IRL:Seeking the Pearl
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| Seeking the Pearl | ||
|---|---|---|
| シーキングザパール | ||
| Seeking the Pearl at the Kyoto Racecourse in 1998 | ||
| Silks |  |
|
| Romaji | Shīkingu za Pāru | |
| Foaled | April 16, 1994 | |
| Died | June 10, 2005 | |
| Sire | Seeking the Gold | |
| Dam | Page Proof | |
| Sex | Mare | |
| Color | Bay | |
| Trainer | Shozo Sasaki Hideyuki Mori Alan E. Goldberg |
|
| Race Record | 19: 8-2-3 | |
| Earnings | 474,140,000 JPY | |
| Major wins | ||
| Daily Hai Sansai Stakes (1996) Shinzan Kinen (1997) Flower Cup (1997) New Zealand Trophy (1997) NHK Mile Cup (1997) Silk Road Stakes (1998) Prix Maurice de Gheest (1998) |
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Seeking the Pearl was an American-bred Japanese racehorse that was active from 1996 to 1999. She was the first Japanese-trained horse to win a G1 race overseas in Europe.
Name Origin
Her name was inspired by her sire, Seeking the Gold, as well as her buyer Masako Uenaka's birthstone, pearl. Rinko Uenaka, Masako's daughter who would later inherit Seeking the Pearl, reportedly chose the name with the intention of saying "the horse found you [Masako]"
Racing career
Two-year-old season (1996)
Seeking the Pearl made her debut on July 20th, 1996. Entering her first race as favourite, she took the lead right after the start and won by 7 lengths.
In the subsequent G3 Niigata Sansai Stakes, she was the second favorite behind Shinko Splendor, but veered towards the outside immediately after the race began, forcing her to start at the back of the pack. Despite a strong finish on the final stretch, she finished 3rd.
However, in her next race, the G3 Daily Hai Sansai Stakes, she displayed a much calmer temperament, beating Mejiro Bright by five lengths as favourite, claiming her first graded stakes victory, and setting the record time for the race, which she held for 24 years.
At the Hanshin Sansai Himba Stakes, her first G1 race, Seeking the Pearl was the favourite just as in her previous race. However, in the race, she lost momentum on the final stretch and finished 4th, behind Mejiro Dober.
She finished her junior season with two wins in four races, but was labelled as "hot-tempered" due to the puzzling nature of her two defeats. Yutaka Take, who served as her jockey for all four races, stated that Seeking the Pearl was "a lovely racehorse who would never bite, act out, or object to anything done to her in the stables, but once mounted, she would transform." [1]
Three-year-old season (1997)
Seeking the Pearl won the first race of her 3-year-old season, the Shinzan Kinen, by 3 lengths. However, due to an alleged dispute between Masako Uenaka and Shozo Sasaki over race scheduling, [2] she was transferred to Hideyuki Mori’s stable at the Ritto Training Centre on February 5th.
As she was a foreign-bred racehorse and therefore ineligible for the Classics, her team set their sights on the NHK Mile Cup, a G1 race that had only been established in the previous year. Prior to this race, she won two consecutive graded stakes races, the G3 Flower Cup and the G2 New Zealand Trophy.
Seeking the Pearl eventually entered the NHk Mile Cup as the favorite after Speed World, another foreign-bred racehorse, was withdrawn due to a sprained ankle. She ran most of the race in 6th or 7th place before taking the lead midway through the final straight and winning by a margin of 1 3/4 lengths over the runner-up, Brave Tender. This was her first of two G1 victories, and the only one she achieved in Japan.
Shortly after her NHK Mile Cup victory, Hideyuki Mori announced that Seeking the Pearl would enter the Shuka Sho, the last leg of the Classic Triple Tiara, in autumn, before competing in the G1 Hong Kong Cup in winter, despite Yutaka Take suggesting that the Beverly D. Stakes, an American G1 race, would be a better fit for her due to its anticlockwise layout. [3] After taking a break from racing during the summer, Seeking the Pearl returned to the Ritto Training Centre stables at the end of August. She was entered into the Shuka Sho alongside Kyoei March, who won the Oka Sho in April, and Mejiro Dober, who won the Japanese Oaks in May.
However, the G2 Rose Stakes signaled significant challenges for Seeking the Pearl. Despite entering the race as favorite, she was unable to build momentum on the final straight, finishing 3rd to Kyoei March, who was the second favorite entering the race. Masako Uenaka noted that she was unusually breathless during the last 400 meters of the race, [4] and during a physical examination, she was found to have symptoms of epiglottis entrapment, a condition where the trachea is blocked by folds of skin tissue. She was withdrawn from the Shuka Sho to undergo throat surgery, and was subsequently placed on rest for 7 months.
