IRL:Tamamo Cross

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Tamamo Cross
タマモクロス
Main
Silks
Romaji	Tamamo Kurosu
Foaled	May 23, 1984
Died	April 10, 2003
Sire	C.B. Cross
Dam	Green Chateau
Sex	Stallion
Color	Gray
Trainer	Isami Obara
Race Record	18: 9-3-2
Earnings	489,670,000 JPY
Major wins
Naruo Kinen (1987) Kyoto Kimpai (1988) Hanshin Daishoten (1988) Takarazuka Kinen (1988) Tenno Sho (Spring) (1988) Tenno Sho (Autumn) (1988)

The White Lightning

The White Lightning

1988, Tenno Sho Autumn.
'Gray horses aren't strong.'
People had said until these two horses appeared.
The showdown by a gray and a gray.
A rival gives strength. A Wind or a light?
That horse's name is Tamamo Cross.
JRA CM "THE WINNER" (Autumn Tenno Sho 2012)

Tamamo Cross was a Japanese racehorse that was active from 1987 to 1988. Prior to his career, people believed that gray horses couldn't run fast. His appearance broke this superstition by winning three G1 races in a row, including both 1988 Tenno Sho races and the Takarazuka Kinen. He was also the first horse to have won both Tenno Sho races in the same year, after the rule where Tenno Sho winners cannot participate in another Tenno Sho in the same year was abolished in 1981.

Tamamo Cross, along with Oguri Cap, sparked the second horse racing boom in Japan through their remarkable rivalry, about 10 years after Haiseiko sparked the first horse racing boom.

Name Origin

The first part of Tamamo Cross's name comes from the company, Tamamo Co., Ltd, in which his owner Mitsuho Tamamo owned. The name Tamamo also refers to Tamamo-no-Mae, a legendary fox spirit in Japanese mythology. The second half comes from his sire, C.B. Cross, who was nicknamed "White Lightning".

Racing career

Three-year-old season (1987)

Tamamo Cross made his debut on March 1st, in a 2,000-meter turf race on Hanshin Racecourse. Though he ran out well early on, he began to stall at the final straight, and he placed 7th. Tamamo Cross was switched to dirt for his second race, and he finally won his maiden race on the third attempt on April 11th.

On May 10th, Tamamo Cross briefly switched back to turf. He ran from the back of the pack, but suddenly, a horse right by him had lost his rider, and Tamamo Cross suffered a bruise following the race, which caused him to not finish. Because of this race, Tamamo Cross became afraid of racing, and he couldn't even look at the horse transportation car without fear. He ran four more open-class dirt races, but did not win any of them. Due to his mental state, he ran poorly in each race, and he would not let other horses come near him.

It was also decided that if Tamamo Cross continued to lose and run poorly, he would be converted to steeplechase racing instead. However, on October 18th, he ran back on turf in an open-class race. After months of losses, he finally won another race, and he won it by seven lengths. He then won another race on November 1st, where he won by eight lengths. It was then initially expected that he would enter the Kikuka Sho in a few weeks. Articles even referred to him as "the secret weapon of Kansai" due to his strong spurt in his latest races. However, Obara decided against this, as he believed that Tamamo Cross would break down if he attempted to run in the Kikuka Sho.

Instead, Tamamo Cross was entered into the Naruo Kinen (G2) on December 6th, which was his first attempt at a graded race. Though he had a late start, he gradually began to advance. Despite being blocked in the final straight, he began to surge through at the final 300 meters. At the final 100 meters, he widened the gap by six lengths and won the race. People then expected Tamamo Cross to enter the Arima Kinen, but Obara decided against it due to Tamamo Cross' fluctuating weight, which made it difficult to transport him to Nakayama Racecourse.

Four-year-old season (1988)

On January 5th, Tamamo Cross competed in the Kyoto Kimpai (G3). He ran from the back during the race, and he found himself blocked by five other horses at the straight. However, he broke out of the pack at 300 meters, and he won the race by a small margin of three-quarters of a length. After the race, Tamamo Cross became known as the "White Lightning" for his speed much like his father.

On March 13th, Tamamo Cross entered the Hanshin Daishoten (G2) as the overwhelming favorite, and had even surpassed Mejiro Durren-the Arima Kinen winner from the last year-in popularity. Within a slow pace, Tamamo Cross gradually began to overtake the other horses, and the race ended in a three-horse photo finish. It was then determined that Tamamo Cross had won the race by a small margin.

