IRL:Winner's Circle

Winner's Circle
ウィナーズサークル
Main
Silks	[[Image:|50px]]
Romaji	Uināzu Sākuru
Foaled	April 10, 1986
Died	August 27, 2016
Sire	Sea Hawk
Dam	Kurino Ivor
Sex	Stallion
Color	Grey
Trainer	Yasuhisa Matsuyama
Race Record	11: 3-5-0
Earnings	160,680,000 JPY
Major wins
Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) (1989)

(This is linked to a Cinderella Gray character but she isn't added yet. Will update later)

Winner's Circle was a Japanese racehorse active in 1988 and 1989.

He was notable for being the first grey horse to win the Japan Derby. His racing career was ended prematurely due to an injury.

Name Origin

An aspirational name; the owners wanted the horse to end up in the Winner's Circle after a race.

Racing career

Background

Unusually, the foal appeared "pure white" from birth. At some point the colour appeared, before turning grey and then white again later in life.

3-year-old (1988)

On July 23, he finished 4th in his debut race (1200m) at Fukushima racecourse.

After the race, he suffered from 'rhinoceros belly' (?) and was put to rest for a few months.

On December 4, he finished 2nd in a race (2000m) at Nakayama Racecourse.

On December 24, he finished 2nd in another race (2000m) at Nakayama racecourse.

It is said that his losses were caused by his temper: after taking the lead, he had a bad habit of rebelling against his jockey.

4-year-old (1989)

Still without any wins, the trainer was concerned about his struggles on turf, so switched him to dirt races.

On January 22, he won by 5 lengths a race (1800m) at Nakayama racecourse.

On February 5, he finished 2nd in the Cattleya Prize (1600m) at Tokyo racecourse.

On March 5, he finished 2nd in a race (1800m) at Nakayama racecourse.

On March 18, he won by 7 lengths a race (1800m) at Nakayama racecourse.

On April 16, he finished 2nd in the 49th Satsuki Sho (2000m, GI) at Nakayama racecourse.

On May 28, he won the 56th Tokyo Yushun/Japan Derby (2400m, GI). This victory was notable for several reasons: he was first winner with a grey coat, and bred in Ibaraki prefecture, and had never won a turf race before, and only had 2 previous wins.

"The victory of a horse bred in Ibaraki Prefecture was such a hot topic that it was covered not only in sports newspapers but also in general newspapers. Also, on the day of the race, a large group of people from the local Edosaki Town Hall came to support the horse in two buses. According to Michio Kuriyama of the ranch, they drank alcohol, won bets on the race, and had a wild time." (Translated from Japanese Wikipedia)

After the win, he spent some time resting, and returned to the stables in August.

On October 15, he competed against Osaichi George in the 37th Kyoto Shimbun Hai (2200m, GII). He finished 4th.

On November 5, he again competed against Osaichi George in the 50th Kikuka Sho (3000m, GI) at Kyoto racecourse. He finished 10th.

Four days after the race, it was discovered that he had fractured two bones in his leg. He was expected to recover and return to racing, but complications occured and the attempt was abandoned.

Retirement

In 1990, he became a breeding stallion at Honkiri Farm in Hokkaido. His half-brother Ines Fujin (from Sea Hawk) had also recently become a new stallion and was more popular, so Winner's Circle didn't attract many mares.

In total, he sired 191 registered foals. 95 of them won a race, but only 1 won a major race.

In November 2000, at 14 years old, he was transferred to the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, back home in Ibaraki prefecture.

In 2007, he retired from breeding but was still kept for educational purposes, training students in farriery and blood sampling, among other things.

"He was a very appreciated horse for the students who came to train. ... He was docile and easy to handle, but could also be assertive when needed. He was the perfect living teaching material for beginners." (Translated from a Number Bunshun article)

He died from old age on August 27, 2016, at 30 years old.

Honors

In 1989 he was voted Best 4-Year-Old Colt at the JRA Awards, with 103 out of 172 votes.

Race Records

Race data sourced from netkeiba.

Date	Racecourse	Race	Grade	Distance	Gate	Odds	Fav.	Fin.	Time	Margin	Jockey	Winner (Runner-Up)	Other Umamusume
1988/07/23	Fukushima	Three-Year-Old Newcomer	Maiden	T 1200m	8	1.4	1	4	1:15.0	2.1	K.Takehara	Before Dawn
1988/12/04	Nakayama	Three-Year-Old Maiden	Maiden	T 2000m	10	3.0	1	2	2:03.1	0.0	H.Gouhara	Hase Ambition
1988/12/24	Nakayama	Three-Year-Old Maiden	Maiden	T 2000m	11	1.2	1	2	2:04.0	0.9	H.Gouhara	My Five Star
1989/01/22	Nakayama	Four-Year-Old Maiden	Maiden	D 1800m	8	1.2	1	1	1:55.5	-0.8	H.Gouhara	(Chicago City)
1989/02/05	Tokyo	Cattleya Sho	Pre-OP	D 1600m	6	1.7	1	2	1:40.9	0.1	H.Gouhara	Dosuku Daio
1989/03/05	Nakayama	Four-Year-Old Pre-OP	Pre-OP	D 1800m	8	1.5	1	2	1:52.7	0.2	H.Gouhara	Real Sapphire
1989/03/18	Nakayama	Four-Year-Old Pre-OP	Pre-OP	D 1800m	1	1.2	1	1	1:54.1	-1.2	H.Gouhara	(Rotary Shori)
1989/04/16	Nakayama	Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas)	G1	T 2000m	11	16.2	7	2	2:05.3	0.1	H.Gouhara	Doctor Spurt
1989/05/28	Tokyo	Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby)	G1	T 2400m	3	7.3	3	1	2:28.8	-0.1	H.Gouhara	(Real Birthday)
1989/10/15	Kyoto	Kyoto Shimbun Hai	G2	T 2200m	15	4.8	2	4	2:13.8	0.4	H.Gouhara	Bamboo Begin
1989/11/05	Kyoto	Kikuka Sho (Japanese St.Leger)	G1	T 3000m	14	4.1	2	10	3:08.7	1.0	H.Gouhara	Bamboo Begin

Pedigree

Horse pedigree of Winner's Circle (JPN)

Sire Sea Hawk (FR)	Herbager (FR)	Vandale (FR)	Plassy (GB)
			Vanille (FR)
		Flagette (FR)	Escamillo (FR)
			Fidgette (FR)
	Sea Nymph (FR)	Free Man (FR)	Norseman (FR)
			Fantine (FR)
		Sea Spray (FR)	Ocean Swell (GB)
			Pontoon (GB)
Dam Kurino Ivor (JPN)	Great Onward (IRE)	Sir Ivor (USA)	Sir Gaylord (USA)
			Attica (USA)
		Princess Isabelle (GB)	Prince Chevalier (FR)
			Isabelle Brand (FR)
	Clochette (IRE)	Mossborough (GB)	Nearco (ITY)
			All Moonshine (GB)
		La Cloche (IRE)	Le Lavandou (FR)
			Angelus (GB), (Family: F21-a)

References

Netkeiba profile

Wikipedia page