Fuji Kiseki

Fuji Kiseki (Japanese: フジキセキ, Hepburn: Fuji Kiseki; 15 April 1992 – 28 December 2015) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was the best Japanese two-year-old of his generation in 1994 when he won all three of his starts including the Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes. In the following spring he took his unbeaten run to four with a win in the Yayoi Sho before his racing career was ended by injury. After his retirement from racing he became a very successful breeding stallion. He died in 2015 at the age of 23.

Background Fuji Kiseki was a brown or black horse standing 1.63 metres high with a white star and a white sock on his right hind leg bred by the Shadai Farm. During his racing career he was owned by Yomoji Saito and trained by Sakae Watanabe.

He was from the first crop of foals sired by Sunday Silence, who won the 1989 Kentucky Derby, before retiring to stud in Japan where he was champion sire on thirteen consecutive occasions. His other major winners included Deep Impact, Stay Gold, Heart's Cry, Manhattan Cafe, Zenno Rob Roy and Neo Universe. Fuji Kiseki's dam Millracer was bred in Virginia and won two minor races in the United States before being exported to Japan. Her grand-dam Millicent was a half-sister to Mill Reef.

Racing career 1994: two-year-old season Fuji Kiseki made his racecourse debut in an event for previously unraced juveniles over 1200 metres at Niigata Racecourse on 20 August and won by more than five lengths over the filly Shell Queen. At Hanshin Racecourse on 8 October he won the Momiji Stakes from Tayasu Tsuyoshi, a colt who won the Japanese Derby in 1995. On his final start of the year the colt was stepped up to Grade 1 class for the Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes over 1600 metres at Nakayama Racecourse, beating Ski Captain and Kokuto Julian.

1995: three-year-old season On his three-year-old debut Fuji Kiseki contested the Grade 2 Yayoi Sho (a major trial race for the Satsuki Sho) over 2000 meters at Nakayama and won from Hokkai Rousseau and Hashino Taiyu.

Shortly after the race he sustained a tendon injury which ended his racing career.

Statistics The following statistics are based on information from netkeiba. DateTrackNameGradeType/DistanceFieldFinishedTimeJockeyWinner (2nd Place)1994 – two-year-old seasonNiigataMaiden RaceTurf 1200m81:09.8Masayoshi Ebina(Shell Queen)HanshinMomiji StakesOPTurf 1600m9Koichi Tsunoda(Tayasu Tsuyoshi)NakayamaAsahi Hai Sansai StakesG1Turf 1600m101:34.7Koichi Tsunoda(Ski Captain)1995 – three-year-old seasonNakayamaHochi Hai Yayoi ShoG2Turf 2000m102:03.7Koichi Tsunoda(Hokkai Rousseau)

Stud record After the end of his racing career, Fuji Kiseki became a breeding stallion at the Shadai Stallion Station in Hokkaido. Later in his stud career he was shuttled to spend the southern hemisphere breeding season at the Arrowfield Stud in New South Wales. He sired several major winners including Straight Girl, Kane Hekili, Isla Bonita, Sun Classique (Sheema Classic), Danon Chantilly (NHK Mile Cup), Sadamu Patek (Mile Championship), Fine Grain (Takamatsunomiya Kinen) Asian Winds (Victoria Mile), Kinshasa No Kiseki (Takamatsunomiya Kinen) and Koiuta (Victoria Mile). He was pensioned in 2011 and died in December 2015 after sustaining a "cervical spine injury".

Notable progeny c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding bold = Grade 1 stakes FoaledNameSexMajor Wins1997Daitaku RivacSpring Stakes, Kyoto Kimpai (twice), Naruo Kinen, Shinzan Kinen2001Tamamo Hot PlaycSwan Stakes, Silk Road Stakes2002Kane HekilicJapan Cup Dirt (twice), Japan Dirt Derby, February Stakes, Tokyo Daishōten, Kawasaki Kinen, Unicorn Stakes2003Sun ClassiquefDiana Stakes, Cape Fillies Guineas, Majorca Stakes, Woolavington 2200, Dubai Sheema Classic2003Kinshasa no KisekicTakamatsunomiya Kinen (twice), Hanshin Cup (twice), Swan Stakes, Ocean Stakes, Hakodate Sprint Stakes2003Fine GraincTakamatsunomiya Kinen, Silk Road Stakes2003Grace TiarafZen-Nippon Nisai Yushun2003KoiutafVictoria Mile, Daily Hai Queen Cup2004Asian WindsfVictoria Mile, Hanshin Himba Stakes2004Ultima ThulefCentaur Stakes, Silk Road Stakes2007Danon ChantillycNHK Mile Cup, Mainichi Hai2008Sadamu PatekcMile Championship, Keio Hai Spring Cup, Yayoi Sho, Chukyo Kinen, Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes2009Straight GirlfSprinters Stakes, Victoria Mile (twice), Silk Road Stakes2011Isla BonitacSatsuki Shō, Yomiuri Milers Cup, St. Lite Kinen, Hanshin Cup, Kyodo Tsushin Hai, Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes2011Rosa GiganteacHanshin Cup, Spring Stakes

In popular culture in Midori no makibao, makibao's main rival, cascade is based on Fuji Kiseki. An anthropomorphized version of Fuji Kiseki appears in the multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Eriko Matsui. She is depicted as the assigned head student of Ritto, one of Tracen Academy's dormitory buildings named after the real-life training center of the same name, where she acts as a big sister figure to her junior schoolmates, whom she teasingly refers to as "ponies." Fuji Kiseki is also a major character in the 2024 Umamusume animated film, "Beginning of a New Era," which partly adapts the end of her racing career and subsequent retirement.

Pedigree

Fuji Kiseki

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