old.

Name Origin

His name is a reference to Mount Fuji, and the word "kiseki" (meaning miracle, gemstone, trajectory). Owner Saito Yomoji said the reason for the name was so the horse "would create a miracle and leave a glorious trajectory".

Racing career

Two-year old season (1994)

In the 1994 summer "Sunday Silence Storm", where Sunday Silence progeny began to dominate newcomer races, Fuji Kiseki made his debut in on 20th August in a 1200m maiden race on Niigata Racecourse. Even though he late started, he was able to sweep past every other horse on the straight, marking his first victory by 8 lengths. To not wear him out, he only raced once in the summer. His second race would come on the 8th of October with the Momiji Stakes (OP), where his jockey was swapped to Koichi Tsunoda. Tsunoda did not give any command, but Fuji Kiseki still easily won the race in record time over Tayasu Tsuyoshi, who would become the next derby winner.

Then came the Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes, the race to decide the king of the two-year-old horses, and Fuji Kiseki was by far the 1st favorite. In the race, he ran close to the front on the inner rail, and pushed past them after entering the final straight. Closing Ski Captain made it within a head but Fuji Kiseki was able to stay in front and win his first G1 title. Despite the close finish, jockey Tsunoda, who never used the whip in the race, said "he just feels like his engine is different. It's amazing when he accelerates, and it was an easy win. He's still three, and I look forward to what he will grow into".

Three-year old season (1995)

After the Asahi Hai, Fuji Kiseki's team would continue his training through the winter. At the time, the 800 meter slope had an average finishing time of around 53 seconds, while Fuji Kiseki was able to put out 51 second times. Staff commented "if he ran seriously he would get an even better time". Fuji Kiseki also had a great appetite, so he was gaining weight even in training.

After he turned three-year-old, Fuji Kiseki contested the Yayoi Sho (G2), a trial race for the Satsuki Sho. With a +16kg weighting from the Asahi Hai, he was still able to clock the best time in the slope course, and was overwhelmingly the favorite. On wet, yielding ground that disadvantages fast turn-of-foot, Fuji Kiseki raced following the frontrunner in a 62.5s 1000m time slow pace, and passed him early on the third corner. He was at first unable to widen the gap to the pack, and was almost passed by Hokkai Rousseau, but at the 100m mark, he was able to burst ahead again and make a 2 and 1/2 margin at the finish line. He was called a "two-stage rocket" from being side to side with another horse at the 100m mark to pulling away 2.5 lengths at the finish line.

Retirement

On the 24th March 1995, he was diagnosed with tendonitis on his left foreleg, and returning to racing would take at least one year. The team therefore decided to retire him and enter him as a breeding stallion. Jockey Tsunoda commented "I'm not sure about Kikuka Sho, but I think he would be fine at the Satsuki Sho and Derby". Racing and pedigree analyst Joji Yoshizawa said the following about Fuji Kiseki's Yayoi Sho, "He was on a different level. The explosiveness of Sunday Silence progeny. When I look back, Fuji Kiseki was where I first saw it. The mare line came from Mill Reef, a famous traditional European line, and his broodmare sire was a great stayer. From this pedigree I knew he would win the Satsuki Sho, and also thought about the possibility of another consecutive triple crown coming after Narita Brian. That's how much of an impact Fuji Kiseki's Yayoi Sho left on me."

Breeding Career

He served at Shadai Stallion Station, and he was popular in his first year as an alternative to his father, Sunday Silence. However, his first generation of offspring did not bring good results, and despite his 2nd generation having Daitaku Riva who was active in graded races and other progeny placing in G1s, there were many injuries pre-debut from his promising children, so he was not able to produce as good results as similar stallions. In his fourth year as stud, he served as the first shuttle stallion from Japan, being sent to the Southern Hemisphere in Australia to maximize the breeding season. As the local breeders considered his offspring more geared towards long distance, his Australian progeny would flow to the likes of South Africa.

He sired Kane Hekili, who would be the first of his progeny to win a G1, in the 2005 Japan Cup Dirt, and then went on to sire many G1 placers and winners from then on. Isla Bonita would finally be the first from Fuji Kiseki to win a classics race with the Satsuki Sho in 2014. Shadai Stallion Station manager Eisuke Tokutake would comment on the upturn of his progeny performance, stating that breeders are starting to understand the characteristics of Fuji Kiseki's pedigree, and the training facility improvements leading to less injuries in his children. He would be the have the highest win count from a Japanese-bred sire with 1136 in 2011, and also the most graded wins by a Japanese-bred sire at 55 in 2012.

He did not breed after 2011, as they reported bad health from him, and he was officially retired as a stud in 2013.

He passed away on 28th of December, 2015 at age 23 from a Cervical cord injury.

Honors

• JRA Award for Best Two-year-old Colt (1994)

Relationships

Relatives

• Sunday Silence - Father
• Blast Onepiece - Great Grandson

Race Records

Race data sourced from netkeiba.

Date	Racecourse	Race	Grade	Distance	Gate	Odds	Fav.	Fin.	Time	Margin	Jockey	Winner (Runner-Up)	Other Umamusume
1994/08/20	Niigata	Three-Year-Old Newcomer	Maiden	T 1200m	2	2.9	2	1	1:09.8	-1.3	M.Ebina	(Shell Queen)
1994/10/08	Hanshin	Momiji Stakes	OP	T 1600m	7	1.2	1	1	1:35.5	-0.2	K.Tsunoda	(Tayasu Tsuyoshi)
1994/12/11	Nakayama	Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes	G1	T 1600m	1	1.5	1	1	1:34.7	-0.1	K.Tsunoda	(Ski Captain)
1995/03/05	Nakayama	Yayoi Sho	G2	T 2000m	9	1.3	1	1	2:03.7	-0.4	K.Tsunoda	(Hokkai Rousseau)

Pedigree

Horse pedigree of Fuji Kiseki (JPN)

Sire Sunday Silence (USA)	Halo (USA)	Hail to Reason (USA)	Turn-to (IRE)
			Nothirdchance (USA)
		Cosmah (USA)	Cosmic Bomb (USA)
			Almahmoud (USA)
	Wishing Well (USA)	Understanding (USA)	Promised Land (USA)
			Pretty Ways (USA)
		Mountain Flower (USA)	Montparnasse (ARG)
			Edelweiss (USA)
Dam Millracer (USA)	Le Fabuleux (FR)	Wild Risk (FR)	Rialto (FR)
			Wild Violet (FR)
		Anguar (FR)	Verso (FR)
			La Rochelle (USA)
	Marston's Mill (USA)	In Reality (USA)	Intentionally (USA)
			My Dear Girl (USA)
		Millicent (USA)	Cornish Prince (USA)
			Milan Mill (USA), (Family: 22-d)

Trivia

• In his entire four race career, Fuji Kiseki's jockeys did not wide whip a single time.
• Fuji Kiseki had the same owner, trainer, stable staff, and main jockey as Jungle Pocket.
• Fuji Kiseki had trouble with gates before debuting (and also late started in his debut), taking the gate exam 5 times before passing.