Daiwa El Cielo (, ; foaled 11 May 2001) is a retired Japanese racehorse and broodmare. She was a horse that famously won the 2004 Yushun Himba as the sixth favourite for the day. She also won a few more graded stakes such as the Daily Hai Queen Cup, Keihan Hai, and closing out her career with a win at the Mermaid Stakes before safely retiring and moving on to broodmare duty.
Background Daiwa El Cielo was foaled out of London Bridge, who won the 1997 Fantasy Stakes and finished second behind Phalaenopsis at the 1998 Oka Sho. Her dam herself was sired by Dr. Devious, the winner of the 1991 Dewhurst Stakes and 1992 Epsom Derby. Meanwhile, the horse itself was sired by the 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner who was the thirteen time Leading sire in Japan, Sunday Silence.
She was owned by Keizo Oshiro, a horse owner who used Daiwa as his stable name. Her name came from the combination of the stable name and also El Cielo – a Spanish phrase that loosely means heaven or sky.
Racing career 2003: two-year-old season Daiwa El Cielo made her debut on 28 December in the fifth race at the Hanshin Racecourse. She took the lead from the start and held off the rest of the field in the straight to win the race.
2004: three-year-old season The second race of her career would be the Kobai Stakes in January at the Kyoto Racecourse. In this race, she would be narrowly defeated at the finish line by Sweep Tosho and ended up in second place. In the preparation leading up to her first-ever graded stakes race, the Queen Cup, Matsuda, who is her trainer, stated that he saw that the horse was capable of starting well from the gate and positioning herself on the front early. This approach turned out well for her on the race day as she surged from fourth position to the lead in the straight to win the race by one-and-a-quarter lengths ahead of the second place finisher, Crystal Violet. This race qualified her for her first classic race, the Oka Sho on 11 April. Despite a good run at the start, she failed to impress and faded out as the race went on, finishing in seventh place, seven-and-three-quarters length behind Dance in the Mood.
One month later, she would run at the second leg of the classic tiara race which was the Yushun Himba at the Tokyo Racecourse. Before the race started, his main jockey, Yuichi Fukunaga stated that he decided to take a front-running strategy, let the horse go as it pleased and would try to win from the get go. When the gates opened, Daiwa El Cielo started well from her gate and positioned herself behind the front-running horse of the day, Winglet. The race pace turned out to be slow, but it did not affect her running rhythm. Entering the backstretch, Winglet lost composure at the front and veered outwards, allowing Daiwa El Cielo to make a move for the race lead. Meanwhile, Sweep Tosho, who settled at the back, used the outside track and sped up in the final phase to cut the lead created by Daiwa El Cielo whilst Dance in The Mood struggled in the mid-pack but was able to follow up the move. Both horses closed in as much as they could, but they ran out of ground, which saw Daiwa El Cielo finished first and won by three-quarters of a length over Sweep Tosho, while Yamanin Alabaster succeeded in stealing the last podium places over Dance in the Mood in the dying seconds. This was the first Yushun Himba victory for both Fukunaga and Matsuda in their career.
She was rested and prepared for the second half of the season at the Rose Stakes in September. As usual, she tracked on the lead for the majority of the race but was unable to extend her advantage in the final phase, falling down the order in the straight and finishing in seventh place on the day. Due to poor finishing, she skipped the final leg of the tiara race, Shuka Sho and opted for a comeback at the Keihan Hai in November. In this race, she took the lead from the start, pulled away from the rest of the field halfway down the straight, won by one-and-a-half lengths over Company and snatched her third graded race. In the post-race, Fukunaga commented, "She ran at an easy pace and stretched out well to the finish. Last time she was a bit tense after a break, but today she was calm. She is a GI winner, after all. She showed her strength." After this win, Matsuda sent her to close the season at the Hanshin Himba Stakes in December. Daiwa El Cielo ran well in the front group at this race but she was overtaken by the eventual winner, Heavenly Romance and Meisho Butler, who both made their move in the final straight, and finished in third place.
2005: four-year-old season In January, the horse restarted her campaign in the new season at the Kyoto Kimpai. She led the race in the early phase before gassing out in the end and finished in ninth place. At the end of the month, Matsuda tried to debut her at the dirt race, which turned out to be the JpnI Kawasaki Kinen where she would be starting from gate 10. The same outcome happened again for the second successive races as she slowed down at the final straight and finished in sixth place despite taking an early lead.