On April 29th, Tamamo Cross then competed in the Tenno Sho (Spring) as planned. As usual, he ran from behind, and he ran within a high pace set by the front-runners. He accelerated at the straight, and overtook the horses that were leading in front. He won the race by three lengths, and he attained his first G1 victory. Tamamo Cross then entered the Takarazuka Kinen on June 12th as the second favorite, with the Yasuda Kinen winner Nippo Teio being the overwhelming favorite. Nippo Teio was in the front of the pack, as Tamamo Cross ran from the rear. At the last 200 meters, Tamamo Cross caught up to Nippo Teio and won by two and a half lengths. He then took a break in Hokkaido, in preparation for his autumn campaign.

Because Tamamo Cross continued to struggle with gaining weight, Obara decided to not have him race in any prerequisite races and instead go straight to the Tenno Sho (Autumn) on October 30th. The Tenno Sho (Autumn) got significant attention that year, as another gray horse, Oguri Cap, had won 14 times in a row. As the reputation around gray horses was changing, the race became known as the "gray horse" showdown.

Unlike his usual races, Tamamo Cross was positioned in the front, while Oguri Cap was racing from behind. Even though Oguri Cap began to chase him and get closer, Tamamo Cross did not let go of his position, and he continued to take the lead. As he won the race by one-fourth of a length, not only did he attain his third G1 victory, he also became the first horse in history to win both the Tenno Sho (Spring) and Tenno Sho (Autumn) in a year. He was then entered into the Japan Cup on November 27th, where he once again faced off with Oguri Cap, alongside competed against strong competitors like Tony Bin. Though he accelerated quickly in the stretch, and briefly took the lead, the long-shot American horse Pay the Butler, had overtaken him. Oguri Cap was also fighting hard to chase from behind, and Tamamo Cross placed 2nd. Meanwhile, Tony Bin had sustained a fracture during the race, which caused him to retire.

Tamamo Cross' final race of the year, and his career overall, was the Arima Kinen on December 25th. There, he faced off with Oguri Cap for the final time, alongside many other strong competitors like Soccer Boy, who had won the 1987 Hanshin Sansai Stakes and 1988 Mile Championship, and Super Creek, who had won the Kikuka Sho that year. Tamamo Cross ran in his usual style, and was in the very back alongside Soccer Boy. As Oguri Cap began to advance, Tamamo Cross began to surge past the other horses. Meanwhile, Super Creek had cut off Mejiro Durren, which earned him a disqualification after the race was over. Though Tamamo Cross fought hard to overtake Oguri Cap, he lost to him by a small margin.

However, Tamamo Cross not only received the JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse (1988), he was also awarded Japanese Horse of the Year for his historic efforts and victories. A while later, on January 15th, 1989, a retirement ceremony was held for him at Kyoto Racecourse.

Retirement

Tamamo Cross retired to perform stud duty at Arrow Stud in 1989. He had many progeny that won graded races, though they did not win a G1 race.

On April 19th, 2003, Tamamo Cross passed away at the age of 19 due to intestinal obstruction. 19 years after his death, in 2022, his great-grandson Naran Huleg won the Takamatsunomiya Kinen.

Honors

• Japanese Horse of the Year (1988)
• JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse (1988)

Race Records

Race data sourced from netkeiba.