Four-year-old season (1998)
Spring
After her resting period ended, Seeking the Pearl returned to racing in the G3 Silk Road Stakes, her first 1200-meter race since her three-year-old season. Entering the race as fourth favourite, there were various concerns about her fitness, such as her long layoff after surgery and her loosened training regimen, which only consisted of pool training. Despite this, she managed to win the race, beating the second favourite, Masa Lucky, by a neck length. This victory also secured her place on a European tour.
Her next race was the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen, where she was the favourite. However, it rained on race day, meaning the track conditions were heavy, a surface Seeking the Pearl struggled with, and despite leading at the start, she couldn’t sustain her early momentum and finished 4th.
Next, she competed in the G1 Yasuda Kinen, which was held at Tokyo Racecourse - the same venue where she won the NHK Mile Cup. However, it rained again; this time, the track conditions deteriorated to a point where several jockeys stated they had “never seen anything like it in recent years”. Seeking the Pearl finished in 10th place, the lowest position of her career. The winner, Taiki Shuttle, was also scheduled to go on a European tour, highlighting the contrasting fortunes for the two horses.
French campaign
After the Yasuda Kinen, Seeking the Pearl’s French campaign was officially announced, and it was confirmed that she would enter the Prix Maurice de Gheest, a G1 race held at Deauville Racecourse. Hideyuki Mori had initially planned to enter her in the Prix Jacques le Marois, another French G1 race that was more widely known in Japan, but backed out after learning that Taiki Shuttle’s team were also targeting the race, believing that Seeking the Pearl would be unable to beat him on a 1600-meter course. Additionally, as the Prix Maurice de Gheest was a week before the Prix Jacques le Marois, aiming for it meant that there was a chance Mori could become the first trainer in Japan to win an overseas G1 race.
On July 21st, Seeking the Pearl departed for Newmarket, England, where she was trained at the stable of Geoff Wragg. One of the main reasons Mori chose Newmarket for training as it had a woodchip course called “Side Hill”, which was similar to the uphill woodchip course that he used at the Ritto Training Centre. When asked why he didn’t choose to have Seeking the Pearl trained at Chantilly Training Grounds, which was much closer to Deauville, Mori stated that the typically dry climate of Chantilly wouldn’t suit Seeking the Pearl due to her previous throat surgery. [5]
After crossing the English Channel by ferry three days earlier, Seeking the Pearl entered the Prix Maurice de Gheest as the fifth favourite. As it was the rainy season in France, Mori was concerned about the track conditions, but there was no rain and the race was run on what was said to be the firmest track in decades. When the race began, Seeking the Pearl took the lead due to the measured pace of the other runners, maintaining the lead from there. While being pursued by Jim and Tonic towards the end of the race, she broke into a sprint 300 meters before the finish line, winning the race with a record time of 1 minute and 14.70 seconds, a record time that remained for 15 years.
Seeking the Pearl’s victory marked Japan’s long-awaited first European G1 victory, and her feat was also covered in famous newspapers outside of Japan, such as Le Parisien and the British Racing Post. [6] Such a momentous milestone, as well as Taiki Shuttle’s victory at the Prix Jacques le Marois only a week later, led local media to proclaim that “Japanese horses had made a historic landing in Normandy”, and the JRA rewarded the team of Seeking the Pearl with approximately 92,000,000 JPY (approximately 577,000 USD).
While Taiki Shuttle returned to Japan, Seeking the Pearl continued to train at Newmarket. On September 6th, she returned to France to compete in her second overseas G1, the Prix de Moulin de Longchamp. However, the field was stronger than in her previous race, featuring several Classic winners from across Europe such as Desert Prince and Zarayka. While leading, she was contested by pace chasers from other stables, and was yet again hindered by the heavy ground caused by wet weather, finishing 5th in a field of 7 horses.
Return to Japan
Seeking the Pearl returned to Japan on September 10th, and was re-stabled at the Ritto Training Center on October 5th. On November 22nd, she competed in the Mile Championship. Although she was the second favorite behind Taiki Shuttle on race day, she failed to pick up speed on the home stretch after taking the lead early on, finishing 8th while Taiki Shuttle won by a landslide 5 lengths. At the end of the year, she was once again the second favourite behind Taiki Shuttle in his retirement race, the Sprinters’ Stakes. Seeking the Pearl stayed at the back of the pack throughout the race before making a late charge on the final straight. Although she was able to pass Taiki Shuttle just before the finish line, she fell a neck short of Meiner Love, who had taken the lead earlier, finishing 2nd place.
