IRL:Verxina

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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!

Verxina
ヴィルシーナ
Main
Silks
Romaji	Virushīna
Foaled	March 05, 2009
Sire	Deep Impact
Dam	Halwa Sweet
Damsire	Machiavellian
Sex	Mare
Color	Black
Owner	Kazuhiro Sasaki
Trainer	Yasuo Tomomichi
Race Record	21: 5-5-2
Earnings	460,795,000 JPY
Major wins
Queen Cup (2012) Victoria Mile (2013, 2014)

Only Here

In a year drowned in tears, in order to wash away the disappointment, only here, I couldn't lose.

In a year where joy was forgotten, for us to reclaim that spark, only here, I don't want to lose.
—Portraits of the Buccephalus

Verxina is a Japanese racehorse who was active from 2011 until 2014. Best known as the rival of the 2012 Triple Tiara winner Gentildonna, she took second place in five straight graded races before finally winning the Victoria Mile in 2013 and 2014, becoming the first mare to win the race consecutively.

Background

Verxina's sire was Triple Crown winner Deep Impact. Her dam, Halwa Sweet, was a modestly successful racer, but she was best known for being born without a tail. Verxina's owner, retired professional baseball player Kazuhiro Sasaki, reasoned that if Halwa Sweet could win five races without a tail, her offspring would be even more successful because they did have tails! Sasaki made a habit of purchasing every single one of Halwa Sweet's foals, including Verxina's younger half-brother Cheval Grand and her full younger sister Vivlos.

Name Origin

Kazuhiro Sasaki took advice from his wife, actress Kanako Enomoto, when picking out a name; she observed that horses with V in their name (like Air Groove, Victoire Pisa, and Neo Universe) ran especially well. Enomoto was also the one to suggest Вершина, the word for "peak" in Russian, which transliterates to the Latin alphabet as Verxina. Six of Halwa Sweet's eight foals have V in their names.

Racing career

Two-year-old season (2011)

Verxina made her debut on August 28th, in an 1,800-meter maiden race at Sapporo Racecourse. With the help of jockey Yuichi Fukunaga, she won by 1 and 1/4 lengths. This was her owner Kazuhiro Sasaki's first victory.

Her next race was the open-class Kogiku Sho on November 13th. Although she entered the race as the overwhelming favorite, she placed 3rd, which caused her to be scratched from the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies because she couldn't accumulate enough prize money in time. Instead, she was entered into the open-class Erica Sho on December 11th, where she won with ease.

Three-year-old season (2012)

On February 11th, Verxina started the year with a win in the Queen Cup (G3). She then entered the Oka Sho on April 8th, the first leg of the Triple Tiara. During the race, Verxina raced ahead of the pack, stalking the front-runners. She attempted to take the lead at the final corner, but Gentildonna caught up to her and left her in second place. Verxina then ran in the Japanese Oaks on May 20th, where Gentildonna marked her from behind and once again overtook her.

After her summer break, Verxina returned to compete in the Rose Stakes (G2) on September 16th. Verxina ran from further back and marked Gentildonna during the race, but even then, she could not escape losing to Gentildonna once again by less than half a length. She then confronted her once more in the Shuka Sho on October 14th. In a bold move, Verxina took the lead, rather than stalk the front runners, though she faced competition at the front with Cherry Medusa. In the final straight, both Verxina and Gentildonna accelerated, and crossed the finish line side by side. After lengthy deliberation, it was decided that Gentildonna had won by just seven centimeters. Gentildonna became the fourth winner of the Triple Tiara, and Verxina had placed second in every single race.

Despite her repeated defeats, Verxina was still the favorite to win the Queen Elizabeth II cup on November 11th. This time, she struggled not with Gentildonna's dominance, but with heavy ground from recent rainfall. She couldn't catch up to the upset winner Rainbow Dahlia, and placed second yet again.

