Yamanin Zephyr (Japanese: ヤマニンゼファー, Hepburn: Yamanin Zefā, 27 May 1988 – 16 May 2017) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Tennō Shō (Autumn) in 1993 and the Yasuda Kinen in 1992 and 1993. He had multiple awards and accumulated a total of ¥596,209,600 after his racing career.
Background Yamanin Zephyr was a bay horse with a white star born on May 27, 1988 at the Nishikioka Farm, foaled by Yamanin Policy. He was sired by Nihon Pillow Winner, who was also a multiple G1 winner. His grandsire, Steel Heart, was an Irish-bred racehorse.
After his victory in the Yasuda Kinen in 1992, he and his father became the second generation of father and son to win it.
Racing career 1991: Four-year-old season
Yamanin Zephyr made his debut race on March 9 at the Nakayama Racecourse. With an odds of 69.1 (12th favorite), he finished first by two lengths over Never Song. He also won his next race by a nose with a finishing time of 1:12.0. At his next race, the now-defunct Crystal Cup, he only placed in third. He later returned to a dirt race but ultimately finished in seventh despite being the third favorite. In December, he achieved victory once again where he barely won by a nose against Onward Wood. At the Sprinters Stakes, he failed to advance further, placing seventh.
1992: Five-year-old season He returned on January 6 where he placed second in the Sunrise Stakes. Afterwards, he won his next dirt race but only finished third in the Keio Hai Spring Cup. On the Yasuda Kinen, he won by three-quarter lengths, marking it as his first G1 victory. He then finished in second at the Centaur Stakes and fifth at the Mile Championship. He ran again in this year's Sprinters Stakes and finished second.
1993: Six-year-old season In his six-year-old season, he finished in second at the Yomiuri Milers Cup, while he placed in fifth at the Nakayama Kinen. Later on, he won both the Keio Hai Spring Cup and the Yasuda Kinen for the second time. After placing sixth in the Mainichi Ōkan, he won his third and final G1 race at the Tennō Shō (Autumn). After finishing in second at the Spring Stakes, he was retired.
Racing record At the start of his career, Yamanin Zephyr mostly competed in dirt races, until he completely transitioned to turf in mid-1992. After the change, he also had a different jockey, Katsuharu Tanaka. He was ridden by seven different jockeys throughout his career.
Date Track Race Grade Distance(Condition) Bracket(Position) Entry Odds(Favored) Finish Time Margin Jockey Winner (Runner-up)1991 – four-year-old season Mar 9 Nakayama 4YO Debut 1200m (Sloppy) 7 (13) 16 69.1 (12)1st 1:11.9 -0.3 Masahiro Yokota (Never Song) Mar 30 Nakayama 4YO ALW (1 Win)1200m (Good) 7 (9) 11 3.2 (2)1st 1:12.0 0.0 Masahiro Yokota (Meisei Heart) Apr 13 Nakayama Crystal Cup G3 1200m (Firm) 2 (2) 14 7.9 (4)3rd 1:09.0 0.4 Norihiro Yokoyama Kalista Glory Oct 26 Tokyo 4YO+ 1200m (Sloppy) 4 (4) 12 4.7 (3) 7th 1:12.0 1.1 Norihiro Yokoyama Kyoei Brand Dec 1 Nakayama 4YO+ 1200m (Fast) 4 (4) 12 3.5 (2)1st 1:11.8 0.0 Seiji Ebisawa (Onward Wood) Dec 15 Nakayama Sprinters Stakes G1 1200m (Firm) 6 (11) 16 42.3 (10) 7th 1:08.6 1.0 Seiji Ebisawa Daiichi Ruby1992 – five-year-old season Jan 6 Nakayama Sunrise Stakes 1200m (Fast) 4 (7) 16 3.5 (1)2nd 1.10.9 0.1 Seiji Ebisawa Symboli Garuda Feb 2 Kyoto Rashomon Stakes 1200m (Good) 8 (12) 13 4.6 (2)1st 1:10.8 -0.1 Seiki Tabara (Meisho Homura) Apr 25 Tokyo Keio Hai Spring Cup