Five-year-old season (1999)
On January 9th, shortly after the New Year, Mori suddenly announced that Seeking the Pearl would be racing in the United States. She travelled to the U.S. on the 19th and raced in the G1 Santa Monica Handicap on the 23rd, where she was the sixth favorite in a field of eight. While she ran the start of the race in 3rd or 4th, the rest of the field accelerated at a crucial moment, leading Seeking the Pearl to temporarily fall back. Despite making a comeback on the final straight, she ultimately finished 4th.
After this single race, she returned to Japan and entered the Takamatsunomiya Kinen on May 23rd, where she was backed as the favorite for a second consecutive year. Even though she was well-positioned, maintained a consistent pace, and surged forward on the final stretch, she was overtaken by Masa Lucky, who had come charging from the rear, finishing 2nd by a margin of 1 1/4 lengths.
On June 13th, she competed in the Yasuda Kinen, where she had suffered a crushing defeat the previous year. Backed as the third favorite, she spent much of the race in 10th place before making a late charge from the final corner, but finished 3rd, two lengths behind Air Jihad and Grass Wonder.
She was scheduled to rest and prepare for the autumn racing season, but in July, it was confirmed that her JRA registration had been withdrawn, and that she had been traded to Jayeff “B” Stables in New Jersey, USA. She left Japan on the 28th of the same month, and entered training at Alan Goldberg’s stable in New Jersey. On October 2nd, she competed in the G3 Noble Damsel Handicap, where she was the favorite, but she lost her composure with her jockey, John Velazquez, and faded on the home stretch, finishing 4th. After finishing 7th in the subsequent non-graded Laurel Dash Stakes, her retirement was announced.
Retirement, Breeding Career and Death
Seeking the Pearl was retired to Clairborne Farm in Kentucky to serve as a broodmare. In her first year as a broodmare, she was bred to Storm Cat. The colt born the following year, named Seeking the Dia, went on to become a racehorse in Japan. He excelled on turf and dirt and won five graded stakes races, including the 2004 New Zealand Trophy, before retiring and starting stud service in Chile, where he sired many Chilean G1 winners. Both her second foal, Dive, and her third foal, Seeknfind, raced in the United States and later became broodmares. After retiring from broodmare duties, Seeking the Pearl was moved to Lane's End Farm.
On June 10th, 2005, Seeking the Pearl was found dead in the Lane's End Farm pasture. According to Reynolds Bell, the manager of Jayeff "B" Stables at the time, there were no visible injuries nor signs of strain on her body, indicating that her death had been sudden, perhaps caused by a lightning strike. [7] She was 11 years old.
Honors
Relationships
Relatives
Race Records
| Date | Racecourse | Race | Grade | Distance | Gate | Odds | Fav. | Fin. | Time | Margin | Jockey | Winner (Runner-Up) | Other Umamusume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996/07/20 | Kokura | Three-Year-Old Newcomer | Maiden | T 1200m | 5 | 1.2 | 1 | 1 | 1:09.7 | -1.1 | Y.Take | (Tenzan Osuzu) | |
| 1996/09/01 | Nakayama | Niigata Sansai Stakes | G3 | T 1200m | 12 | 2.3 | 2 | 3 | 1:10.8 | 0.5 | Y.Take | Personality One | Mejiro Dober |
| 1996/10/19 | Kyoto | Daily Hai Sansai Stakes | G3 | T 1400m | 2 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 | 1:21.3 | -0.8 | Y.Take | (Mejiro Bright) | Mejiro Bright |