Date	Racecourse	Race	Grade	Distance	Gate	Odds	Fav.	Fin.	Time	Margin	Jockey	Winner (Runner-Up)	Other Umamusume
1987/03/01	Hanshin	Four-Year-Old Newcomer	Maiden	T 2000m	6	3.5	2	7	2:07.1	1.8	K.Minai	Aichi Matsushima
1987/03/21	Hanshin	Four-Year-Old Newcomer	Maiden	D 1800m	8	3.7	2	4	1:56.3	0.7	K.Minai	Silk Maria
1987/04/11	Hanshin	Four-Year-Old Maiden	Maiden	D 1700m	7	3.0	2	1	1:48.3	-0.1	K.Minai	(Beautiful)
1987/05/10	Kyoto	Four-Year-Old Pre-OP	Pre-OP	T 2000m	4	11.2	6	DNF			K.Minai	Tosano Asakaze
1987/06/28	Sapporo	Four-Year-Old and Up Pre-OP	Pre-OP	D 1800m	6	11.7	7	6	1:55.6	3.0	S.Tabara	Hokkai Seizan
1987/07/11	Sapporo	Rebun Tokubetsu	Pre-OP	D 2000m	5	18.0	7	2	2:07.1	0.2	T.Yasuda	Hirono Hayate
1987/09/19	Hanshin	Nose Tokubetsu	Pre-OP	D 1800m	4	4.8	3	3	1:55.0	0.3	K.Minai	Alpha Vivace
1987/10/04	Hanshin	Four-Year-Old and Up Pre-OP	Pre-OP	D 1700m	1	2.0	1	3	1:47.9	0.6	K.Minai	Marukasky
1987/10/18	Kyoto	Four-Year-Old and Up Pre-OP	Pre-OP	T 2200m	10	9.6	5	1	2:16.2	-1.2	K.Minai	(Nachino Perso)
1987/11/01	Kyoto	Fujinomori Tokubetsu	Pre-OP	T 2000m	5	1.7	1	1	2:03.0	-1.3	M.Matsunaga	(Meisho Hien)
1987/12/06	Hanshin	Naruo Kinen	G2	T 2500m	5	5.8	3	1	2:33.0	-1.0	K.Minai	(Meisho Eikan)	Gold City
1988/01/05	Kyoto	Kyoto Kimpai	G3	T 2000m	13	2.2	1	1	2:03.7	-0.1	K.Minai	(Hallow Point)
1988/03/13	Hanshin	Hanshin Daishoten	G2	T 3000m	5	1.7	1	1	3:12.1	0.0	K.Minai	(Dyna Carpenter)
1988/04/29	Kyoto	Tenno Sho (Spring)	G1	T 3200m	8	4.4	1	1	3:21.8	-0.5	K.Minai	(Running Free)	Gold City
1988/06/12	Hanshin	Takarazuka Kinen	G1	T 2200m	2	3.0	2	1	2:13.2	-0.4	K.Minai	(Nippo Teio)
1988/10/30	Tokyo	Tenno Sho (Autumn)	G1	T 2000m	9	2.6	2	1	1:58.8	-0.2	K.Minai	(Oguri Cap)	Oguri Cap, Sirius Symboli
1988/11/27	Tokyo	Japan Cup	G1	T 2400m	5	3.2	1	2	2:25.6	0.1	K.Minai	Pay the Butler	Oguri Cap, Gold City
1988/12/25	Nakayama	Arima Kinen	G1	T 2500m	11	2.4	1	2	2:34.0	0.1	K.Minai	Oguri Cap	Super Creek, Oguri Cap

Pedigree

Horse pedigree of Tamamo Cross (JPN)

Sire C.B. Cross (JPN)	Fortino (FR)	Grey Sovereign (GB)	Nasrullah (GB)
			Kong (GB)
		Ranavalo (FR)	Relic (USA)
			Navarra (ITY)
	Zuisho (JPN)	Partholon (IRE)	Milesian (GB)
			Paleo (FR)
		Cumulus (JPN)	Turk's Reliance (FR)
			Royal Deal (IRE)
Dam Green Chateau (JPN)	Chateaugay (USA)	Swaps (USA)	Khaled (GB)
			Iron Reward (USA)
		Banquet Bell (USA)	Polynesian (USA)
			Dinner Horn (USA)
	Queen Bee (JPN)	Tudor Period (GB)	Owen Tudor (GB)
			Cornice (GB)
		Corsa (JPN)	Hindostan (GB)
			Miss Channel (AUS), (Family: 21-a)

Trivia

• Although he raced alongside Oguri Cap, he was not counted as a member of the "Heisei Big Three". The honors was given instead to Super Creek and Inari One.
  • Another reason to this is that Tamamo Cross retired at the very end of Showa, where Heisei started next year. Therefore, he was not counted as part of the Heisei.
• Tamamo Cross was known to be exceptionally temperamental, that other horses became afraid of him. According to Ryuseisha's "Ano Uma wa Ima? Guide 2002-2003", he always picked fights with almost every horse beside him in his retirement stable, most notably Mejiro Bright, Paradise Creek and Tikkanen.
  • His fights with Mejiro Bright were so ferocious that no man or horse dared come near them.
• When he was younger, his trainer Isami Obara described him as looking like a mare.