IRL:Orfevre

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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!

Orfevre
オルフェーヴル
Main
Orfevre at the 2011 Kikuka Sho
Silks
Romaji	Orufeevuru
Foaled	May 14, 2008
Sire	Stay Gold
Dam	Oriental Art
Sex	Stallion
Color	Chestnut
Trainer	Yasutoshi Ikee
Race Record	21: 12-6-1
Earnings	1,344,080,000 JPY
Major wins
Spring Stakes (2011) Satsuki Sho (2011) Japanese Derby (2011) Kobe Shimbun Hai (2011) Kikuka Sho (2011) Arima Kinen (2011, 2013) Takarazuka Kinen (2012) Prix Foy (2012, 2013) Sankei Osaka Hai (2013)

Dreaming of Brilliance

Dreaming of Brilliance

I got everything that I desired—all but that single gold coin. For an instant I thought I held it, but it slipped through my fingers. It's cold, gleaming glow faded away into the distance.
I tried to soothe the pain, believing it was fate. I couldn't, it was impossible. So I'd smash it against the ground. A rage born from frustration, the flames of passion awakened by madness.
You who inherit my will, can you surpass this form? If so, continue to challenge endlessly. For at the end of your noble journey, a moment of brilliance surely awaits.
JRA Portraits of the Buccephalus

Orfevre is a Japanese racehorse that was active from 2010 to 2013. He is the 7th Japanese Triple Crown winner, and is considered one of the greatest racehorses from Japan. He was also the first Triple Crown winner whose sire, dam and damsire were all Japanese-bred domestic horses.

Name Origin

His name is the French word for "goldsmith", a reference to both his sire (Stay Gold) and dam's (Oriental Art) name.

Racing career

A rough start (2 year-old Season, 2010)

Orfevre made his debut on August 14th, 2010. He eventually won it by 2 lengths, but after the race, he threw his jockey Kenichi Ikezoe out. For his next 2 races, he had a close finish at Fuyo Stakes, losing out to Whale Capture, and ended up in 10th in Keio Hai Nisai Stakes.

The Tyrant as Japan's beacon of hope (3 year-old Season, 2011)

The losing streak continues as Orfevre lost to Red Davis at the Shinzan Kinen, and placing third behind Tosen Ra at the Kisaragi Sho. Since then, people's expectations for him lowered in preparation for the Satsuki Sho.

Due to the massive earthquake and tsunami happened in Tohoku region on March 11, 2011, the Satsuki Sho was delayed and moved to Tokyo for safety precautions. On March 26th, Orfevre won the Spring Stakes, increasing his odds once again for the classic race.

He entered the Satsuki Sho as the 4th favorite, but he stormed past and won by 5 lengths, taking the first of the Triple Crown races that year. He then entered Japanese Derby on May as the favorite to win, this time running 400m longer than his previous run at Satsuki Sho. Despite being blocked on the final straight and the poor terrain from the bad weather caused by the Typhoon Songda, he eventually surged forward and won against Win Variation, claiming his second crown.

After a four month break, he participated in the Kobe Shinbun Hai on September 29th and won, eventually landing him a slot for the Kikuka Sho. He then claimed the third crown at the race after leading at the end of the race. Just like in his debut, he threw off Ikezoe after the race.

After a short break, he entered the Arima Kinen with a stacked roster consisting of the Double Tiara winner Buena Vista on her retirement day and the Dubai World Cup and previous Arima Kinen winner Victoire Pisa. Orfevre won just a tenth length ahead of Eishin Flash. After that, he was named as the JRA horse of the year for 2011.

Tour de France (4 year-old Season, 2012)

Orfevre entered a 3 month break before entering the Hanshin Daishoten in March 18th, where he finished 2nd behind Gustave Cry after he slowed down by mistake before the third corner. He then entered the Tenno Sho (Spring), but he had a poor performance and finished 11th, despite being the favorite to win. It was then revealed Orfevre was sick, suffering diarrhea in between.

He then bounced back to win the Takarazuka Kinen on June 24th. After that, preparations are made for his entrance at the l'Arc. For this scenario, Ikezoe would be replaced by Christophe Soumillon during his stint in France. He won the G2 Prix Foy, which granted him a place to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe as the second favorite. During l'Arc itself, Orfevre surged from the back of the pack, getting into first place for a short while until he drifted towards the inside, hitting the rail, thus allowing Solemia to overtake Orfevre from the outside in the last few meters and snatch the victory Japan sought after, with only Orfevre finishing second by half a length.

