IRL:Rulership

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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!

Rulership
ルーラーシップ
Main
Silks
Romaji	Rūrāshippu
Foaled	May 15, 2007
Sire	King Kamehameha
Dam	Air Groove
Sex	Stallion
Color	Bay
Trainer	Katsuhiko Sumii
Race Record	20: 8-2-4
Earnings	549,760,000 JPY
Major wins
Naruo Kinen (2010) Nikkei Shinshun Hai (2011) Kinko Sho (2011) American Jockey Club Cup (2012) Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Hong Kong) (2012)

Rulership is a Japanese racehorse active from 2009 to 2012. He's best known for his habit of late starting, and is said to have passed it down to his son, Kiseki. He also won the Hong Kong Queen Elizabeth II Cup in 2012.

Name Origin

Means "the authority to rule, the ruler". Likely inspired by his sire's name, "King" Kamehameha.

Racing career

Two-year-old season (2009)

Rulership made his debut on December 27th in a 2,000-meter turf race on Hanshin Racecourse. As the overwhelming favorite, he won the race by three lengths. This was his only race in the year. Though he was set to debut earlier in the year, an injury in his right hind leg delayed his debut.

Three-year-old season (2010)

Rulership competed in the open-class Wakagoma Stakes on January 23rd, where he fought hard in the stretch and placed second to Hiruno d'Amour. Despite initial plans to have him compete in the Saintpaulia Sho, he contracted a fever that prevented him from entering. Plans to have him challenge the Sumire Stakes were also cancelled due to him contracting phlegmon.

On March 7th, he entered the open-class Armeria Sho. Despite losing his balance during the race due to Tamura Sky's interference, he won the race by half a length. His first graded race was the Mainichi Hai (G3) on March 27th, where he entered as the overwhelming favorite. However, not only did he suffer a late start, The Taiki began to break down right by him, and Rulership could only manage to place 5th. Because of this loss, he was unable to compete in the Satsuki Sho.

After a break, Rulership entered the open-class Principal Stakes on May 8th. Because Yasunari Iwata, his usual jockey, was going to ride Admire Tenku at the Kyoto Shimbun Hai (G3), he was temporarily replaced by Norihiro Yokoyama. Winning by four lengths, he gained priority entry to the Japanese Derby on May 30th.

Due to Iwata jockeying Victoire Pisa at the Japanese Derby, Hirofumi Shii was Rulership's jockey instead. Though he ran in a good position, he was cut off by Gestalt, and he lost momentum at the stretch. Placing 5th, and losing to Eishin Flash, he took a break until the fall. Making his return in the Naruo Kinen (G3) on December 4th, where Iwata rode him for the final time. Gaining momentum, he won the race by half a length. His final race of the year was the Arima Kinen, where Christophe Lemaire was his jockey. He lost the race to Victoire Pisa, and placed 6th.

Four-year-old season (2011)

Though it was planned to have him enter the American Jockey Club Cup (G2), it was instead decided to have him enter the Nikkei Shinshun Hai (G2) on January 16th. With Umberto Rispoli as his jockey, Rulership took the lead at the final straight and won the race by two lengths. After that, he was set to travel overseas to compete in the Dubai Sheema Classic on March 26th. Despite having a good start with Christophe Soumillon as his jockey, he lost momentum and placed 6th.

After returning to Japan, Rulership entered the Kinko Sho (G2) on May 28th, with Yuichi Fukunaga being his jockey. Despite a late start, he gradually accelerated at the final straight, and won the race. On June 26th, Yokoyama returned to ride Rulership in the Takarazuka Kinen. Though he ran in a good position, he could not catch up to Earnestly who was escaping and placed 5th.

Due to hoof issues, plans to have him compete in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) were scrapped. Instead, Rulership challenged the Arima Kinen for the second time on December 25th, with Ioritz Mendizabal as his jockey. Despite a fourth place finish, he clocked a fast time of 33.2 seconds within the final 600 meters.

Five-year-old season (2012)

Rulership entered the American Jockey Club Cup on January 22nd, with Fukunaga returning as his jockey. After winning by three lengths, he entered the Nikkei Sho (G2) on March 24th, where he placed 3rd and lost to Neko Punch. On April 29th, Rulership tackled the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong. Running within the pack, he accelerated in the stretch and won by three lengths, earning his first and only G1 victory.

However, Rulership then went through a string of losses after his win. On June 24th, he competed in the Takarazuka Kinen, where he lost and placed 2nd to Orfevre. He also went on to place 3rd in three consecutive races, two of which he suffered a late start in. Despite a late start at the Tenno Sho (Autumn) on October 28th, he fought hard in the final straight and placed 3rd to Eishin Flash. While he had a good position in the Japan Cup on November 25th, he was three lengths behind Gentildonna and Orfevre and placed 3rd.

His final race was the Arima Kinen on December 23rd. Despite taking numerous measures to prevent Rulership from starting late, Rulership stood up in the gate and was ten lengths behind the rest of the horses. Though he did not catch up to Gold Ship, his stamina caught him up and he placed 3rd. It was then announced on December 26th that Rulership would retire to perform stud duty at Shadai Stallion Farm.

Retirement and Breeding Career

Rulership retired to perform stud duty at Shadai Stallion Farm. He has sired numerous G1 winners, such as Kiseki, who won the Kikuka Sho in 2017. His son, Mer de Glace, won the Caulfield Cup in 2019. His son Dolce More won the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes in 2022, and his son Soul Rush not only won the Mile Championship in 2024, he also beat Romantic Warrior in the 2025 Dubai Turf. In 2025, his son Redentor won the Tenno Sho (Spring).