For the next two races, she would run at the Lord Derby Challenge Trophy in April and Aichi Hai in June. She flopped in both races, finishing in 16th place in those two. One month later, she started early on the second half of the campaign, joining the Mermaid Stakes in July. When the race began, Daiwa El Cielo took the lead from the start and pulled away from the rest of the field. She briefly drew the others back between the third and fourth corners, then moved to the center of the track in the straight, easily shaking off the persistently chasing Meine Samantha and crossing the finish line first by one-and-three-quarters lengths. After this race, she would be rested for the whole season and eventually retired from racing on 15 March 2006. Her racehorse registry would also be removed on the same day.
Racing form Daiwa El Cielo won five races and scored two podium finishes from 13 starts. This data is available based on JBIS and netkeiba. DateRacecourseRaceGradeDistance(Condition)EntryHNOdds(Favored)FinishTimeMarginsJockeyWinner(Runner-up)2003 – two-year-old seasonDec 28Hanshin2yo Newcomer1,600 m (Firm)1481.9 (1)1st1:37.8–0.2Yuichi Fukunaga(Meine Sorceress)2004 – three-year-old seasonJan 18KyotoKobai StakesOP1,400 m (Firm)1129.1 (3)2nd1:22.00.1Yuichi FukunagaSweep ToshoFeb 21TokyoDaily Hai Queen CupGIII1,600 m (Firm)1692.3 (1)1st1:34.3–0.2Yuichi Fukunaga(Crystal Violet)Apr 11HanshinOka ShoGI1,600 m (Firm)18189.5 (5)7th1:34.71.1Yuichi FukunagaDance in the MoodMay 23TokyoYushun HimbaGI2,400 m (Good)181321.4 (6)1st2:27.2–0.1Yuichi Fukunaga(Sweep Tosho)Sep 19HanshinRose StakesGII2,000 m (Firm)12102.5 (1)7th1:59.70.7Yuichi FukunagaLes Clefs d'OrNov 27KyotoKeihan HaiGIII1,800 m (Firm)171216.9 (8)1st1:46.3–0.2Yuichi Fukunaga(Company)Dec 19HanshinHanshin Himba StakesGII1,600 m (Firm)16164.5 (2)3rd1:34.20.2Yuichi FukunagaHeavenly Romance2005 – four-year-old seasonJan 5KyotoKyoto KimpaiGIII1,600 m (Firm)1675.7 (2)9th1:34.60.6Yuichi FukunagaHat TrickJan 26KawasakiKawasaki KinenJpnI2,100 m (Muddy)12100.0 (2)6th2:15.81.6Yuichi FukunagaTime ParadoxApr 3NakayamaLord Derby Challenge TrophyGIII1,600 m (Firm)1637.1 (5)16th1:34.52.2Yuichi FukunagaDaiwa MajorJun 5ChukyoAichi HaiGIII2,000 m (Firm)181510.5 (5)16th2:03.11.8Koshiro TakeMeine SorceressJul 10HanshinMermaid StakesGIII2,000 m (Good)964.5 (2)1st2:00.5–0.3Yuichi Fukunaga(Meine Samantha) Legend:
Broodmare career She became a broodmare at her birthplace, Shimokawabe Ranch, from 2007 until her retirement in 2022. She was sent to Shimokawa Farm and lived out the rest of her life alongside her dam, London Bridge.
During her broodmare period, she produced nine foals:
Daiwa Hermosa, bay filly, foaled in 2007, by Brian's Time, 0 wins in 6 starts, broodmare. Unnamed colt, 2008, by Jungle Pocket. Speir, bay filly, 2013, by Jungle Pocket, broodmare. Casa del Cielo, dark bay filly, 2015, by Lord Kanaloa, 2 wins in 21 starts, broodmare. Haurvatat, dark bay filly, 2016, by Lord Kanaloa, 2 wins in 18 starts, broodmare. Lonsdale Belt, bay colt, 2017, by Lord Kanaloa, 3 wins in 13 starts, retired. Pleasant London, bay filly, 2020, by Lord Kanaloa, 3 wins in 24 starts, broodmare. Ho O Amoureuse, chestnut filly, 2021, by Rey de Oro, 1 win in 22 starts, retired. Thriving Road, chestnut filly, 2022, by Rey de Oro, 3 wins in 9 starts, active.
Pedigree
Inbreeding: 4 x 5 to Northern Dancer (Rose Red's sire). Her half brother, , won the 2005 Arlington Cup and 2006 Kyoto Kimpai. Another half brother, , won the 2018 Chukyo Kinen. Her half sister, Blitz Finale, is the dam of Kiseki (2017 Kikuka-shō) and (2023 Mermaid Stakes).
References