Shahryar, ( ja, シャフリヤール, link=no, foaled 13 April 2018) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. He won his only start as a juvenile in 2020 and made rapid improvement in the following spring as he ran third in the

Tokinominoru Kinen The Tokinominoru Kinen (Japanese 共同通信杯) is a Grade 3 horse race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run in February over a distance of 1800 metres at Tokyo Racecourse. Officially known as the Kyodo News Hai, the race is named in honour of ...

before taking the

Mainichi Hai The Mainichi Hai (Japanese 毎日杯) is a Grade 3 horse race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run in March over a distance of 1800 metres at Hanshin Racecourse. The race was first run in 1954 and has held Grade 3 status since 1984. It was init ...

and Tokyo Yushun.

Background

Shahryar is a dark bay or brown horse with a 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 ...

and white socks on his hind legs bred in Japan by Northern Farm. The horse entered the ownership of the Northern Farm associate Sunday Racing and was sent into training with Hideaki Fujiwara. He is not a large horse by Thoroughbred standards, weighing around 450 kg. He usually races in a

hood Hood may refer to: Covering Apparel * Hood (headgear), type of head covering ** Article of Academic dress#Hood, academic dress ** Bondage hood, sex toy * Hoodie, hooded sweatshirt Anatomy * Clitoral hood, a hood of skin surrounding the clitori ...

. He was from the eleventh crop of foals sired by Deep Impact, who was the Japanese Horse of the Year in 2005 and 2006, winning races including the Tokyo Yushun, Tenno Sho,

Arima Kinen The Arima Kinen (有馬記念) is a Grade I flat horse race in Japan open to Thoroughbreds which are three-years-old or above and the world's largest betting horserace.

and Japan Cup. Deep Impact's other progeny include

Gentildonna is a retired Japanese thoroughbred racehorse. In 2012 she won the Japanese Fillies Triple Crown and was voted Japanese Horse of the Year. She was also the first three-year-old filly to win the Japan Cup, in 2012, and the following year became th ...

Harp Star Harp Star ( ja, ハープスター, link=no, foaled 24 April 2011) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. She was one of the leading two-year-old fillies in Japan in 2013 when she won the Niigata Nisai Stakes and was narrowly beaten in the Hansh ...

Kizuna is a Japanese word meaning "bond". It may also refer to: Music * ''Kizuna'' (album), a 2022 album by JO1 * "Kizuna" (Aya Matsuura song) * "Kizuna" (Aya Ueto song) * "Kizuna" (Orange Range song) * "Kizuna", a song from the anime Mermaid Melody Pich ...

, A Shin Hikari,

Marialite Marialite is a silicate mineral with a chemical formula of if a pure endmember or with increasing meionite content. Marialite is a member of the scapolite group and a solid solution exists between marialite and meionite, the calcium endmember. ...

and

Saxon Warrior Saxon Warrior (foaled 26 January 2015) is a Japanese-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. As a two-year-old in 2017 he was one of the best colts of his generation in Europe, winning all three of his races including the Beresford Stakes ...

. Shahryar's dam Dubai Majesty was a top class performer on dirt in the United States, recording her biggest win when taking the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint as a five-year-old in 2010. Two days after her Breeders' Cup win the mare was put up for auction at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November select breeding stock sale and bought for $1,100,000 by Northern Farm's Katsumi Yoshida. She was a descendant of the Virginia-bred mare Knight's Gal who was the female-line ancestor of many good winners including Palace Malice and

Mutafaweq Mutafaweq (foaled 21 February 1996 in Kentucky) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who raced successfully in England, Germany, and Canada. Background Mutafaweq was a bay horse with no white markings bred in Kentucky by Muirfield Ventures & Jayeff B St ...

. The mare had previously produced Sharyar's full-brother

Al Ain Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tawam (region), Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al-Ain Region, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. ...

Racing career

2020: two-year-old season

On his first and only start as a juvenile, Shahryar started the 1.3/1 favourite for a newcomers' race over 1800 metres on firm ground at Kyoto Racecourse on 25 October. Ridden by Yuichi Fukunaga he turned into the straight in fourth place before finishing strongly to win by a neck from Vivant, with four

lengths 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 Intern ...

back to Sunrise Golazo in third place.

