Aventura ( ja, アヴェンチュラ, link=no, foaled 7 March 2008) is a Japanese

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse and

broodmare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

. As a juvenile in 2010 she showed very promising form, winning on her debut before running second in the

Sapporo Nisai Stakes The Sapporo Nisai Stakes (Japanese 札幌2歳ステークス) is a Grade 3 horse race for two-year-old Thoroughbreds run in late August or early September over a distance of 1800 metres at Sapporo Racecourse. The race was first run in 1966 and w ...

and fourth in the

Hanshin Juvenile Fillies The Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (阪神ジュベナイルフィリーズ) is a one-mile turf stakes race for thoroughbred fillies two years old. It is considered the ''de facto'' year-end championship for Japanese thoroughbred racing in the two-year- ...

. She missed the first half of the next season but then won the Isaribi Stakes and the Queen Stakes before recording her biggest victory in the

Shuka Sho Shuka ( sa, शुक , also Shukadeva ) is a rishi (sage) in Hinduism. He is the son of the sage Vyasa and the main narrator of the scripture ''Bhagavata Purana''. Most of the ''Bhagavata Purana'' consists of Shuka reciting the story to the k ...

. She sustained her only defeat of the year on her final start when she was beaten a neck by Snow Fairy in the

Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup The Queen Elizabeth II Cup (''Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup'' until 2012) is an Graded stakes race, International Grade 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Japan for three-year-old and above thoroughbred Filly, fillies and mar ...

. Her achievements saw her being awarded the 2011

JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Filly The JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Filly is a title awarded annually by the Japan Racing Association The Japan Racing Association ( ja, 日本中央競馬会 Nippon Chūō Keiba Kai, or JRA) is a public company established to operate Chūō Keib ...

Background

Aventura is a bay mare with a large white

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

bred in

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

by Northern Farm. During her racing career she carried the green, white and red colours of U Carrot Farm and was trained by Katsuhiko Sumii. She was from the 6th crop of foals sired by

Jungle Pocket Jungle Pocket ( ja, ジャングルポケット, link=no, 7 May 1998 – 2 March 2021) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career which lasted from 2000 until 2002 he won five of his thirteen races and ¥704,258,000 in p ...

who won the

Tokyo Yushun Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

and the

Japan Cup The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions with ...

in 2001. He went on to become a very successful breeding stallion whose other foals included Jaguar Mail (

Tenno Sho The is a horse race held twice a year in Japan, once in the spring and once in the autumn. "Tenno" means "Emperor of Japan". The races are both International Grade I races. Prior to the 2007 races, both Tenno Sho races were Japanese domestic Gr ...

). Aventura's dam Admire Sunday showed high class form, winning three race and finishing second in the

Hanshin Himba Stakes The Hanshin Himba Stakes Japanese 阪神牝馬ステークス} is a Japanese Grade 2 flat horse race in Japan for Thoroughbreds fillies and mares of at least four years of age. It is run over a distance of 1400 metres at Hanshin Racecourse in A ...

. As a broodmare she also produced Aventura's full sister Tall Poppy who won the

Yushun Himba The , also known as the is a Japanese Grade 1 flat horse race for three-year-old thoroughbred fillies run over a distance of 2,400 metres (approximately 1 mile 4 furlongs) at the Tokyo Racecourse, Fuchū, Tokyo in May. History It was first run i ...

in 2008. She was a granddaughter of the undefeated French mare Madelia.

Racing career

2010: two-year-old season

Aventura began her racing career in a contest for previously unraced juveniles over 1600 metres at

Hanshin Racecourse is located in Takarazuka, Hyogo, Japan. It has a capacity of 139,000 and it is used for horse racing. The land was originally owned by Kawanishi Aircraft Company, which manufactured combat planes during World War II. After the World War II, GH ...

on 20 June and won from Eishin Osman, a colt who went on to win the

New Zealand Trophy The New Zealand Trophy (Japanese ニュージーランドトロフィー) is a Japanese Grade 2 flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old Thoroughbreds. It is run over a distance of 1600 metres at Nakayama Racecourse in April. The New Zealan ...

. After three-month break she was moved up in class for the Grade 3

and finished second, three quarters of a

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...

behind the colt All As One. On 12 December at Hanshin, Aventura was one of eighteen contenders for the Grade 1

over 1600 metres and started the 8.9/1 third choice in the betting. Ridden by Ryuji Wada she was restrained towards the rear before making steady progress in the straight and finished fourth behind

Reve d'Essor Reve d'Essor (Japanese レーヴディソール, foaled 8 April 2008) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She was the best juvenile filly in Japan in 2010 when she was unbeaten in three races including the Daily Hai Nisai Stake ...

