Details
| Name / Japanese | Fortino / フオルテイノ (フォルティノ) |
| Birth Year | 1959 |
| Birth Country | FR |
| Sex | horse |
| Sire | Grey Sovereign |
| Dam (Sire) | Ranavalo (Relic) |
| Other Site Link | JBIS Stallion Reports / en.netkeiba |
As a Racehorse Briefly
- Fortino was successful in short distance races, winning the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp, the Prix de Saint-Georges and the Prix de Meautry.
- He began working as a stallion in 1963.
As a Stallion
- First, referring to Fortino’s pedigree, his fourth-generation dam, Nogara, is also the dam of Nearco.
He is an inbred horse, a 4 x 4 by Nogara. - His 1967 foal, Caro, became a very successful racehorse and stallion.
However, Fortino was imported to Japan in 1969, before Caro began to play an active role.
If Caro had been born a year earlier, Fortino might have become a major stallion in Europe.
(Well, if Fortino had stayed in Europe, Caro’s success as a sire might have been less.) - After arriving in Japan, Fortino worked as a stallion until 1979, and died in 1980.
It is fair to say that his Japanese foals were successful, but they did not win any major G1-level races. - Fortino inherited the “Grey / Gray” gene from his sire, Grey Sovereign, and passed it on to his foals.
Foals
- Among his Japanese foals, Long Fast and C.B. Cross are well-known.
- Long Fast was successful, finishing second in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) and Kikka Sho.
Long Fast’s half-brother, Long Ace, was a popular horse who won the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), so Long Fast was also popular. - C.B. Cross won the Mainichi Okan and Meguro Kinen (Autumn), and became popular under the nickname “白い稲妻 (White Lightning).
Fortino sire line, Caro sire line and Cozzene sire line in Japan
Posted in May 2023 – To be updated as needed (Latest update: May 2023)
- The Fortino sire line flourished thanks to Caro and Caro’s foals such as Crystal Palace, Kaldoun, and Cozzene.
Today, the Fortino sire line is currently in decline worldwide. - Many Fortino sire line stallions and racehorses were imported to Japan.
Some of the horses have been quite successful, but they have failed to become part of the mainstream sire line in Japan and are now in little demand.
Fortino (FR) – C.B. Cross – Tamamo Cross line
- C.B. Cross sired such successful horses as Tamamo Cross and White Stone.
Tamamo Cross, in particular, was very successful becoming the Horse of the Year, and was very popular. - Tamamo Cross was a successful Japanese-bred stallion at the time, once ranking seventh in the leading sire rankings in 1995.
(Among Japanese-bred stallions, Tamamo Cross was the second best stallion in 1995, after Sakura Yutaka O.) - Tamamo Cross’s foals did not win any G1 races.
Among Tamamo Cross’s foals, Kanetsu Cross and My Sole Sound are well-known, but they did not become stallions. - There are rumors that Snark Everest, a foal by Tamamo Cross, has become a stallion in China, but it is safe to say that the C.B. Cross sire line has ceased to exist.
Caro (IRE) – Crystal Palace (FR) line
- Crystal Palace started as a stallion in France then moved to Japan in 1985.
He was successful in France and was France’s leading sire in 1985.
He was a highly promising stallion in Japan, but he did not live up to his promise.
Like Fortino, he is a stallion who could have been a little more successful had he not come to Japan. - Of his Japanese foals, only Prekrasnie has won a G1 race.
Caro (IRE) – Sharrood (USA) line (- Biwa Hayahide)
- In December 1989, Hayata Koichiro of Hayata Farms purchased a mare named Pacificus, carrying a foal by Sharrood.
Paciificus gave birth to a colt in Japan.
He was later named Biwa Hayahide and became very successful. - Due to the success of Biwa Hayahide, Sharrood worked as a stallion in Japan from 1993 until his death in 1995 due to intestinal rupture.
Other than Biwa Hayahide, none of his foals can be said to have been successful in Japan. - Biwa Hayahide was not a successful sire and the Sharrood sire line was discontinued.
Caro (IRE) – Cozzene (USA) – Admire Cozzene line
- Cozzene was very successful, becoming the leading sire in North America in 1996, and further developed the Caro sire line.
- Among Cozzene’s foals, Admire Cozzene and Robe Decollete were imported to Japan and won G1 races as racehorses.
- Admire Cozzene had a moderately successful career as a sire.
Aston Machan and Snow Dragon are his foals that won G1 races. - As of 2023, Snow Dragon is still active as a stallion, but there is little demand for him as a sire, so the Japanese sire line from Admire Cozzene is hard to keep alive.
Others such as Carwhite, Golden Pheasant, Star of Cozzene, Tikkanen and Chichicastenango were imported to Japan as highly promising stallions.
Some of them were pretty successful, but none of them sired a foal that won a G1 race in Japan.