was a champion Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In 1991, he won the Satsuki Sho and the Tokyo Yushun, and was the 1991 Japanese Horse of the Year. He then won the 1992 Japan Cup where champion horses like the European Horse of the Year and the Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year participated. After being sidelined with a leg injury for a whole year (364 days), he won the Arima Kinen in 1993. Tokai Teio was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 1995.
Background Tokai Teio was sired by triple crown winner Symboli Rudolf out of Tokai Natural, a half-sister of the Yushun Himba winner Tokai Roman. Because Natural had foot problems, she could not debut and became a broodmare. Natural and Roman's owner Masanori Uchimura had obtained the breeding right to Symboli Rudolf and originally planned to breed him with Roman. However, Roman, who was supposed to retire after the Niigata Daishoten, placed second, and it was decided that she would race for one more year.『優駿』2013年6月号、p.83 Natural was bred with Rudolf instead.『優駿』2005年12月号、p.41
Tokai Natural gave birth on April 20, 1988, at the Nagahama Ranch in Niikappu, Hokkaido. Immediately after birth, the foal was referred to as「帝王」"Teio", meaning monarch, referring to his sire Symboli Rudolf's nickname「皇帝」"Koutei", meaning emperor.『優駿』1991年8月号、p.12 Thus, the foal was named Hamano Teio.『トウカイテイオー栄光の蹄跡』p.62 Teio had long legs and a delicate frame and did not receive high valuations. However, once he started exercising, his flexible movement became apparent, garnering expectations. In October the following year, Teio was transferred to the Nibutani Training Center in Biratori, Hokkaido where his flexibility and competitive spirit was highly received.『トウカイテイオー栄光の蹄跡』p.47 Teio would remain at Nibutani for an entire year until reaching the racing age of 3 years in October 1990, after which he entered the Rittō Training Center in Rittō, Shiga under trainer Shoichi Matsumoto. Teio's racing name was registered as Tokai Teio.
During training, Tokai Teio was outstanding on the ramp course where horses with long strides are not supposed to record good times, giving Matsumoto high expectations.『優駿』1991年7月号、p.84 Believing Teio to have a chance in the Japanese Triple Crown, Matsumoto back-calculated from the Satsuki Shō and Tokyo Yūshun and planned a schedule with leeway. Furthermore, Teio's farrier was surprised at the flexibility of his joints, saying to his groom that "the derby horse has arrived".『優駿』2013年6月号、p.84
Racing career 1990: two-year-old-season Tokai Teio made his debut in a 1800-meter maiden race on 1 December at the Chukyo Racecourse, which was selected to simulate a left-handed track similar to the Tokyo Racecourse. Ridden by Takayuki Yasada, who had ridden Teio in pre-race training along with other horses owned by Matsumoto, Tokai Teio was the favorite to win the race after its performance in training. Despite a tight course that favored front-runners, Tokai Teio started at the end of the pack and gradually made his way to the inside towards the front on the final straight, where he would win by four lengths. After his debut race win, he was registered for the open-grade 2,000-meter Cyclamen Stakes at the Kyoto Racecourse on 23 December. As the third-ranked favorite, Tokai Teio again was at the back of the pack to start the race. He went on to gradually go to the front, overtaking first-ranked favorite Iide Satan on the fourth corner and holding the lead to win the race by 2 lengths.
1991: three-year-old season Tokai Teio's began his three-year-old season by winning the 2,000-meter Wakagoma Stakes. He followed it with a victory in the 2,000-meter Wakaba stakes.
Satsuki Shō Tokai Teio entered the Satsuki Shō as the favorite with the odds of 2.1. He broke from post position 18, initially took the lead on the outside then settling in the 7th and 8th place. He then moved forward at the third corner and took the lead in the homestretch, winning by a length over Shako Grade.
Tōkyō Yūshun (Japanese Derby) Undefeated from 5 starts, Tokai Teio entered the Tōkyō Yūshun as the favorite with the odds of 1.6. He broke from post position 20, initially settling in the 6th position, he then broke out of the field from the far outside and took the lead in the homestretch, winning by three lengths over Leo Durban.
After winning the Derby, Tokai Teio showed an abnormal gait when he returned to his stable. Initial X-ray examinations revealed lameness in his left hind leg and muscle soreness. Three days later and following several X-ray examinations, it was revealed that Tokai Teio had a fracture in his left hind leg, which required a full recovery period of six months. This prevented him from entering in the Kikuka Sho, denying him from completing the Triple Crown.
1992: four-year-old season He made his comeback at the Sankei Osaka Hai in April, ten months after his injury at the Tokyo Yushun. In this race, he managed to extend his win streak to seven as he won this race comfortably with his new jockey, Yukio Okabe did not need to use his whip. This good preparation set up a battle of the century with a horse who was the defending champion of the Tenno Sho (Spring), Mejiro McQueen, jockeyed by Yutaka Take. In this race, both horses actually had a good run until the final corner, when Tokai Teio struggled to hold the ground; Mejiro McQueen launched his final acceleration in the straight to win the race whilst Tokai Teio finished in fifth. Ten days after the race, he was diagnosed with a second fracture of his career in his left foreleg that would subsided him for several months.
