THE ARCHIVE — HORSES
LegendaryHorses
The horses who ran through Japanese racing history.
1980s
The Emperor’s Decade
Symboli Rudolf
シンボリルドルフ 1981–2011
7G1
The fourth Japanese Triple Crown winner (1984) and the first to do it unbeaten — remembered as “The Emperor”.
Oguri Cap
オグリキャップ 1985–2010
4G1
From the local track at Kasamatsu to the national stage — a grey who became a social phenomenon as one of the “Heisei Big Three”.
1990s
An Age of Monsters
Mejiro McQueen
メジロマックイーン 1987–2006
4G1
Completed a three-generation Tenno Sho sequence, and was the first horse in Japan to earn ¥1 billion in prize money.
Tokai Teio
トウカイテイオー 1988–2013
4G1
From Symboli Rudolf’s first crop — the “miracle horse” who came back from repeated fractures.
Narita Brian
ナリタブライアン 1991–1998
5G1
The fifth Japanese Triple Crown winner (1994), famous for the shadow roll he raced in.
Silence Suzuka
サイレンススズカ 1994–1998
1G1
A front-runner who won six in a row in 1998, including the Takarazuka Kinen, before a fatal injury in the Tenno Sho (Autumn).
Special Week
スペシャルウィーク 1995–2018
4G1
The 1998 Derby winner who, in 1999, took both Tenno Sho and the Japan Cup — hailed as Japan’s “commander-in-chief”.
2000s
Impact and the Queens
T.M. Opera O
テイエムオペラオー 1996–2018
7G1
Unbeaten in eight starts in 2000, with five Grade 1 wins — ridden by Ryuji Wada in all 26 of his races.
Deep Impact
ディープインパクト 2002–2019
7G1
In 2005 he became the second horse, after Symboli Rudolf, to win the Japanese Triple Crown unbeaten.
Vodka
ウオッカ 2004–2019
7G1
In 2007 she became the first filly in 64 years to win the Japanese Derby — one of seven Grade 1 wins.
Daiwa Scarlet
ダイワスカーレット 2004–
4G1
Never out of the first two in twelve starts, she won the 2008 Arima Kinen — the first filly to do so in 37 years.
2010s
Doors to the World
Orfevre
オルフェーヴル 2008–
6G1
The seventh Japanese Triple Crown winner (2011), twice second in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Gold Ship
ゴールドシップ 2009–
6G1
A grey with six Grade 1 wins: the Satsuki Sho, Kikuka Sho, Arima Kinen, two Takarazuka Kinen and the Tenno Sho (Spring).
Kitasan Black
キタサンブラック 2012–
7G1
Winner of the Kikuka Sho, both Tenno Sho, the Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen; Horse of the Year in 2016 and 2017.
Almond Eye
アーモンドアイ 2015–
9G1
The fifth filly to win the Japanese Triple Tiara (2018), and a two-time Japan Cup winner.
2020s
The World’s Best