2021: three-year-old season

For his first run as a three-year-old, Shahryar was partnered by Fukunaga when he was stepped up in class to contest the Grade 3

on 14 February over 1800 metres at Tokyo Racecourse. Starting the 3.9/1 second favourite he finished strongly but never looked likely to win and came home third behind

Efforia Efforia ( ja, エフフォーリア, link=no foaled 10 March 2018) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. After winning two minor races as a two-year-old in 2020 he won the Kyodo Tsushin Hai on his first run of 2021 and maintained his unbeaten r ...

and Victipharus. On 27 March at Hanshin Racecourse, the colt started second favourite behind Great Magician for the Grade 3

in which he was ridden by Yuga Kawada. After settling in fifth place he made progress to take the lead in the straight and held off a strong challenge from Great Magician to win by a neck in a race record time of 1:43.9. Commenting on the race some time later Shahryar's assistant trainer Nobuyuki Tashiro stated: "It was a good win, with a very fast time, showing how good his reactions are. It became clear that a run in the Derby would be his next target." On 30 May at Tokyo Shahryar was reunited with Fukunaga when he was one of seventeen three-year-olds to contest the 88th running of the Tokyo Yushun over 2400 metres. In the build-up to the race Hideaki Fujiwara said "He’s developing really nicely, and everything’s gone as I would have expected with him... He's an easy horse to ride and there’s no doubt he has ability. The jockey feels good about what the horse has done in training, including his usual work uphill. The 2,400 meters at Tokyo will be good for him." He went off the 10.7/1 fourth choice in the betting behind

, the

filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

Satono Reinas (runner-up in the Oka Sho) and Great Magician while the other contenders included Wonderful Town (winner of the Aoba Sho), Titleholder (

Yayoi Sho The is a Japanese Grade 2 flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old Thoroughbred colts and fillies run over a distance of 2,000 metres at the Nakayama Racecourse, Funabashi, Chiba. The race is run in March and serves as a major trial race for ...

), Stella Veloce (

Saudi Arabia Royal Cup The Saudi Arabia Royal Cup (Japanese サウジアラビアロイヤルカップ) is a Grade 3 horse race for two-year-old Thoroughbreds run in October over a distance of 1600 metres at Tokyo Racecourse. The race was first run as an open class r ...

), Gratias (

Keisei Stakes Keisei may refer to: *Keisei (monk) *Keisei Electric Railway *Keisei Bus The is a bus company within the Keisei Group which was established on 1 October 2003 to inherit all business of the Keisei Electric Railway bus department. Local bus serv ...

), Bathrat Leon (

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 ...

), Red Genesis (

Kyoto Shimbun Hai The Kyoto Shimbun Hai (Japanese 京都新聞杯) is a Japanese Grade 2 flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old Thoroughbreds. It is run over a distance of 2200 metres at Kyoto Racecourse in May. The Kyoto Shimbun Hai was first run in 1953 ...

), Victipharus ( Spring Stakes) and Lagom (

Kisaragi Sho The Kisaragi Sho (Japanese きさらぎ賞) is a Grade 3 horse race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run in February over a distance of 1800 metres at Kyoto Racecourse. The race is also known as the NHK Sho. The race was first run in 1961 and w ...

). Fukunaga settled his mount in mid-division on the inside as Bathrat Leon set a steady pace from Titleholder and entered the straight in eleventh place. Satono Reinas gained the advantage in the straight before giving way to Efforia but Shahryar, having struggled to obtain a clear run began to make rapid progress. He moved up to challenge the favourite in the final strides and prevailed by a nose in a record time of 2:22.5. After the race Fukunaga said "It's so great to have won the Derby which I had made it my target with this colt ever since his debut. We were keeping an eye on the race favorite but the race didn’t go as smoothly as planned and we were in a tight spot so we were forced to make our charge late, but this colt really gave a terrific effort."

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 2018 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Japan Racehorses trained in Japan Thoroughbred family 2-s