Four-year-old season (2013)

Verxina's first race as a four-year-old was the Osaka Hai (G2) on March 31st. Though she raced from the front, she lost momentum and placed 6th behind 2011 Triple Crown winner Orfevre.

On May 12th, Verxina competed in the Victoria Mile as the favorite. Settling within the pack, she began to accelerate at the final straight, as other horses like Whale Capture and Meine Isabel were chasing her. The race ended in a photo finish, but after deliberation, Verxina was determined to be ahead by a small margin. She had finally achieved her first G1 victory.

However, Verxina did not win any other races that year. In the Yasuda Kinen, she placed 8th, well behind the winner Lord Kanaloa; in the Kyoto Daishoten (G2) in October, she was 8th once again. Though heavily favored to win the Queen Elizabeth II Cup on November 10th, she placed 10th and lost to Meisho Mambo, that year's Japanese Oaks winner. Only two weeks later, Verxina finished the year with the Japan Cup, where she was defeated by Gentildonna and finished in 7th place.

Five-year-old season (2014)

Verxina's losing streak continued into 2014, as she finished a dismal 11th in the Tokyo Shimbun Hai (G3) and another 11th in the Hanshin Himba Stakes (G2). She dropped all the way to 11th favorite for the Victoria Mile on May 18th - but she won, becoming the first mare in history to win consecutive Victoria Miles.

Verxina did not win her remaining three races. In the Takarazuka Kinen on June 29th, despite fighting hard in the straight, she lost to Gold Ship and placed 3rd. While her team considered entering her in the Fuchu Himba Stakes (G3), it was decided to have her rest throughout the summer instead. She placed 11th in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup on November 16th. Her final race was the Arima Kinen on December 28th, where she and Gentildonna both ran their retirement races. Verxina struggled to catch up to the horses in front of her, and she placed 14th, the lowest in her career. On that same day, she was deregistered as a racehorse.

Retirement & Breeding Career

Verxina retired to become a broodmare at Northern Farm. Since 2016, she has had five foals, with them having minor success in their racing careers. Her first colt, Bravas, won the G3 Niigata Kinen in 2020, and stood stud in Brazil from 2024 until his untimely death in 2025. Her first filly, Divina, won the G2 Fuchu Himba Stakes in 2023, and became a broodmare alongside Verxina's other two fillies, Gravitas and Vestria.

Relationships

Relatives

• Cheval Grand - Half-brother
• Vivlos - Full sister

Race Records

Race data sourced from netkeiba.