He returned to Japan in time for the Japan Cup in November, once again filled by a stacked lineup including the recent Triple Tiara winner Gentildonna, who eventually won in an almost dead heat finish with Orfevre finishing 2nd.

The boy's final wish (5 year-old season, 2013)

Orfevre only ran 4 times in 2013, where he started with a victory at the Sankei Osaka Hai in March 31st. Once again, he was sent to France with Soumillon as his jockey. Just like last year, Orfevre won the Prix Foy but not the l'Arc, which this time was won by the 3 years-old Treve.

A boy with cancer, who adored Orfevre, was once arranged to meet the horse in person by Ikezoe (who proceeded to ride on him in his racing silk). Orfevre displayed an unusual soft side by allowing the boy to touch him as much as he liked, Ikezoe proceeded to make a promise to win Orfevre's retirement race - the 2013 Arima Kinen. Unfortunately, the boy passed away two weeks before Orfevre's last race. However, Orfevre won the 2013 Arima Kinen with an overwhelming 8 lengths lead, with Ikezoe looking into the sky after the win and, according to him, murmured the words "we won", honoring the win to the boy who adored Orfevre.

Retirement and Breeding Career

After his overwhelming victory in the 2013 Arima Kinen, Orfevre was retired to stand stud at Shadai Stallion Station, and started stud duty in 2014. The first crop of offspring were born in 2015, and is eligible to race starting from 2017. On September 2nd, Rock This Town won the Sapporo Nisai Stakes, becoming the first offspring to win a graded stakes race. On December 10, Lucky Lilac won the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, becoming the first offspring to win a G1 race. On April 15th, 2018, Epoca d'Oro won the Satsuki Sho, achieving a father-son G1 win.

On November 6th, 2021, Marche Lorraine won the Breeder's Cup Distaff, kick starting Japan's large scale involvement in United States G1 racing alongside Loves Only You. In 2022, Shonan Nadeshiko won the Kashiwa Kinen (Jpn1), and Ushba Tesoro won the Tokyo Daishoten (G1). Ushba Tesoro then won the Dubai World Cup in 2023, and the Tokyo Daishoten once again. He has also had mild success as a broodmare sire, with his grandson Dura Erede win the Hopeful Stakes in 2022. In 2026, his daughter Juryoku Pierrot won the Japanese Oaks in 2026, with Seina Imamura becoming the first female Japanese jockey to win a Japanese G1 race.

His daughter, Melody Lane, holds the record for being the lightest and smallest racehorse in JRA.

Honors

• Japanese Horse of the Year (2011)
• JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Colt (2011)
• JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse (2012, 2013)
• JRA Hall of Fame (Inducted 2015)

Relationships

Relatives

• Stay Gold - Father
• Dream Journey - Full Brother
• Lucky Lilac - Daughter
• Marche Lorraine - Daughter
• Mejiro McQueen - Maternal Grandfather
• Northern Taste - Great Grandfather

Race Records

Race data sourced from netkeiba.