Rulership also has mild success as a broodmare sire, with his granddaughter Stellenbosch winning the Oka Sho in 2024.

Relationships

Relatives

• Northern Taste - Great grandfather
• Tony Bin - Maternal grandfather
  • Air Groove - Mother
    • Admire Groove - Half sister
      • Duramente - Nephew
• Kiseki - Son

Race Records

Race data sourced from netkeiba.

Date	Racecourse	Race	Grade	Distance	Gate	Odds	Fav.	Fin.	Time	Margin	Jockey	Winner (Runner-Up)	Other Umamusume
2009/12/27	Hanshin	Two-Year-Old Newcomer	Maiden	T 2000m	1	1.5	1	1	2:04.7	-0.6	Y.Iwata	(Eifer Ryan)
2010/01/23	Kyoto	Wakagoma Stakes	OP	T 2000m	2	1.7	1	2	2:02.2	0.2	Y.Iwata	Hiruno d'Amour
2010/03/07	Hanshin	Armeria Sho	Pre-OP	T 1800m	14	1.4	1	1	1:51.2	-0.4	Y.Iwata	(Miyaji Shenlong)
2010/03/27	Hanshin	Mainichi Hai	G3	T 1800m	2	2.2	1	5	1:49.8	0.5	Y.Iwata	Danon Chantilly
2010/05/08	Tokyo	Principal Stakes	OP	T 2000m	5	1.9	1	1	1:59.1	-0.7	N.Yokoyama	(Quark Star)
2010/05/30	Tokyo	Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby)	G1	T 2400m	3	14.5	4	5	2:27.2	0.3	H.Shii	Eishin Flash	Eishin Flash, Rose Kingdom, Victoire Pisa
2010/12/04	Hanshin	Naruo Kinen	G3	T 1800m	11	3.9	2	1	1:44.9	-0.1	Y.Iwata	(Hiruno d'Amour)
2010/12/26	Nakayama	Arima Kinen	G1	T 2500m	5	17.6	6	6	2:33.0	0.4	C.Lemaire	Victoire Pisa	Victoire Pisa, Buena Vista, Tosen Jordan, Eishin Flash, Dream Journey, Red Desire, Rose Kingdom
2011/01/16	Kyoto	Nikkei Shinshun Hai	G2	T 2400m	8	3.2	2	1	2:24.6	-0.3	U.Rispoli	(Hiruno d'Amour)	Rose Kingdom
2011/03/26	UAE	Dubai Sheema Classic	G1	T 2410m	10			6				Rewilding
2011/05/28	Kyoto	Kinko Sho	G2	T 2000m	13	2.8	1	1	2:02.4	-0.1	Y.Fukunaga	(Captain Thule)
2011/06/26	Hanshin	Takarazuka Kinen	G1	T 2200m	3	3.7	2	5	2:11.0	0.9	N.Yokoyama	Earnestly	Buena Vista, Eishin Flash, Rose Kingdom, Tosen Jordan, Dream Journey
2011/12/25	Nakayama	Arima Kinen	G1	T 2500m	14	52.9	11	4	2:36.2	0.2	I.Mendizabal	Orfevre	Orfevre, Eishin Flash, Tosen Jordan, Buena Vista, Victoire Pisa, Rose Kingdom
2012/01/22	Nakayama	American Jockey Club Cup	G2	T 2200m	3	1.4	1	1	2:17.3	-0.5	Y.Fukunaga	(Nakayama Knight)
2012/03/24	Nakayama	Nikkei Sho	G2	T 2500m	13	1.4	1	3	2:38.1	0.7	Y.Fukunaga	Neko Punch	Win Variation
2012/04/29	Hong Kong	Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Hong Kong)	G1	T 2000m	4		3	1	2:02.38		U.Rispoli	(Thumbs Up)
2012/06/24	Hanshin	Takarazuka Kinen	G1	T 2200m	7	4.4	2	2	2:10.9	0.3	C.Williams	Orfevre	Orfevre, Win Variation, Eishin Flash
2012/10/28	Tokyo	Tenno Sho (Autumn)	G1	T 2000m	6	4.5	2	3	1:57.6	0.3	I.Mendizabal	Eishin Flash	Eishin Flash, Fenomeno, Tosen Jordan
2012/11/25	Tokyo	Japan Cup	G1	T 2400m	13	5.4	2	3	2:23.5	0.4	C.Williams	Gentildonna	Gentildonna, Orfevre, Fenomeno, Tosen Jordan, Eishin Flash, Rose Kingdom
2012/12/23	Nakayama	Arima Kinen	G1	T 2500m	9	3.7	2	3	2:32.2	0.3	C.Williams	Gold Ship	Gold Ship, Eishin Flash, Rose Kingdom

Pedigree

Horse pedigree of Rulership (JPN)

Sire King Kamehameha (JPN)	Kingmambo (USA)	Mr. Prospector (USA)	Raise a Native (USA)
			Gold Digger (USA)
		Miesque (USA)	Nureyev (USA)
			Pasadoble (USA)
	Manfath (IRE)	Last Tycoon (IRE)	Try My Best (USA)
			Mill Princess (IRE)
		Pilot Bird (GB)	Blakeney (GB)
			The Dancer (FR)
Dam Air Groove (JPN)	Tony Bin (IRE)	Kampala (GB)	Kalamoun (GB)
			State Pension (GB)
		Severn Bridge (GB)	Hornbeam (GB)
			Priddy Fair (GB)
	Dyna Carle (JPN)	Northern Taste (CAN)	Northern Dancer (CAN)
			Lady Victoria (CAN)
		Shadai Feather (JPN)	Guersant (FR)
			Peroxide (GB), (Family: 8-f)