Namur (, ; foaled 2 March 2019) is a retired Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. She competed from 2021 to 2024, recording five wins from eighteen starts, including the Mile Championship (GI) in 2023, the Fuji Stakes (GII) in 2023, and the Tulip Sho (GII) in 2022. She also finished second in the Shuka Shō (GI) in 2022, second in the Yasuda Kinen (GI) in 2024, and third in the Yūshun Himba (GI) in 2022. Her name refers to the Belgian city of Namur, where the Sambre and Meuse rivers converge, chosen in association with her dam's name.

Background Namur is a bay filly bred in Abira, Hokkaido, by Northern Farm. She was sired by Harbinger, a British-bred stallion by Dansili, and her dam was Sambre et Meuse (), a mare by Daiwa Major. She is owned by Carrot Farm and was trained by Tomokazu Takano at the JRA's Ritto Training Center. Her half-sister Ravel () won the Artemis Stakes in 2022 and the Challenge Cup in 2024.

Racing career

2021: two-year-old season Namur debuted on 11 September 2021 in a maiden race at Chukyo Racecourse, winning by 0.3 seconds. She won the Akamatsu Sho (1-win class) at Tokyo Racecourse on 21 November. She finished fourth in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (GI) at Hanshin Racecourse on 12 December.

2022: three-year-old season Namur won the Tulip Sho (GII) at Hanshin on 5 March, recording her first graded stakes victory. She finished tenth in the Oka Shō (GI) on 10 April and third in the Yūshun Himba (GI) at Tokyo on 22 May. She finished second in the Shuka Shō (GI) at Hanshin on 16 October, beaten 0.1 seconds by Stunning Rose. She finished fifth in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (GI) on 13 November.

2023: four-year-old season Namur finished second in the Tokyo Shimbun Hai (GIII) on 5 February, seventh in the Victoria Mile (GI) on 14 May, and sixteenth in the Yasuda Kinen (GI) on 4 June. On 21 October, she won her first race in over a year and a half when she won the Fuji Stakes (GII) with João Moreira as her jockey.

On 19 November, she was entered in to the Mile Championship (GI) at Kyoto Racecourse. She was initially supposed to be ridden by Ryan Moore but, following an injury to his back he sustained from a fall earlier that day, as a last minute replacement. The horse wound up starting from behind but after showing tremendous turn of foot, managed to catch up and overtake Soul Rush just before the finish line, clinching her first GI victory. This was also a significant victory for Fujioka, who had not won a single GI race since he won the NHK Mile Cup in 2009 with in 2009.

She would then go on to finish third in the Hong Kong Mile (G1) at Sha Tin Racecourse on 10 December.

2024: five-year-old season Namur finished second in the Dubai Turf (G1) at Meydan Racecourse on 30 March. She finished eighth in the Victoria Mile (GI) on 12 May and second in the Yasuda Kinen (GI) on 2 June, beaten 0.1 seconds by Romantic Warrior. She finished seventeenth in the Mile Championship (GI) on 17 November after the jockey dismounted post-race due to a gait abnormality. She was retired on 22 November 2024 and entered stud at Northern Farm.

Statistics The following table details all 18 starts of Namur's racing career. Record current as of 17 November 2024.

Date Distance (Condition) Race Class Course Odds(Favourite) Field Finish Time Jockey Winning(Losing)Margin Winner(2nd Place) Ref2021 – two-year-old season Turf 1600 m (Good) 2-Y-O Newcomer Maiden Chukyo 3.0 (2nd) 10 1:39.0 Yuga Kawada –0.3 (Squall Universe) Turf 1600 m (Good) Akamatsu Sho Allowance Tokyo 8.0 (4th) 9 1:33.8 Kosei Miura –0.3 (Personal High) Turf 1600 m (Good) Hanshin Juvenile Fillies GI Hanshin 2.9 (1st) 18 4th 1:34.0 Cristian Demuro 0.2 Circle of Life2022 – three-year-old season Turf 1600 m (Good) Tulip Sho GII Hanshin 2.2 (1st) 15 1:33.2 Takeshi Yokoyama –0.2 (Pin High) Turf 1600 m (Good) Oka Shō GI Hanshin 3.2 (1st) 18 10th 1:33.2 Takeshi Yokoyama 0.3 Stars on Earth Turf 2400 m (Good) Yūshun Himba GI Tokyo 7.1 (4th) 17 2:24.3 Takeshi Yokoyama 0.4 Stars on Earth Turf 2000 m (Good) Shuka Shō GI Hanshin 3.3 (2nd) 16 1:58.7 Takeshi Yokoyama 0.1 Stunning Rose Turf 2200 m (Heavy) Queen Elizabeth II Cup GI Hanshin 7.3 (3rd) 18 5th 2:13.7 Takeshi Yokoyama 0.7 Geraldina2023 – four-year-old season Turf 1600 m (Good) Tokyo Shimbun Hai GIII Tokyo 3.7 (2nd) 16 1:31.8 Takeshi Yokoyama 0.0 Win Carnelian Turf 1600 m (Good) Victoria Mile GI Tokyo 4.2 (2nd) 16 7th 1:32.8 Takeshi Yokoyama 0.6 Songline Turf 1600 m (Good) Yasuda Kinen GI Tokyo 29.9 (9th) 18 16th 1:33.3 Takeshi Yokoyama 1.9 Songline Turf 1600 m (Good) Fuji Stakes GII Tokyo 3.8 (1st) 12 1:31.4 João Moreira –0.2 (Red Mon Reve) Turf 1600 m (Good) Mile Championship GI Kyoto 17.3 (5th) 16 1:32.5 Kota Fujioka 0.0 (Soul Rush) Turf 1600 m (Good) Hong Kong Mile G1 Sha Tin 13.0 (6th) 14 1:34.54 William Buick 0.44 Golden Sixty2024 – five-year-old season Turf 1800 m (Good) Dubai Turf G1 Meydan 12.5 (7th) 16 1:45.93 Cristian Demuro 0.2 Facteur Cheval Turf 1600 m (Good) Victoria Mile GI Tokyo 2.5 (2nd) 15 8th 1:32.3 Yutaka Take 0.5 Ten Happy Rose Turf 1600 m (Yielding) Yasuda Kinen GI Tokyo 10.0 (4th) 18 1:32.4 Yutaka Take 0.1 Romantic Warrior Turf 1600 m (Good) Mile Championship GI Kyoto 4.8 (2nd) 17 17th 1:37.8 Cristian Demuro 5.8 Soul Rush Legend: indicated that it was a record finish time.

Pedigree

Namur is inbred 5 × 5 × 5 to Northern Dancer (sire side × sire side × dam side) and 5 × 5 to Lyphard (sire side × dam side). Her sire Harbinger won the 2010 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Her dam Sambre et Meuse won three races. Her half-sister Ravel won the Artemis Stakes (2022) and Challenge Cup (2024). Her third dam Kyoei March won the 1997 Oka Shō. Her aunt, Marche Lorraine, won the 2021 Breeders' Cup Distaff.

See also Thoroughbred racing in Japan Mile Championship

References