IRL:Jungle Pocket

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Spoilers ahead! This page contains real life information that may spoil any story or events related to the character. Read at your own discretion!

Jungle Pocket
ジャングルポケット
Main
Jungle Pocket responding to the cheering crowd after winning the 2001 Japan Derby.
Silks
Romaji	Janguru Poketto
Foaled	May 07, 1998
Died	March 02, 2021
Sire	Tony Bin
Dam	Dance Charmer
Sex	Stallion
Color	Bay
Trainer	Sakae Watanabe
Race Record	13: 5-3-2
Earnings	704,258,000 JPY
Major wins
Sapporo Sansai Stakes (2000) Kyodo Tsushin Hai (2001) Japanese Derby (2001) Japan Cup (2001)

Break Free from the Jungle

Break Free from the Jungle

A thoroughbred in appearance,
but within its veins flows
the blood of a hybrid beast.

The sharpness of a wolf,
the agility of a puma,
and the power of a bear drives its relentless hunt.

The jungle is too confined,
as in this vast untamed wilderness
can the beast's true nature thrive.
JRA Portraits of the Bucephalus

Jungle Pocket was a Japanese racehorse that was active from 2000 to 2002. All of his graded victories were at Tokyo racecourse being known to fans as a middle distance Tokyo expert. He was one of the five horses from the "Strongest Generation" of Japanese Horseracing alongside Agnes Tachyon, Manhattan Cafe, Kurofune, and Dantsu Flame. He shares the 2001 Triple Crown with Agnes Tachyon and Manhattan Cafe with a win at the Japanese Derby.

Name Origin

He was named after the Japanese nursery rhyme "Jungle Pocket", written by Katsushi Hasegawa and sung by Kazuko Fukuda. The song is used on the NHK education and music program, "Okaasan to Issho". Fans of horse gave him the nickname of "Janpoke".

Racing career

2 years old (2000)

The owner Saito Yomoji and trainer Sadao Watanabe had high expectations of Jungle Pocket, as they believed the horse will avenge the misfortune of Fuji Kiseki, the 1994 G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes winner that retired due to bowed tendon early in his career. Jungle Pocket debuted on September 2nd at Sapporo Racecourse over a distance of 1800m, winning the race by a neck. He would run again 3 weeks later in the Grade 3 Sapporo Nisai Stakes, once again winning the race by one and half lengths. For his final race of the year he would run in the Radio Tampa Hai Sansai Stakes, a highly reputable race that determined the top colts for the Classics next year. This would be his first meeting with Agnes Tachyon and Kurofune, 2 colts considered early favorites for the Classics. While Jungle Pocket would have a good run, he was no match against Agnes Tachyon, who went on to win by two and a half lengths.

3 years old (2001)

Jungle Pocket's next race would be the G3 Kyodo News Service Hai on February 4th. Despite a late start, he would still win the race easily by two lengths. Trainer Watanabe gave Jungle Pocket rest to prepare for the Grade 1 Satsuki Sho on April 15th. Once again he would meet rival Agnes Tachyon, who was an overwhelming favorite to win the race. At the start of the race Jungle Pocket would stumble out of the gate and got off to a slow start. While he would rally back from this mistake he was unable to catch up, finishing 3rd behind Dantsu Flame and the winner Agnes Tachyon.

After the race, it was discovered that Agnes Tachyon developed tendonitis and was withdrawn from the Japan Derby (and subsequently retired). Due to this Jungle Pocket became the favorite to win the Derby, followed by NHK Mile Cup winner Kurofune. On May 27th, Jungle Pocket would run in the Japan Derby, having a hard fought battle with Satsuki Sho runner up Dantsu Flame on the final stretch before pulling away and winning by one and a half lengths. It was his first Grade 1 victory, and in the victory lap after the race, Jungle Pocket responded to the crowds cheers by bobbing his head rigorously. Jungle Pocket would have a summer break and then race again in the G2 Sapporo Kinen, but would finish a disappointing 3rd. He would then compete in the final leg of the Classics, the Grade 1 Kikuka Sho on October 21st. He would have a tough race, and was too tired, finishing 4th behind surprise winner Manhattan Cafe. Before the race, it was announced that Katsumi Yoshida, the owner of Northern Farm and a member of the Shadai family, became a co-owner of Jungle Pocket and switched his jockey to Olivier Peslier in his next race the Japan Cup. Koichi Tsunoda would not ride on Jungle Pocket for the rest of his career. On November 25th, he would run in the Grade 1 Japan Cup, his first race against older horses, where he would meet Narita Top Road, T.M. Opera O, and Meisho Doto. Olivier Peslier would give him a great ride during the race, and closed down T.M. Opera O in the final moments to win the race by a neck. It was the first time a domestic bred 3 year old horse had won the Japan Cup, and for his achievement he was given the JRA Awards for Horse of the Year and Best Three-Year-Old Colt.

4 years old (2002)

The team of Jungle Pocket announced that the horse would travel to Europe to compete in the Grade 1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, or the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. His first race of the year was the Grade 2 Hanshin Daishoten, where he would finish 2nd behind Narita Top Road. He would then ride in the Grade 1 Tenno Sho Spring on April 28th, with Hall of Fame jockey Yutaka Take onboard. He would end up losing to Manhattan Cafe again, barely catching up and finish a neck behind. Despite the poor results to being the year, Jungle pocket was scheduled to run overseas, but was later canceled due to him developing leg problems. After resting for an extended period, Jungle Pocket would run in the Japan Cup on November 24th, but by this point he had lost a step from his previous form and would finish in 5th place. Jockey Yutaka Take would be replaced in his next race by Shinji Fujita in the Arima Kinen, but would ultimately lose again finishing in 7th behind winner Symboli Kris S.

