Kawakami Princess (Japanese: カワカミプリンセス, Hepburn: Kawakami Purinsesu; 5 June 2003 – 11 September 2023) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She competed from 2006 to 2009, recording five wins in seventeen starts, including the Yushun Himba (GI) and Shuka Shō (GI) in 2006. She won both races undefeated, becoming the first horse to win the Yushun Himba and Shuka Shō without a prior defeat. She was named JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Filly and JRA Award for Best Japanese-Bred Horse in 2006.
Background Kawakami Princess was a bay mare bred in Mitsuishi, Hokkaido, by Mitsuishi Kawakami Bokujo. She was sired by King Halo, a son of Dancing Brave, and her dam was Takano Secretary, an American-bred mare by Seattle Slew. Her dam's granddam was Summer Secretary, a daughter of the 1973 American Triple Crown winner Secretariat. Her racing name combines the "Kawakami" prefix of her breeder with "Princess." She was owned by Mitsuishi Kawakami Bokujo and sent into training with Katsuichi Nishiura at the JRA's Ritto Training Center.
Racing career
2006: Three-year-old season Kawakami Princess debuted on February 26, 2006, in a maiden race on the turf at Hanshin Racecourse, ridden by Masaru Honda, winning by 1.25 lengths. She won the Kunshiran Sho (Allowance) at Hanshin in March and the Sweet Pea Stakes (Open) at Tokyo Racecourse in April.
On May 21, she won the Yushun Himba (GI) at Tokyo by 0.75 lengths, defeating Fusaichi Pandora, becoming the first horse to win the race undefeated since Miss Onward in 1957. On October 15, she won the Shuka Shō (GI) at Kyoto Racecourse by 0.5 lengths, defeating Asahi Rising, completing the Filly Triple Crown double undefeated.
On November 12, she finished first past the post in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (GI) at Kyoto but was demoted to twelfth place after being found to have interfered with Yamanin Sucre in the straight. Fusaichi Pandora was declared the winner.
2007–2009: Later career Kawakami Princess finished tenth in the Victoria Mile (GI) at Tokyo in May 2007 and sixth in the Takarazuka Kinen (GI) at Hanshin in June. She was then sidelined for over a year after fracturing a sesamoid bone in training in July 2007.
She returned in May 2008, finishing third in the Kinko Shō (GII) at Chukyo Racecourse. She finished second in the Fuchu Himba Stakes (GIII) at Tokyo in October and second in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (GI) at Kyoto in November, beaten 1.5 lengths by Little Amapola. She finished seventh in the Arima Kinen (GI) at Nakayama Racecourse in December.
In 2009, she finished fourth in the Kyoto Kinen (GII), third in the Sankei Shō Osaka Hai (GII) at Hanshin, and failed to place in her remaining three starts. She was retired from racing on November 19, 2009.
Statistics The following table details all 17 starts of Kawakami Princess's racing career based on official netkeiba and JBIS records.