, Whale Capture and Rice Terrace, beaten two and a half lengths behind the winner. In the official Japanese rankings for 2010, Aventura was rated the fourth-best juvenile filly, five pounds behind the top-rated Reve d'Essor.

2011: Three-year-old season

Aventura missed the first half of the 2011 season after sustaining a leg fracture. She made her first appearance of the year on 30 July at

Hakodate Racecourse is a horse racing track in Hakodate, Japan, built in 1896. During the period between 2008 and 2009, Hakodate Racecourse was closed for renovation and refurbishment of the grandstand. Work was completed in June 2010. As part of this refurbishment ...

when she won the Isaribi Stakes from the four-year-old Silk Earnest and ten others. Kenichi Ikezoe took the ride two weeks later when the filly was made the 1.7/1 favourite for the Grade 3 Queen Stakes at Sapporo. After racing in fourth or fifth place for most of the way she took the lead in the straight and won by a neck from Cosmo Nemo Shin. On 16 October, with

Yasunari Iwata (born March 12, 1974; from Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture) is a Japanese jockey who rode the winner of the 2006 Melbourne Cup, Delta Blues. It was Iwata's first race outside Japan. He debuted in the Hyōgo Keiba, one of the racing organizations in ...

in the saddle, Avenura started second favourite behind Whale Capture (who had won the Rose Stakes on her last start) in the Grade 1 Shuka Sho over 2000 metres at

Kyoto Racecourse is located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is used for horse racing. It has a capacity of 120,000. It was built in 1999. History Kyoto Race Course opened on December 1, 1925. In preparation for the track's 100th anniversary ...

. The other sixteen runners included Marcellina (

Oka Sho The is a Japanese Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan. The race is restricted to three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies and is run over a distance of 1,600 metres (approximately 1 mile) at the Hanshin Racecourse, Takarazuka, Hyōgo in April. It was ...

), Meine Isabel (

Niigata Nisai Stakes The Niigata Nisai Stakes (Japanese 新潟2歳ステークス) is a Grade 3 horse race for two-year-old Thoroughbreds run in August over a distance of 1600 metres at Niigata Racecourse. The race was first run in 1981 and was promoted to Grade 3 ...

), Erin Court (

) and Calmato ( Shion Stakes). After racing in third place behind the front-running outsider Memorial Year, Aventura took the lead in the straight and won by one and a quarter lengths from Kyowa Jeanne with Whale Capture the same distance back in third. Iwata commented:

"It is the first time I have ridden her but I didn't feel any concerns".

Aventura made her final run of the year in the

over 2200 metres at Kyoto on 13 November when she started second favourite behind the British-trained four-year-old Snow Fairy who had won the race in 2010. After racing in mid-division she finished strongly to take second place, a neck behind Snow Fairy, with Apapane, Whale Capture, Reve d'Essor, Erin Court,

Dancing Rain Dancing Rain (foaled on 24 April 2008) is a retired Thoroughbred mare that was bred in Ireland and raced in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Japan. Dancing Rain was the unanticipated winner of the 2011 Epsom Oaks and won the Preis der ...

and

Saint Emilion In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

finishing behind. In the Japanese rankings for 2011, Aventura was rated best three-year-old filly, four pounds ahead of Whale Capture and Reve d'Essor. In January 2012 Aventura topped the poll for the

, taking 268 of the 285 votes.

Breeding record

Aventura was retired from racing to become a broodmare. As of 2019, she has produced four foals: *Desafiante, a bay filly, foaled in 2015, sired by King Kamehameha *unnamed bay colt, 2016, by

Harbinger A harbinger is a forerunner or forewarning, but may also refer to: Companies * Harbinger Corp., an Internet-oriented business * Harbinger Capital, a hedge fund * Harbinger Knowledge Products, an eLearning products and content services company ...

*Kaiser Line, bay colt, 2017, by Epiphaneia *unnamed bay colt, 2018, by King Kamehameha

Pedigree

*Aventura was

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...

4 × 4 to Northern Dancer, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of her pedigree.

References

{{Reflist 2008 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Japan Racehorses trained in Japan Thoroughbred family 1-p