The horse made a comeback in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) in October. Despite mostly running on the front group at all corners, he faded out in the homestretch and only came home in seventh behind Let's Go Tarquin. After the race, Okabe commented, "Since she fractured her leg twice, it might be unreasonable to expect her to have the same leg she had at age four." Despite that suspicious remark by the jockey, Tokai Teio proved otherwise in his next race, the Japan Cup. As the fifth favourite, he moved to the outside track from the middle pack, dueled with the Hong Kong ace, Naturalism in the straight, and came up as the winner by a neck on the line. He ended up his season with a run at the Arima Kinen, in which he was unfit, slipped his hindquarters at the starting gate, ran mostly at the back and suffered a crushing defeat by finishing in 11th.
1993: five-year-old season He was diagnosed with a back injury after the poor run at the Arima Kinen, which caused him to miss the early campaign of the spring half. He was prepared to resume his campaign at the Takarazuka Kinen this year. Unfortunately, a third avulsion fracture in his left foreleg was found, and his return was postponed again. He eventually made a comeback at the penultimate race of the season, the Arima Kinen once again, 364 days after the previous iteration of the same race.
Normally, having a third fracture usually was a death sentence for the horseracing career. For the second time in his career, Tokai Teio proved otherwise as he settled calmly in the middle pack, produced a sustained late run, dueling with the first favourite, Biwa Hayahide in the homestretch and won his fourth G1 title by half a length ahead of the aforementioned Biwa Hayahide who came home in second. The announcer call for the race was epic due to how unbelievable that result was:
"Tokai Teio is coming!, Tokai Teio is coming!, Tokai Teio is coming! Tokai Teio! a miraculous comeback!"
He was scheduled to continue his career on the next year but he suffered a fourth fracture in his left foreleg. This time, he would be retired from racing as his retirement ceremony was held on 23 October 1994 in Tokyo.
Racing record DateTrackNameGradeFieldFinishedJockeyDistanceTimeWinner (2nd Place)1990 – two-year-old seasonChukyoTwo-year-old Newcomer13Takayuki Yasuda1800m1:52.9(Color Guard)KyotoCyclamen StakesOP9Takayuki Yasuda2000m2:03.8(Iide Satan)1991 – three-year-old seasonKyotoWakakoma StakesOP9Takayuki Yasuda2000m2:01.4(Iide Satan)NakayamaWakaba StakesOP10Takayuki Yasuda2000m2:03.6(Asakichi)NakayamaSatsuki ShōG118Takayuki Yasuda2000m2:01.8(Shako Grade)TokyoTōkyō YūshunG120Takayuki Yasuda2400m2:25.9(Leo Durban)1992 – four-year-old seasonHanshinSankei Ōsaka HaiG28Yukio Okabe2000m2:06.3(Golden Hour)KyotoTenno Sho (Spring)G1145thYukio Okabe3200m3:21.7Mejiro McQueenTokyoTenno Sho (Autumn)G1187thYukio Okabe2000m1:59.1Let's Go TarquinTokyoJapan CupG114Yukio Okabe2400m2:24.6(Naturalism)NakayamaArima KinenG11411thSeiki Tabara2500m2:34.8Mejiro Palmer1993 – five-year-old seasonNakayamaArima KinenG114Seiki Tabara2500m2:30.9(Biwa Hayahide)
Honours 1991 Japanese Horse of the Year 1991 JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Colt 1991 JRA Award for Best Horse By Home-bred Sire 1993 JRA Special Award
Tokai Teio was inducted as the 23rd member of the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 1995.
Stud career Tokai Teio's notable descendants include:
c = colt, f = filly, g= gelding
Bold = grade 1 stakes
Foaled Name Sex Major Wins 1996 Tokai Pulsar c Aichi Hai 1996 Tokai Point g Mile Championship, Nakayama Kinen 1996 Taiki Polar c Mermaid Stakes1999Strong BloodcKashiwa Kinen, Gumma Kinen, Sakurambo Kinen, Kabutoyama Kinen2000Meiner SolomongNST Open, Principal Stakes2001Yamanin SucrefHanshin Juvenile Fillies, Nakayama Himba Stakes
In popular culture
An anthropomorphized version of Tokai Teio appears as a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Machico. She is depicted as a cheerful and talented girl who craves attention and has a deep admiration for Symboli Rudolf, Tracen Academy's student council president and makes it her mission to emulate her success by obtaining the Triple Crown, a reference to Symboli Rudolf being the sire of Tokai Teio. Like her real-life counterpart, she suffers multiple injuries and struggles to remain one of the best racers. She has a notable dislike for medical check-ups, and is terrified of the Mejiro family's doctor introduced to her by Mejiro McQueen. She is the main protagonist of the second season of the Umamusume anime alongside McQueen, which follows her real-life counterpart's racing career. The 1993 Arima Kinen is portrayed in the anime second season finale, "Galloping After Our Dreams", and also incorporates the actual words of the broadcast call.
Pedigree
See also List of racehorses
Notes
Citations
References