G2 1400m (Firm) 6 (8) 13 45.1 (8)3rd 1:21.7 0.1 Katsuharu Tanaka Dynamite Daddy May 17 Tokyo Yasuda Kinen G1 1600m (Firm) 8 (18) 18 35.2 (11)1st 1:33.8 -0.1 Katsuharu Tanaka (Kamino Cresse) Sep 13 Hanshin Centaur Stakes G3 1400m (Firm) 7 (11) 14 4.4 (2)2nd 1:23.2 0.4 Katsuharu Tanaka My Super Man Nov 22 Kyoto Mile Championship G1 1600m (Firm) 5 (9) 18 6.7 (3) 5th 1:34.0 0.7 Katsuharu Tanaka Daitaku Helios Dec 20 Nakayama Sprinters Stakes G1 1200m (Firm) 1 (2) 16 6.4 (4)2nd 1:07.8 0.1 Katsuharu Tanaka Nishino Flower1993 – six-year-old season Feb 28 Hanshin Yomiuri Milers Cup G2 1600m (Firm) 7 (9) 12 3.3 (2)2nd 1:37.0 0.6 Seiki Tabara Nishino Flower Mar 14 Nakayama Nakayama Kinen G2 1800m (Firm) 7 (11) 14 5.6 (2) 4th 1:47.3 0.3 Seiki Tabara Movie Star Apr 24 Tokyo Keio Hai Spring Cup G2 1400m (Firm) 6 (7) 12 3.9 (2)1st 1:21.0 -0.2 Yoshitomi Shibata (Shinko Lovely) May 16 Tokyo Yasuda Kinen G1 1600m (Firm) 7 (14) 16 5.4 (2)1st 1:33.5 -0.2 Yoshitomi Shibata (Ikuno Dictus) Oct 10 Tokyo Mainichi Ōkan G2 1800m (Firm) 4 (5) 13 3.8 (2) 6th 1:46.4 0.9 Yoshitomi Shibata Shinko Lovely Oct 31 Tokyo Tennō Shō (Autumn) G1 2000m (Firm) 4 (8) 17 11.7 (5)1st 1:58.9 0.0 Yoshitomi Shibata (Sekitei Ryu O) Dec 19 Nakayama Sprinters Stakes G1 1200m (Firm) 5 (8) 14 2.2 (1)2nd 1:08.3 0.4 Yoshitomi Shibata Sakura Bakushin O
Stud career He became a stud in Rex Stud and has sired a total of 554 foals. Some of his descendants are listed below.
Legend: c: colt f: filly
Foaled Name Sex Major wins 1995 Sanford City c Musashino Stakes 1996 Hizen Hokusho c Tokyo Autumn Jump 2000 Passion Carry c New Year's Cup
He retired in his stud duties at the age of 21 and was castrated before being moved to Nishikioka Farm.
Retirement and death During his retirement, Yamanin Zephyr had a calm temperament and a good appetite. A farm staff member and Yamanin Zephyr's caretaker said, "When he was a stud, there were stories that he would glare at other horses, so he could be a bit noisy when he first came back to this ranch. However, once he started living a more relaxed life, he has developed a gentler personality. He follows a rhythm of letting out to graze every morning after 5am, collecting at 3-4pm, feeding, and grooming. He is in a daze when he is being groomed".
The staff also added, "Zephyr is a small horse, but when I think about how hard he ran and achieved such results, I realize what an incredible horse he is. I hope he will take it easy from now on and live a long, healthy life. Lots of fans will come to see him in the summer, so I hope they will see him in good health".
Yamanin Zephyr later passed away on May 16, 2017 at the age of 29 as a result of complications from old age.
In popular culture An anthropomorphized version of Yamanin Zephyr appears as a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Riona Imaizumi. She is depicted as a free-spirited, idiosyncratic girl with a love for the natural world and following wherever the wind takes her. Her motivation to become the "embodiment of wind" was sparked when she witnessed a famous racer win the Mile Championship during her childhood, which is a reference to her real-life counterpart's sire, Nihon Pillow Winner. A theatrical act titled Umamusume: Pretty Derby The Stage -Sprinter's Story premiered in 2023 and features Yamanin Zephyr along with Daitaku Helios, Daiichi Ruby, and K.S.Miracle.
Pedigree
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