Northern River (Japanese:ノーザンリバー, Hepburn: Nōzan Ribā; foaled April 12, 2008) is a Japanese retired Thoroughbred racehorse, a breeding stallion and the winner of the 2011 Arlington Cup.

Background Northern River was bred in Northern Farm out of Soninke, an English bred broodmare sired by Machiavellian, the 1989 Prix Morny winner. He himself was sired by the 2008 leading sire in Japan and 2001 Satsuki Sho winner, Agnes Tachyon. In the 2009 select sale for yearlings, he was labeled as hip number ten and sold to Masamichi Hayashi for 58,800,000 ¥. He was the first horse that Hayashi bought once he received his racehorses' owner license.

The meaning behind the horse's name is "to carry on the long-standing history of the breeding farm (Northern) and to express the wish for it to reach the open sea (River)."

Racing career His brother is , who won the 2011 Elm Stakes and 2012 Diolite Kinen.

Northern River's first race was on September 11, 2010, at Sapporo, where he came in 2nd. Northern River picked up his win in Kyoto on January 16, 2011. He then picked up another win 2 week later in Kyoto, and then won the 2011 Arlington Cup.

This win helped earn Northern River a place in the Grade-1, 2011 Satsuki Sho, where he finished in a disappointing 15th place. He attempted another Grade-1 race in May 2011, where he came in 17th at the 2011 Tokyo Yūshun.

He did not race in 2012. In 2013, he picked up another win at the 2013 Fukakusa Stakes in Kyoto. Later in November, he picked up another win at Kyoto. He then scored a Grade-3 win, by winning the 2013 Capella Stakes.

He spent 2014 competing in graded races. In February, he came in 4th at the 2014 February Stakes, and then won the Tokyo Hai in April, and won the Sakitama Hai in Urawa in May. He then picked up his last win on the year in October at the 2014 Tokyo Hai.

2015 was his last year in racing. He placed 3rd at the Tokyo Sprint in April, then won the Sakitama Hai in May. He then retired after an 8th place finish at the 2015 Japan Breeding farms' Cup Sprint.

Racing form Northern River won ten races and placed in another seven out of 28 starts. This data is available based on JBIS and netkeiba. DateTrackRaceGradeDistance(Condition)EntryHNOdds(Favored)FinishTimeMarginsJockeyWinner(Runner-up)2010 – two-year-old seasonSep 11Sapporo2yo Newcomer1,500 m (Firm)1497.6 (2)1:32.50.2Hirofumi ShiiReve d'EssorDec 25Hanshin2yo Maiden1,600 m (Firm)18146.0 (4)1:36.50.1Yutaka TakeCaldo Brezza2011 – three-year-old seasonJan 16Kyoto3yo Maiden1,400 m (Fast)1642.9 (2)1:26.1–1.3Yutaka Take(Melot)Jan 30Kyoto3yo Allowance1W1,400 m (Fast)1571.6 (1)1:26.1–0.4Hirofumi Shii(Kimon Red)Feb 26HanshinArlington CupGIII1,600 m (Firm)13128.0 (4)1:34.2–0.1Yutaka Take(Kyoei Basara)Apr 24TokyoSatsuki ShoGI2,000 m (Firm)18326.1 (9)2:02.21.6Hirofumi ShiiOrfevreMay 29TokyoTokyo YushunGI2,400 m (Heavy)1818101.1 (16)2:35.14.6Nicola PinnaOrfevre2013 – five-year-old seasonMar 16HanshinNaniwa StakesALW (3W)1,200 m (Fast)15844.3 (9)1:11.90.3Hirofumi ShiiDasher OneMar 31NakayamaHarukaze StakesALW (3W)1,200 m (Fast)1613.2 (1)1:10.90.0Ryuji WadaLaugh AwayMay 19KyotoFukakusa StakesALW (3W)1,200 m (Fast)16161.9 (1)1:10.7–0.2Hideaki Miyuki(K G Hayabusa)Jul 14FukushimaBaden-Baden CupOP1,200 m (Good)1626.5 (4)1:10.90.4Hiroyuki UchidaMeiner EternelAug 14MoriokaCluster CupJPNIII1,200 m (Fast)14105.1 (4)1:09.60.1Yutaka TakeLove MichanSep 14HanshinEnif StakesOP1,400 m (Fast)12114.1 (3)1:23.70.3Hideaki MiyukiAdmire SagaceOct 5TokyoPerseus StakesOP1,400 m (Sloppy)1689.3 (5)1:23.00.6Hiroyuki UchidaGorskiNov 24KyotoKyoto Autumn Leaf PremiumOP1,400 m (Fast)1627.3 (4)1:23.40.0Ryuji Wada(Narita Super One)Dec 8NakayamaCapella StakesGIII1,200 m (Fast)16111.2 (6)1:10.70.0Yoshitomi Shibata(Snow Dragon)2014 – six-year-old seasonFeb 2TokyoNegishi StakesGIII1,400 m (Fast)16919.7 (8)1:23.50.1Masayoshi EbinaGorskiFeb 23TokyoFebruary StakesGI1,600 m (Fast)16674.5 (11)1:36.40.4Keita TosakiCopano RickeyApr 2OhiTokyo SprintJPNIII1,200 m (Fast)16131.5 (1)1:10.7–0.6Masayoshi Ebina(Sei Crimson)Apr 29NagoyaKakitsubata KinenJPNIII1,400 m (Sloppy)1281.2 (1)1:27.20.0Masayoshi EbinaTagano ZingaroMay 28UrawaSakitama HaiJPNII1,400 m (Muddy)1231.8 (1)1:26.7–0.1Masayoshi Ebina(Tokino Excellent)Jul 13ChukyoProcyon StakesGIII1,400 m (Good)16137.2 (3)1:22.80.2Masayoshi EbinaBest WarriorOct 1OhiTokyo HaiJPNII1,200 m (Fast)1151.4 (1)1:10.2–0.1Masayoshi Ebina(Dream Valentino)Nov 3MoriokaJBC SprintJPNI1,200 m (Muddy)1611.9 (1)1:09.30.3Masayoshi EbinaDream ValentinoDec 14NakayamaCapella StakesGIII1,200 m (Fast)1535.6 (3)1:10.81.3Kousei MiuraDanon Legend2015 – seven-year-old seasonApr 8OhiTokyo SprintJPNIII1,200 m (Sloppy)14135.4 (3)1:11.30.7Masayoshi EbinaDanon LegendMay 27UrawaSakitama HaiJPNII1,400 m (Fast)11102.6 (1)1:26.7–0.8Masayoshi Ebina(Trois Bonheur)Nov 3MoriokaJBC Sprint JPNI1,200 m (Sloppy)16720.1 (6)1:11.91.0Masayoshi EbinaCorin Berry Legend:

Notes:

Stud career Northern River's descendants include:

c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding

Foaled Name Sex Major Wins2017Bon Bon ChocolatfRusu Hai Hidaka Sho 2017 In The Future c Gold Wing Sho2017Storm DoggTokai Gold Cup

Pedigree

References