Retirement

After the Arima Kinen, it was discovered he developed lumbar muscle pain and front left laminitis. The decision to retire Jungle Pocket was made a month later, and his retirement ceremony was held in January 2003. At the ceremony, regular jockey Koichi Tsunoda attended wearing the silks of Jungle Pocket's prior owner Saito Yomoji.

Breeding career

After his retirement, Jungle Pocket was sent to Shadai Stallion Station to begin his stallion career. He had expectations to be the successor to Tony Bin as a sire, and was a popular sire for his first few years. While he didn't reach the level of success of Tony Bin, he still had success in having Grade 1 winning progeny, his most notable include:

• Tall Poppy (2007 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, 2008 Japanese Oaks)
• Oken Bruce Lee (2008 Kikuka Sho)
• Queen Spumante (2009 Queen Elizabeth II Cup)
• Jaguar Mail (2010 Tenno Sho Spring)
• Aventura (2011 Shuka Sho)
• Tosen Jordan (2011 Tenno Sho Autumn)

He retired from his stallion career in 2020 and lived at Breeders Stallion Station as a horse of merit. Jungle Pocket was in poor health since fall of that year and would receive constant treatment by the farm staff, but would pass away the following year on March 2, 2021 at the age of 23. His grave is currently kept at the farm, alongside the grave of Stay Gold and Air Shakur.

Honors

• 2001 Best 3 Year-Old Colt
• 2001 JRA Horse of the Year

Relationships

Relatives

• Tony Bin - Father

• Tall Poppy - Daughter

• Oken Bruce Lee - Son

• Tosen Jordan - Son

• Omataseshimashita - Daughter

Race Records

Race data sourced from netkeiba.

Date	Racecourse	Race	Grade	Distance	Gate	Odds	Fav.	Fin.	Time	Margin	Jockey	Winner (Runner-Up)	Other Umamusume
2000/09/02	Sapporo	Three-Year-Old Newcomer	Maiden	T 1800m	6	9.8	5	1	1:52.0	-0.1	T.Chida	(Tagano Teio)
2000/09/23	Sapporo	Sapporo Sansai Stakes	G3	T 1800m	7	9.2	5	1	1:49.6	-0.2	T.Chida	(Tagano Teio)
2000/12/23	Hanshin	Radio Tampa Hai Sansai Stakes	G3	T 2000m	4	4.8	3	2	2:01.2	0.4	K.Tsunoda	Agnes Tachyon	Agnes Tachyon
2001/02/04	Tokyo	Kyodo News Hai	G3	T 1800m	8	1.4	1	1	1:47.9	-0.3	K.Tsunoda	(Pregio)
2001/04/15	Nakayama	Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas)	G1	T 2000m	1	3.7	2	3	2:00.6	0.3	K.Tsunoda	Agnes Tachyon	Agnes Tachyon, Dantsu Flame
2001/05/27	Tokyo	Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby)	G1	T 2400m	18	2.3	1	1	2:27.0	-0.2	K.Tsunoda	(Dantsu Flame)	Dantsu Flame
2001/08/19	Sapporo	Sapporo Kinen	G2	T 2000m	7	1.3	1	3	2:00.5	0.4	K.Tsunoda	Air Eminem
2001/10/21	Kyoto	Kikuka Sho (Japanese St.Leger)	G1	T 3000m	13	2.3	1	4	3:07.6	0.4	K.Tsunoda	Manhattan Cafe	Manhattan Cafe, Dantsu Flame
2001/11/25	Tokyo	Japan Cup	G1	T 2400m	6	4.2	2	1	2:23.8	0.0	O.Peslier	(T.M. Opera O)	T.M. Opera O, Narita Top Road, Meisho Doto, Stay Gold
2002/03/17	Hanshin	Hanshin Daishoten	G2	T 3000m	8	2.2	2	2	3:08.2	0.3	F.Komaki	Narita Top Road	Narita Top Road
2002/04/28	Kyoto	Tenno Sho (Spring)	G1	T 3200m	7	3.5	3	2	3:19.5	0.0	Y.Take	Manhattan Cafe	Manhattan Cafe, Narita Top Road
2002/11/24	Nakayama	Japan Cup	G1	T 2200m	10	4.2	3	5	2:12.5	0.3	Y.Take	Falbrav	Symboli Kris S, No Reason, Narita Top Road, Air Shakur
2002/12/22	Nakayama	Arima Kinen	G1	T 2500m	9	4.5	3	7	2:33.9	1.3	S.Fujita	Symboli Kris S	Symboli Kris S, Tap Dance City, Narita Top Road, Fine Motion, No Reason, Air Shakur, Hishi Miracle

Pedigree

Horse pedigree of Jungle Pocket (JPN)

Sire Tony Bin (IRE)	Kampala (GB)	Kalamoun (GB)	Zeddaan (GB)
			Khairunissa (GB)
		State Pension (GB)	Only for Life (GB)
			Lorelei (GB)
	Severn Bridge (GB)	Hornbeam (GB)	Hyperion (GB)
			Thicket (GB)
		Priddy Fair (GB)	Preciptic (GB)
			Campanette (GB)
Dam Dance Charmer (USA)	Nureyev (USA)	Northern Dancer (CAN)	Nearctic (CAN)
			Natalma (USA)
		Special (USA)	Forli (ARG)
			Thong (USA)
	Skillful Joy (USA)	Nodouble (USA)	Noholme (AUS)
			Abla-Jay (USA)
		Skillful Miss (USA)	Daryl's Joy (NZ)
			Poliniss (USA), (Family: F11-g)

Trivia

• One of Jungle Pocket's sired horses, Jungle Tachyon, is also damsired by Agnes Tachyon, being the sire of dam Smart Shower, being named after the two rivals. He was foaled in March 2019 and currently is a NAR racehorse.