Friendship (; foaled May 5, 2003) is a Japanese Thoroughbred Racehorse. In 2006, he won the 8th Japan Dirt Classic.
Background Friendship was foaled on May 5, 2003, by the Shadai Farm. He was a bay stallion by French Deputy out of Friendly Beauty by Fredaq. During his racing career, he was owned by Teruya Yoshida and trained by Katsuhiko Sumii.
Racing career Friendship made his debut in a turf maiden race at Sapporo Racecourse, ridden by Shinji Fujita, on August 21, 2005. He finished 7th in that race behind future Arima Kinen winner Matsurida Gogh. He was entered into two additional turf races later that year, but finished off the board in both.
In 2006, he was ridden by Marco Monteriso in a dirt maiden race at Kyoto Racecourse. Perhaps benefiting from the switch to dirt, the colt put up a commendable performance, finishing second by a neck. Friendship raced, without a break, on another dirt maiden race, and again took second place. After a one‑week break, he was sent to Kokura for another dirt maiden race, where he delivered his first victory. Following roughly a month of rest and training, he ran in and won an Allowance race at Hanshin Racecourse, beating the runner-up by 0.6 seconds. The following month he was entered into the Open class Fukuryu Stakes, taking the first place one again. Riding that momentum, he took on the Hyogo Championship in May. Although Friendship was considered the favourite to win, Grace Tiara, the winner of the previous year's Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun, beat him by a neck.
Later that year he was entered into the Grade 1 Japan Dirt Classic, a race which had been won by his stablemate, Kane Hekili, the year prior. The stable requested the services of Hiroyuki Uchida—a renowned jockey based at the local Ohi Racecourse, who had already amassed numerous victories that year in inter-regional stakes races across the South Kanto circuit. Sent off as the second favorite behind Nike Earthwork, winner of the Unicorn Stakes, he settled in third place as Thank You Win, winner of the Haneda Hai, set the pace. He overtook Bamboo Ere, who had moved to the front from second position at the midway point of the straight, and went on to win by over a length. The victory marked his first graded stakes win, as well as his first Grade 1 win; It was also Uchida's first win in the race, and trainer Katsuhiko Sumii's second consecutive victory.
Following his victory in the Japan Dirt Derby, preparations began for his participation on the Derby Grand Prix (now merged with the ). however, he was diagnosed with a bowed tendon, and entered an extended hiatus. He returned to racing after one year and three months, entering the Aldebaran Stakes On October 28, 2007 where finished 15th in a field of 16 horses. He went on to contest five more open-class races, but finished nearly last in all of them. His registration as a racehorse was finally canceled on September 17, 2008.
In his retirement, he did not stand at stud, and instead became a riding horse.
Statistics The following form is based on information from JBIS-Search and netkeiba. DateRacecourseNameGradeDistance/TypeFieldFinishedJockeyTimeWinner (2nd place)August 21, 2005Sapporo2yo DebutTurf 1800m137thShinji Fujita1:54.9Matsurida GoghSeptember 10, 2005Sapporo2yo Maiden raceTurf 1500m1412thShinji Fujita1:32.8Meine GiadaJanuary 8, 2006Kyoto3yo Maiden raceDirt 1800m14Marco Monteriso1:53.9Captain VegaJanuary 14, 2006Kyoto3yo Maiden raceDirt 1800m11Marco Monteriso1:51.9InspireJanuary 28, 2006Kokura3yo Maiden raceDirt 1700m11Marco Monteriso1:49.4(Meisho Shaft)March 4, 2006Hanshin3yo AllowanceDirt 1800m13Yuga Kawada1:54.9(Sunrise Lexus)April 2, 2006NakayamaFukuryu StakesOPDirt 1800m12Hirofumi Shii1:54.3(Marubutsu Lead)May 4, 2006SonodaHyogo CSG2Dirt 1870m11Hirofumi Shii2:01.2Grace TiaraJuly 12, 2006OhiJapan Dirt DerbyG1Dirt 2000m14Hiroyuki Uchida2:06.1(Bamboo Ere)October 28, 2007KyotoAldebaran StakesOPDirt 1800m1615thAndreas Suborics1:54.7Wonder SpeedNovember 17, 2007KyotoTopaz StakesOPDirt 1800m1615thAndreas Suborics1:53.6Long PrideDecember 8, 2007NakayamaShiwasu StakesOPDirt 1800m1613thHayato Yoshida1:53.6Silence BoyDecember 23, 2007HanshinBetelgeuse StakesOPDirt 2800m1612thKoshiro Take2:03.0Wonder SpeedJuly 27, 2008NiigataKanetsu StakesOPDirt 1800m1311thYuichi Fukunaga1:53.2Meisho ShaftAugust 10, 2008KokuraKBC HaiOPDirt 1700m1513thShigefumi Kumazawa1:47.4Smart Falcon
Pedigree
References