was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She won seven G1 races in Japan, including the 2007 Tokyo Yūshun, the first filly to win this race in 64 years since Kurifuji in 1943 as well as the 2009 Japan Cup. She was awarded the JRA Horse of the Year award in 2008 and 2009 and was inducted to the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 2011."Vodka pursuing all-time earnings record in Dubai". Thoroughbred Times, February 26, 2010 Retrieved 10 February 2012.
Breeding
Vodka was foaled on 4 April 2004 at in Shizunai, Hokkaido. She was a bay mare with a white blaze by the 2002 Tokyo Yushun (Derby) winner, Tanino Gimlet out of Tanino Sister by Rousillon (USA). Her owner named her "Vodka" because he wanted her to be stronger than her father, named after the cocktail gimlet. He dropped the crown name "Tanino" when naming Vodka as he feared it would dilute the impact of her name.
Vodka would be sent to be trained under Katsuhiko Sumii.
Racing career 2006: two-year old season
In 2006, Vodka won her first race start and was second in the ungraded Kigiku Sho, both of which were contested at the Kyoto Racecourse. Vodka would then go on to win the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies race held at the Hanshin Racecourse, beating out Aston Machan by a neck. For her accomplishments, Vodka was awarded the 2006 JRA Award for Best Two-Year-Old Filly.
2007: three-year old season In 2007, Vodka won her first start in the ungraded Elfin Stakes, followed by another win in the G3 Tulip Sho, from Daiwa Scarlet, who finished in second place. At her next start on 8 April, in the G1 Oka Shō (Japanese 1000 Guineas), the first race of the Japanese Triple Tiara, Daiwa Scarlet relegated Vodka to second place. Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka would go on to meet a total of four times that year. Daiwa Scarlet bested her in three of those races. One of those contests was not a win for Daiwa Scarlet though, in the 2007 G1 Arima Kinen at Nakayama Racecourse, Daiwa Scarlet finished second to Matsurida Gogh, with Vodka finishing 11th.
Vodka's next race start was in the G1 Tokyo Yūshun, also known as the Japanese Derby, the second jewel in the Classic Triple Crown. Fillies are usually entered in the Yushun Himba, also known as the Japanese Oaks, which is the second jewel of the Japanese Triple Tiara which is a week before the race, however, in a move that shocked the racing world, Vodka won handily, defeating a field of some of the best three-year-old colts in the country. She became the first filly to win the race in 64 years.
Vodka was unplaced in her next start before racing in the G1 Shuka Sho, which is the last race of the Japanese Filly Triple Crown races. Daiwa Scarlet won the race, with Vodka finishing in third place. She was entered in the 2007 Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup, but was scratched a few hours before the race due to what was thought to be a hip problem. In her next start Vodka finished 4th in the G1 Japan Cup.. Vodka subsequently did not place in her last start of the season.
Despite winning the Japanese Derby. She lost to Daiwa Scarlet in being awarded the JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Filly as Vodka never finished above her in the 3 races in which both horses participated, but the achievement in the Derby led to her receiving the JRA Special Award (an award given to horses/person achieved special achievements, usually historical records, not awarded every year) instead. Her 9 race starts of the season resulted in 3 wins, 1 second and 1 third place.
2008: four-year old season
In her first start of the season Vodka was unplaced in the G2 Kyōto Kinen. Vodka then went to Dubai in the spring of 2008 to race in the G1 Dubai Duty Free on Dubai World Cup Night. She came in a fast closing fourth. Then upon her return to Japan, Vodka narrowly lost the G1 Victoria Mile to Asian Winds in May. She next easily won the G1 Yasuda Kinen in June and narrowly defeated Daiwa Scarlet in the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn). Finally that season even though she was heavily favored, she was unable to win the G1 Japan Cup and came in a close third to Screen Hero.
During 2008 Vodka had 8 starts for the above 2 wins, 2 seconds in the G1 Victoria Mile and G2 Mainichi Okan; 1 third in the G1 Japan Cup and 1 fourth in the G1 Dubai Duty Free.
