Shinzan (シンザン; 2 April 1961 – 13 July 1996) was a

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 ...

racehorse that won the Japanese Triple Crown.

Background

Shinzan was a bay horse bred by Yoshimatsu Matsuhashi. He was sired by

Irish Derby The Irish Derby ( Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance ...

winner Hindostan. His dam, Hayanobori was a great-granddaughter of the Irish mare Beautiful Dreamer who was imported to Japan in the 1930s and became extremely influential: her other descendants included the Japanese classic winners Kazuyoshi, Jitsu Homare, Hakuryo and Meiji Hikari. Shinzan was foaled on April 2, 1961, in the

Hokkaidō Prefecture is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

Racing career

Shinzan was generally considered to be the best Japanese racehorse of the post-war era and became the first horse to win all 5 big titles of Japan including the Japanese Triple Crown. He became the second horse to win the Japanese Triple Crown and was named Japanese Horse of the Year in 1964. Shinzan won the Arima Kinen,

Takarazuka Kinen The Takarazuka Kinen (宝塚記念) is a Grade I flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old and above thoroughbreds where they run over a distance of 2,200 metres (approximately miles) at Hanshin Racecourse (阪神競馬場) in late June. It is ...

and

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 Gra ...

(Autumn) as a four-year-old, defending his Horse of the Year title.

Stud record

Shinzan was a successful sire in Japan. His most successful offspring was Miho Shinzan (ミホシンザン) who won the Japanese 2,000 Guineas, Japanese St. Leger, and the Tenno Sho (Spring). Pensioned form stud duties in 1987, Shinzan spent the rest of life at Tanikawa Stud. He lost the sight in his right eye in his later years and also lost all of his teeth. Eventually, he could not stand by himself at times, and his physical weakening became more prominent after February, 1994. He died of old age at about 2:00 a.m. on July 13, 1996. He was 35 years, three months and 11 days old. He is (to date) the longest-lived thoroughbred horse ever recorded in Japan. A funeral service was held posthumously. Shinzan's grave is located in the Tanikawa Stud of Urakawacho, Urakawa-gun, Hokkaido, and a bronze statue of Shinzan was built in this stud.

Principal Race Wins

* 1964 Fuji TV Sho Spring Stakes,

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

Turf 1800m * 1964

Satsuki Sho Satsuki is a traditional Japanese name for the month of . It is commonly used as a feminine given name and, more rarely, as a surname or a masculine name. Possible spellings Satsuki can be spelled using different ''kanji'' characters and can mean: ...

(Japanese 2,000 Guineas), Tokyo Turf 2000m * 1964

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 ...

(Japanese Derby), Tokyo Turf 2400m * 1964 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger),

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

Turf 3000m * 1965

Hanshin , derived from the second kanji from and the first kanji from (but in ''on''-reading instead of ''kun''-reading), refers generally to Osaka, Kobe, and the surrounding area in the Kansai region of Japan. In the context of a region of Hyōgo ...

Turf 2000m * 1965 Meguro Kinen (Autumn), Tokyo Turf 2500m * 1965

(Autumn), Tokyo Turf 3200m * 1965 Arima Kinen (Grand Prix), Nakayama Turf 2600m Satsuki Sho, Tokyo Yushun, Kikuka Sho, Tenno Sho (Autumn), Arima Kinen was 5 of the 8 major races in Japan (the other 3 are

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 ...

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 ...

, and Teio Sho (Spring)), before the introduction of Grade in 1984 which categorized all as GI in 1984. Also, before 1981, a horse can only win Tenno Sho once in their career.

Awards

* 1964 Horse of the Year and Best Three-year-old Colt (Keishu Award) * 1965 Horse of the Year and Best Older Colt or Horse (Keishu Award) * 1984 JRA Hall of Fame horse (Keishu Award is current JRA Award.)

Pedigree

References

{{JRA_Hall_of_Fame_Horse Thoroughbred family 12 1961 racehorse births 1996 racehorse deaths Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing winners Racehorses bred in Japan Racehorses trained in Japan Japanese Thoroughbred Horse of the Year