Date	Racecourse	Race	Grade	Distance	Gate	Odds	Fav.	Fin.	Time	Margin	Jockey	Winner (Runner-Up)	Other Umamusume
2011/08/28	Sapporo	Two-Year-Old Newcomer	Maiden	T 1800m	5	2.6	1	1	1:55.2	-0.2	Y.Fukunaga	(Golden Crown)
2011/11/13	Kyoto	Kigiku Sho	Pre-OP	T 1800m	6	2.8	1	3	1:47.6	0.1	Y.Fukunaga	Brightline
2011/12/11	Hanshin	Erica Sho	Pre-OP	T 2000m	2	4.7	3	1	2:04.1	0.0	I.Mendizabal	(Tagano Rayonner)
2012/02/11	Tokyo	Daily Hai Queen Cup	G3	T 1600m	9	4.7	2	1	1:36.6	-0.2	Y.Iwata	(Ichiokuno Hoshi)
2012/04/08	Hanshin	Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas)	G1	T 1600m	15	10.2	4	2	1:34.7	0.1	H.Uchida	Gentildonna	Gentildonna
2012/05/20	Tokyo	Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks)	G1	T 2400m	9	3.6	2	2	2:24.4	0.8	H.Uchida	Gentildonna	Gentildonna
2012/09/16	Hanshin	Rose Stakes	G2	T 1800m	7	3.8	2	2	1:47.0	0.2	H.Uchida	Gentildonna	Gentildonna
2012/10/14	Kyoto	Shuka Sho	G1	T 2000m	1	6.1	2	2	2:00.4	0.0	H.Uchida	Gentildonna	Gentildonna
2012/11/11	Kyoto	Queen Elizabeth II Cup	G1	T 2200m	12	1.9	1	2	2:16.3	0.0	H.Uchida	Rainbow Dahlia
2013/03/31	Hanshin	Sankei Osaka Hai	G2	T 2000m	14	10.6	4	6	1:59.8	0.8	H.Uchida	Orfevre	Orfevre, Eishin Flash, Rose Kingdom
2013/05/12	Tokyo	Victoria Mile	G1	T 1600m	11	3.1	1	1	1:32.4	0.0	H.Uchida	(Whale Capture)
2013/06/02	Tokyo	Yasuda Kinen	G1	T 1600m	15	20.0	7	8	1:32.0	0.5	C.Williams	Lord Kanaloa
2013/10/06	Kyoto	Kyoto Daishoten	G2	T 2400m	8	21.7	3	8	2:23.5	0.6	Y.Iwata	Hit the Target	Gold Ship
2013/11/10	Kyoto	Queen Elizabeth II Cup	G1	T 2200m	9	3.3	1	10	2:17.2	0.6	Y.Iwata	Meisho Mambo
2013/11/24	Tokyo	Japan Cup	G1	T 2400m	1	49.3	9	7	2:26.3	0.2	Y.Iwata	Gentildonna	Gentildonna, Tosen Jordan, Eishin Flash, Gold Ship
2014/02/17	Tokyo	Tokyo Shimbun Hai	G3	T 1600m	15	20.6	9	11	1:34.4	1.2	H.Uchida	Whale Capture
2014/04/12	Hanshin	Hanshin Himba Stakes	G2	T 1400m	7	12.2	5	11	1:20.8	0.5	H.Uchida	Smart Layer
2014/05/18	Tokyo	Victoria Mile	G1	T 1600m	14	28.3	11	1	1:32.3	-0.1	H.Uchida	(Meisho Mambo)
2014/06/29	Hanshin	Takarazuka Kinen	G1	T 2200m	3	35.6	8	3	2:14.6	0.7	Y.Fukunaga	Gold Ship	Gold Ship, Win Variation, Gentildonna, Tosen Jordan
2014/11/16	Kyoto	Queen Elizabeth II Cup	G1	T 2200m	10	18.3	7	11	2:13.2	0.9	H.Uchida	Lachesis
2014/12/28	Nakayama	Arima Kinen	G1	T 2500m	2	77.7	12	14	2:36.1	0.8	H.Uchida	Gentildonna	Gentildonna, Gold Ship, Epiphaneia, Fenomeno, Win Variation

Pedigree

Horse pedigree of Verxina (JPN)

Sire Deep Impact (JPN)	Sunday Silence (USA)	Halo (USA)	Hail to Reason (USA)
			Cosmah (USA)
		Wishing Well (USA)	Understanding (USA)
			Mountain Flower (USA)
	Wind in Her Hair (IRE)	Alzao (USA)	Lyphard (USA)
			Lady Rebecca (GB)
		Burghclere (GB)	Busted (GB)
			Highclere (GB)
Dam Halwa Sweet (JPN)	Machiavellian (USA)	Mr. Prospector (USA)	Raise a Native (USA)
			Gold Digger (USA)
		Coup de Folie (USA)	Halo (USA)
			Raise the Standard (CAN)
	Halwa Song (USA)	Nureyev (USA)	Northern Dancer (CAN)
			Special (USA)
		Morn of Song (USA)	Blushing Groom (FR)
			Glorious Song (CAN), (Family: 12-c)

Trivia

• As Verxina continued to struggle in G1 races, her owner, Kazuhiro Sasaki, designed a blue "X" on her menko so that she could "counter" Gentildonna.
• She is affectionately called "Viru" by Shinji Yasuda.
• She enjoys having her ears petted.
• She dislikes the sound of sirens and high-pitched noises in general.