2009: five-year old season
Vodka’s successive wins in the Yasuda Kinen triplicated what had only been achieved twice before, by Sweet Sue in 1952 and 1953 and by Yamanin Zephyr in 1992 and 1993. In the 2009 running, another photo finish decided the winner, in which the five-year-old mare Vodka on her third Japan Cup try with the French jockey Christophe Lemaire won by a nose over the 2008 Kikuka Sho winner Oken Bruce Lee, in a time of 2 minutes and 22.4 seconds, the third-fastest Japan Cup ever run at the standard 2,400-meter distance. Vodka's win would make her the second highest earning racehorse in Japan. Vodka placed 4th in the 2007 running to Admire Moon and 3rd in the 2008 running to Screen Hero, in which the latter ran 13th in the 2009 race. Vodka had a nosebleed during the Japan Cup and was prohibited from racing for a month following her triumphant Japan Cup run according to Japan Racing Association rules.
Her 7 race starts of the season resulted in 3 wins, 1 second and 1 third placing. Vodka was voted Horse of the Year, for the second consecutive year and became the first female to win the title twice.
2010: six-year old season Vodka had her first start on the synthetic Tapeta Footings surface in the Dubai International Racing Carnival Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 (G2), after racing exclusively on turf in each of her previous 25 starts. In this race she finished eighth and was retired from racing altogether following another nasal bleeding attack.
Her main jockeys included Hirofumi Shii, who rode her in four wins, and Yutaka Take, in three wins. In her final two races Vodka was ridden by Frenchman Christophe Lemaire, who rode her in the Japan Cup victory.
Vodka finished her racing career with a total 10 wins in 22 races in Japan, with wins in seven grade I races, including the 2006 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, the 2007 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), the 2008 Yasuda Kinen and Tenno Sho (Autumn), the 2009 Victoria Mile, Yasuda Kinen and Japan Cup. She equalled the record of the Japanese Triple Crown winners Symboli Rudolf and Deep Impact, as well as T. M. Opera O, for the most grade 1 races won in Japan.
Vodka was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 2011.
Racing statistics Below data is based on data available on JBIS Search and netkeiba.com.
DateRacecourseRaceGradeDistance(condition)EntryHNOdds(Favored)FinishTimeMarginsJockeyWinner(Runner-up)2006 – two-year-old season29 OctKyoto2yo Newcomer1,600 m (Firm)1343.3 (2)1st1:35.0 -0.6Katsuma Sameshima(Lace Doll)12 NovKyotoKigiku ShoALW1,800 m (Firm)873.0 (2)2nd1:49.5 0.2Hirofumi ShiiMeiner Soliste3 DecHanshinHanshin Juvenile Fillies11,600 m (Firm)18211.1 (4)1stR1:33.1 -0.0Hirofumi Shii(Aston Machan)2007 – three-year-old season3 FebKyotoElfin StakesOP1,600 m (Firm)991.7 (1)1st1:33.7 -0.5Hirofumi Shii(Nishino Manamusume)3 MarHanshinTulip Sho31,600 m (Firm)16111.4 (1)1st1:33.7 -0.0Hirofumi Shii(Daiwa Scarlet)8 AprHanshinOka Sho11,600 m (Firm)18141.4 (1)2nd1:33.90.2Hirofumi ShiiDaiwa Scarlet27 MayTokyoTōkyō Yūshun12,400 m (Firm)18310.5 (3)1st2:24.5 -0.5Hirofumi Shii(Asakusa Kings)24 JunHanshinTakarazuka Kinen12,200 m (Good)1823.5 (1)8th2:14.01.6Hirofumi ShiiAdmire Moon14 OctKyotoShuka Sho12,000 m (Firm)18162.7 (1)3rd1:59.30.2Hirofumi ShiiDaiwa Scarlet11 NovKyotoQEII Cup12,200 m (Firm)143 -- (--)Scr -- --Hirofumi ShiiDaiwa Scarlet25 NovTokyoJapan Cup12,400 m (Firm)18116.1 (2)4th2:24.90.2Hirofumi ShiiAdmire Moon23 DecNakayamaArima Kinen12,500 m (Good)16166.9 (3)11th2:35.72.1Hirofumi ShiiMatsurida Gogh2008 – four-year-old season23 FebKyotoKyōto Kinen22,200 m (Firm)16163.4 (2)6th2:13.90.3Hirofumi ShiiAdmire Aura29 MarNad Al ShebaDubai Duty Free11,777 m (Good)1612 -- (--)4th 1:46.6 --Yutaka TakeJay Peg18 MayTokyoVictoria Mile11,600 m (Firm)1892.1 (1)2nd1:33.80.1Yutaka TakeAsian Winds8 JunTokyoYasuda Kinen11,600 m (Firm)1854.1 (2)1st1:32.7 -0.6Yasunari Iwata(Armada)12 OctTokyoMainichi Okan21,800 m (Firm)1631.5 (1)2nd1:44.60.0Yutaka TakeSuper Hornet2 NovTokyoTenno Sho (Autumn)12,000 m (Firm)17142.7 (1)1stR1:57.2 -0.0Yutaka Take(Daiwa Scarlet)30 NovTokyoJapan Cup12,400 m (Firm)1843.7 (2)3rd2:25.70.2Yasunari IwataScreen Hero2009 – five-year-old season5 MarNad Al ShebaJebel Hatta21,777 m (Firm)167 -- (--)5th1:49.2 --Yutaka TakeBalius28 MarNad Al ShebaDubai Duty Free11,777 m (Good)163 -- (--)7th1:48.7 --Yutaka TakeGladiatorus17 MayTokyoVictoria Mile11,600 m (Firm)1861.7 (1)1st1:32.4 -1.2Yutaka Take(Bravo Daisy)7 JunTokyoYasuda Kinen11,600 m (Firm)1831.8 (1)1st1:33.5 -0.1Yutaka Take(Deep Sky)11 OctTokyoMainichi Okan21,800 m (Firm)1161.3 (1)2nd1:45.50.2Yutaka TakeCompany1 NovTokyoTenno Sho (Autumn)12,000 m (Firm)1872.1 (1)3rd1:57.50.3Yutaka TakeCompany29 NovTokyoJapan Cup12,400 m (Firm)1853.6 (1)1st2:22.4 -0.0Christophe Lemaire(Oken Bruce Lee)2010 – six-year-old season4 MarMeydanAl Maktoum Challenge22,000 m (Standard)148 -- (--)8th -- --Christophe LemaireRed Desire
Legend:
Breeding career and death Vodka was retired from racing in 2010 and was shipped from Dubai to Ireland to be mated to the 2009 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner, Sea the Stars at the Aga Khan's Gilltown Stud in County Kildare. On 2 May 2011 Vodka foaled a brown colt as a result of this mating. She had 7 foals in total, all foaled in Ireland: Volare (colt, foaled 2011, by Sea the Stars) – raced 2 times; died suddenly at the age of 7 on 16 August 2018. Case by Case (filly, foaled 2012, by Sea the Stars) – raced 6 times; retired to become a broodmare. Tanino Urban Sea (filly, foaled 2013, by Sea the Stars) – won 4 times out of 19 starts; retired to become a broodmare. Tanino Frankel (colt, foaled 2015, by Frankel) – won 4 times out of 19 starts; was Grade III placed in the 2019 Kokura Daishoten and the Nakayama Kimpai. He was retired to become a stud after his racing career. Tanino Mission (filly, foaled 2016, by Invincible Spirit) – won 1 time out of 16 starts; retired to become a broodmare. Seven pockets (colt, foaled 2017, by Frankel) – won 2 times out of 4 starts. Unnamed (filly, foaled 2018, by Frankel) – went unraced.
Vodka died on 1 April 2019 after developing laminitis on both hinds caused by kicking a concrete wall in Newmarket, Suffolk. This was after she went through surgery to treat her right hind leg which was found to be broken. She was 14 years old. She was cremated, with part of her ashes buried beneath a gravestone under a cherry blossom tree on private land in Newmarket, and the remainder entrusted to her owner, Yuzo Tanimizu. In popular culture An anthropomorphized version of Vodka appears as a character in the multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Ayaka Ōhashi. Appearing as a rough-and-tumble tomboy, Vodka looks up to both her motorcyclist father as well as upperclassman Tanino Gimlet, her real-life sire, and strives to replicate the "cool" image she sees from them. She has a heated rivalry with her roommate Daiwa Scarlet, as even outside the racetrack the two cannot help but bicker over any topic imaginable and make competitions out of every activity; despite being rivals, they show great care and concern for one another.
Pedigree
See also List of leading Thoroughbred racehorses List of racehorses
References
External links
Vodka Becomes Japan's Highest Earning Mare