Date	Racecourse	Race	Grade	Distance	Gate	Odds	Fav.	Fin.	Time	Margin	Jockey	Winner (Runner-Up)	Other Umamusume
2010/08/14	Niigata	Two-Year-Old Newcomer	Maiden	T 1600m	8	3.0	2	1	1:37.4	-0.2	K.Ikezoe	(Shonan Parfait)
2010/10/03	Nakayama	Fuyo Stakes	OP	T 1600m	3	2.1	1	2	1:35.3	0.0	K.Ikezoe	Whale Capture
2010/11/13	Tokyo	Keio Hai Nisai Stakes	G2	T 1400m	7	3.3	1	10	1:22.6	0.8	K.Ikezoe	Grand Prix Boss
2011/01/09	Kyoto	Shinzan Kinen	G3	T 1600m	1	10.7	3	2	1:34.2	0.2	K.Ikezoe	Red Davis
2011/02/06	Kyoto	Kisaragi Sho	G3	T 1800m	10	2.9	2	3	1:47.8	0.2	K.Ikezoe	Tosen Ra	Win Variation
2011/03/26	Hanshin	Spring Stakes	G2	T 1800m	6	4.7	1	1	1:46.4	-0.1	K.Ikezoe	(Belshazzar)
2011/04/24	Tokyo	Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas)	G1	T 2000m	12	10.8	4	1	2:00.6	-0.5	K.Ikezoe	(Sadamu Patek)
2011/05/29	Tokyo	Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby)	G1	T 2400m	5	3.0	1	1	2:30.5	-0.3	K.Ikezoe	(Win Variation)	Win Variation
2011/09/25	Hanshin	Kobe Shimbun Hai	G2	T 2400m	7	1.7	1	1	2:28.3	-0.4	K.Ikezoe	(Win Variation)	Win Variation
2011/10/23	Kyoto	Kikuka Sho (Japanese St.Leger)	G1	T 3000m	14	1.4	1	1	3:02.8	-0.4	K.Ikezoe	(Win Variation)	Win Variation
2011/12/25	Nakayama	Arima Kinen	G1	T 2500m	9	2.2	1	1	2:36.0	-0.1	K.Ikezoe	(Eishin Flash)	Eishin Flash, Rulership, Tosen Jordan, Buena Vista, Victoire Pisa, Rose Kingdom
2012/03/18	Hanshin	Hanshin Daishoten	G2	T 3000m	12	1.1	1	2	3:11.9	0.1	K.Ikezoe	Gustave Cry
2012/04/29	Kyoto	Tenno Sho (Spring)	G1	T 3200m	18	1.3	1	11	3:15.6	1.8	K.Ikezoe	Beat Black	Tosen Jordan, Win Variation, Rose Kingdom
2012/06/24	Hanshin	Takarazuka Kinen	G1	T 2200m	11	3.2	1	1	2:10.9	-0.3	K.Ikezoe	(Rulership)	Rulership, Win Variation, Eishin Flash
2012/09/16	France	Prix Foy	G2	T 2400m	4		1	1	2:34.26		C.Soumillon	(Meandre)
2012/10/07	France	Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe	G1	T 2400m	6		2	2			C.Soumillon	Solemia
2012/11/25	Tokyo	Japan Cup	G1	T 2400m	17	2.0	1	2	2:23.1	0.0	K.Ikezoe	Gentildonna	Gentildonna, Rulership, Fenomeno, Tosen Jordan, Eishin Flash, Rose Kingdom
2013/03/31	Hanshin	Sankei Osaka Hai	G2	T 2000m	5	1.2	1	1	1:59.0	-0.1	K.Ikezoe	(Shonan Mighty)	Eishin Flash, Verxina, Rose Kingdom
2013/09/15	France	Prix Foy	G2	T 2400m	7		1	1	2:41.47		C.Soumillon	(Very Nice Name)
2013/10/06	France	Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe	G1	T 2400m	6		1	2			C.Soumillon	Treve
2013/12/22	Nakayama	Arima Kinen	G1	T 2500m	6	1.6	1	1	2:32.3	-1.3	K.Ikezoe	(Win Variation)	Win Variation, Gold Ship, Tosen Jordan

Pedigree

Horse pedigree of Orfevre (JPN)

Sire Stay Gold (JPN)	Sunday Silence (USA)	Halo (USA)	Hail to Reason (USA)
			Cosmah (USA)
		Wishing Well (USA)	Understanding (USA)
			Mountain Flower (USA)
	Golden Sash (JPN)	Dictus (FR)	Sanctus (FR)
			Doronic (FR)
		Dyna Sash (JPN)	Northern Taste (CAN)
			Royal Sash (GB)
Dam Oriental Art (JPN)	Mejiro McQueen (JPN)	Mejiro Titan (JPN)	Mejiro Asama (JPN)
			Cheryl (FR)
		Mejiro Aurola (JPN)	Remand (GB)
			Mejiro Iris (JPN)
	Electro Art (JPN)	Northern Taste (CAN)	Northern Dancer (CAN)
			Lady Victoria (CAN)
		Grandma Stevens (USA)	Lt. Stevens (USA)
			Dhow (USA), (Family: 8-c)

Trivia

• Orfevre would smell his own feces, cry, and proceed to smell it again. This eccentric behavior was inherited from his father, Stay Gold.
  • Other small habits inherited from Stay Gold include "making ochazuke" and sticking his tongue out while getting brushed.
• Kenichi Ikezoe was his jockey for most of his career, as he was famously known for his ability to handle temperamental horses like Sweep Tosho and Durandal.
• Orfevre had thrown off Ikezoe twice after winning his maiden race and the 2011 Kikuka Sho. Though, Orfevre's victory in the Kikuka Sho made Ikezoe the sixth jockey to win all five of the Classic races in Japan.
• In September 2012, he was appointed as the tourism ambassador for Shiraoi Town in Hokkaido, since he was born in Shiraoi Farm.
• Due to being born late in the year for a horse, he had to be delivered via c-section.