Date Distance (Condition) Race Class Course Odds(Favourite) Field Finish Time Jockey Winning(Losing)Margin Winner(2nd Place) Ref2006 – three-year-old season Turf 1400 m (Heavy) 3-Y-O Newcomer Maiden Hanshin 33.0 (9th) 15 1:25.4 Masaru Honda –0.2 (Meisho Topper) Turf 1400 m (Firm) Kunshiran Sho Allowance Hanshin 11.3 (6th) 18 1:23.0 Masaru Honda –0.2 (South Tida) Turf 1800 m (Firm) Sweet Pea Stakes Open Tokyo 2.2 (1st) 18 1:48.4 Masaru Honda –0.1 (Yamanin Fabuleux) Turf 2400 m (Firm) Yushun Himba GI Tokyo 6.7 (3rd) 18 2:26.2 Masaru Honda –0.1 (Fusaichi Pandora) Turf 2000 m (Firm) Shūka Shō GI Kyoto 3.6 (2nd) 18 1:58.2 Masaru Honda –0.1 (Asahi Rising) Turf 2200 m (Firm) Queen Elizabeth II Cup GI Kyoto 2.7 (1st) 15 12th (demoted) 2:11.4 Masaru Honda – Fusaichi Pandora2007 – four-year-old season Turf 1600 m (Firm) Victoria Mile GI Tokyo 2.1 (1st) 18 10th 1:33.4 Koshiro Take 0.9 Koiuta Turf 2200 m (Good) Takarazuka Kinen GI Hanshin 10.2 (6th) 18 6th 2:13.2 Koshiro Take 0.8 Admire Moon2008 – five-year-old season Turf 2000 m (Good) Kinko Sho GII Chukyo 10.0 (5th) 17 1:59.3 Koshiro Take 0.2 Eishin Deputy Turf 1800 m (Firm) Fuchu Himba Stakes GIII Tokyo 2.3 (1st) 18 1:45.6 Norihiro Yokoyama 0.1 Blumenblatt Turf 2200 m (Firm) Queen Elizabeth II Cup GI Kyoto 1.8 (1st) 18 2:12.3 Norihiro Yokoyama 0.2 Little Amapola Turf 2500 m (Firm) Arima Kinen GI Nakayama 19.0 (6th) 14 7th 2:32.5 Norihiro Yokoyama 1.0 Daiwa Scarlet2009 – six-year-old season Turf 2200 m (Firm) Kyōto Kinen GII Kyoto 3.3 (2nd) 12 4th 2:14.9 Norihiro Yokoyama 0.3 Asakusa Kings Turf 2000 m (Firm) Sankei Shō Ōsaka Hai GII Hanshin 11.5 (4th) 12 2:00.0 Norihiro Yokoyama 0.3 Dream Journey Turf 1600 m (Firm) Victoria Mile GI Tokyo 7.1 (2nd) 18 8th 1:33.9 Norihiro Yokoyama 1.5 Vodka Turf 1800 m (Firm) Fuchu Himba Stakes GIII Tokyo 4.4 (1st) 18 6th 1:45.5 Norihiro Yokoyama 0.9 Mood Indigo Turf 2200 m (Firm) Queen Elizabeth II Cup GI Kyoto 15.1 (5th) 18 9th 2:15.2 Norihiro Yokoyama 1.6 Queen Spumante
Broodmare career Following her retirement, Kawakami Princess returned to Mitsuishi Kawakami Bokujo as a broodmare. She produced ten foals between 2012 and 2021. She died on September 11, 2023, at the age of 20.
c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding No.NameFoaledSexColorSireRacesWinsRemarks(infertility)2011Deep Sky1stMinnano Princess2012fDark bayCommands152Broodmare2ndMuge Princess2013BayEmpire Maker1513rdHaruno Hidamari2014504thCasuapiani2015gHenny Hughes758Retired5thQueen Hearts2016fKing Kamehemeha30Broodmare6thGrand Prix Arzan2017cChestnutHenny Hughes91Retired7thGeorge Burrows2018gDark bayDaiwa Major2428thTigre2019cBayDuramente3519thKawakami Elegance2020fChesnutDeclaration of War201Broodmare10thLove and Lucky2021BayCalifornia Chrome227Active
In popular culture An anthropomorphized version of Kawakami Princess appears as a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Karin Takahashi. She is portrayed as a rowdy yet elegant tomboy with exceptional physical strength who looks up to King Halo, her real-life sire, and seeks to be a first-rate racer just like her. She is also devoted to searching for her ideal "prince" that she can pick up and have stand by her side as an equal, a quality inspired by her favorite magical girl anime, "Princess Fighter." A running gag in the franchise centers around her tendency to damage or destroy her surroundings and her inability to control her own strength.
Pedigree
Kawakami Princess is inbred 4 × 5 to Hail to Reason, 4 × 5 to Bold Ruler, and 5 × 5 to Sir Gaylord. Her dam's granddam Golden Summer was a daughter of Key to the Mint and Summer Guest, the 1972 Coaching Club American Oaks winner.
See also Thoroughbred racing in Japan Yushun Himba Shūka Shō
References