| 1996/12/01 | Hanshin | Hanshin Sansai Himba Stakes | G1 | T 1600m | 1 | 1.5 | 1 | 4 | 1:35.3 | 0.7 | Y.Take | Mejiro Dober | Mejiro Dober |
| 1997/01/15 | Kyoto | Shinzan Kinen | G3 | T 1600m | 11 | 2.0 | 1 | 1 | 1:34.6 | -0.5 | Y.Take | (Hokko Beauty) | |
| 1997/03/15 | Nakayama | Flower Cup | G3 | T 1800m | 6 | 1.7 | 1 | 1 | 1:51.6 | -0.3 | Y.Take | (Hokko Beauty) | |
| 1997/04/20 | Tokyo | New Zealand Trophy | G2 | T 1400m | 16 | 1.8 | 1 | 1 | 1:21.1 | -0.2 | Y.Take | (Brave Tender) | |
| 1997/05/11 | Tokyo | NHK Mile Cup | G1 | T 1600m | 13 | 2.0 | 1 | 1 | 1:33.1 | -0.3 | Y.Take | (Brave Tender) | |
| 1997/09/21 | Hanshin | Rose Stakes | G2 | T 2000m | 7 | 1.4 | 1 | 3 | 2:01.9 | 0.3 | Y.Take | Kyoei March | |
| 1998/04/26 | Kyoto | Silk Road Stakes | G3 | T 1200m | 1 | 6.5 | 4 | 1 | 1:08.6 | 0.0 | Y.Take | (Masa Lucky) | |
| 1998/05/24 | Chukyo | Takamatsunomiya Kinen | G1 | T 1200m | 5 | 2.6 | 1 | 4 | 1:09.3 | 0.2 | Y.Take | Shinko Forest | Biko Pegasus |
| 1998/06/14 | Tokyo | Yasuda Kinen | G1 | T 1600m | 14 | 14.8 | 4 | 10 | 1:39.2 | 1.7 | Y.Take | Taiki Shuttle | Taiki Shuttle, Biko Pegasus |
| 1998/08/09 | France | Prix Maurice de Gheest | G1 | T 1300m | 1 | 1 | 1:14.7 | 0.0 | Y.Take | (Jim and Tonic) | |||
| 1998/09/06 | France | Prix du Moulin de Longchamp | G1 | T 1600m | 1 | 5 | 0.0 | Y.Take | Desert Prince | ||||
| 1998/11/22 | Kyoto | Mile Championship | G1 | T 1600m | 4 | 6.7 | 2 | 8 | 1:34.3 | 1.0 | H.Kawachi | Taiki Shuttle | Taiki Shuttle |
| 1998/12/20 | Nakayama | Sprinters' Stakes | G1 | T 1200m | 3 | 10.5 | 2 | 2 | 1:08.6 | 0.0 | Y.Take | Meiner Love | Taiki Shuttle |
| 1999/01/23 | Santa Anita | Santa Monika Stakes | G1 | D 1400m | 4 | 4 | Y.Take | Stop Traffic | |||||
| 1999/05/23 | Chukyo | Takamatsunomiya Kinen | G1 | T 1200m | 2 | 4.5 | 1 | 2 | 1:08.2 | 0.2 | Y.Take | Masa Lucky | |
| 1999/06/13 | Tokyo | Yasuda Kinen | G1 | T 1600m | 11 | 11.4 | 3 | 3 | 1:33.7 | 0.4 | Y.Take | Air Jihad | Grass Wonder, King Halo, Shinko Windy |
| 1999/10/02 | Belmont Park | Noble Damsel Handicap | G3 | T 1600m | 1 | 4 | 1:34.5 | J.Velazquez | Khumba Mela | ||||
| 1999/10/17 | Laurel Park | Laurel Dash Stakes | G3 | T 1200m | 1 | 7 | 1:12.8 | C.Lopez | Grapeshot |
Pedigree
| Sire Seeking the Gold (USA) |
Mr. Prospector (USA) | Raise a Native (USA) | Native Dancer (USA) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raise You (USA) | |||
| Gold Digger (USA) | Nashua (USA) | ||
| Sequence (USA) | |||
| Con Game (USA) | Buckpasser (USA) | Tom Fool (USA) | |
| Busanda (USA) | |||
| Broadway (USA) | Hasty Road (USA) | ||
| Flitabout (USA) | |||
| Dam Page Proof (USA) |
Seattle Slew (USA) | Bold Reasoning (USA) | Boldnesian (USA) |
| Reason to Earn (USA) | |||
| My Charmer (USA) | Poker (USA) | ||
| Fair Charmer (USA) | |||
| Barb's Bold (USA) | Bold Forbes (USA) | Irish Castle (USA) | |
| Comely Nell (USA) | |||
| Goofed (USA) | Court Martial (GB) | ||
| Barra (FR), (Family: 17-b) |
Notes
References
- France Galop profile.
- ↑ Yutaka Take Interview Collection Special: Famous Racehorse Edition, 2007.
- ↑ Weekly 100 Famous Racehorses Vol. 76: Seeking the Pearl
- ↑ Yutaka Take Interview Collection Special: Famous Racehorse Edition, 2007.
- ↑ Yūshun Magazine June 1998 issue, pg. 147.
- ↑ Weekly 100 Famous Racehorses Vol. 76: Seeking the Pearl
- ↑ Yūshun Magazine October 1998 issue, pp. 47, 124.
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160306235036/http://www.drf.com/news/seeking-pearl-found-dead