Details
| Name / Japanese | Haku Chikara / ハクチカラ |
| Birth Year | 1953 |
| Sex | horse |
| Earnings | 14,956,000 yen (only Japan) |
| Races-Wins / G1-Wins | 48-21 |
| Sire | Tobisakura |
| Dam (Sire) | Noborishiro (Diolite) |
| Other site link | JBIS / netkeiba |
| Awards | Keishusha Award for Horse of the Year (1957) |
| Honours | Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame (1984) |
All major races
| Y D/M |
Track | Race | No. | Pl. |  |
| 1955 11/12 |
Nakayama T1100 |
Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes | 1 | 2 | |
| 1956 22/04 |
Tokyo T2000 |
Satsuki Sho | 13 | 12 | |
| 1956 03/06 |
Tokyo T2400 |
Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) | 4 | 1 | |
| 1956 18/11 |
Kyoto T3000 |
Kikuka Sho | 12 | 5 | |
| 1956 02/12 |
Tokyo T2000 |
Kabutoyama Kinen | 5 | 1 | |
| 1956 23/12 |
Nakayama T2600 |
Nakayama Grand Prix / (the First Arima Kinen) | 11 | 5 | |
| 1957 24/03 |
Tokyo T2500 |
Meguro Kinen (spring) | 4 | 1 | |
| 1957 12/05 |
Tokyo T2400 |
Tokyo Hai | 3 | 1 | |
| 1957 30/06 |
Nakayama T3200 |
Nihon Keizai Sho | 2 | 1 | |
| 1957 22/09 |
Nakayama T2600 |
Mainichi Okan | 4 | 1 | |
| 1957 20/10 |
Nakayama T2000 |
Sankei Sho All Comers | 4 | 2 | |
| 1957 03/11 |
Nakayama T2600 |
Meguro Kinen (autumn) | 5 | 1 | |
| 1957 23/11 |
Tokyo T3200 |
Tenno Sho (autumn) | 2 | 1 | |
| 1957 22/12 |
Nakayama T2600 |
Arima Kinen | 2 | 1 | |
| 1958 22/07 |
Hollywood Park D13F |
Sunset Handicap | 4 | ||
| 1958 26/12 |
Santa Anita Park T9F |
Tournament of Roses | 2 | ||
| 1959 01/01 |
Santa Anita Park T10F |
San Gabriel Handicap | 3 | ||
| 1959 16/01 |
Santa Anita Park T10F |
California State Cooperative | 2 | ||
| 1959 23/02 |
Santa Anita Park T12F |
Washington Birthday Handicap | 1 |
- In the Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes, he was the 1st favorite.
He lost to Kitano O by 3/4 lengths. - In the Satsuki Sho, he did not show his best and finished 12th.
After the race it was discovered that his stable keeper had administered intestinal drugs to him without the trainer’s permission, and the stable keeper was replaced. - In the Tokyo Yushun, he won by 3 lengths over Kitano O.
This was the first Derby victory for the jockey, Takayoshi Yasuda, in his 20th year of racing. - In the Kikuka Sho, he lost to Kitano O and finished 5th.
- The rest of 1956, he won the Kabutoyama Kinen.
He also ran in the Nakayama Grand Prix, the first Arima Kinen, where he finished 5th.
(The winner of the Nakayama Grand Prix was Meiji Hikari, who was later selected for the Hall of Fame.) - In the first half of 1957, he won the Meguro Kinen, Tokyo Hai and Nihon Keizai Sho.
- In the Sankei Sho All Comers, he was the 3rd favorite.
Seiyu took the lead.
(Seiyu was the only Anglo-Arab horse to have won a Thoroughbred major race.
He was later the only Anglo-Arab horse to be selected for the Hall of Fame.)
Takayoshi Yasuda, who rode Haku Chikara, was told by another jockey, “Is it OK for a Derby horse to be beaten by an Arab horse?
With these words, Yasuda started moving early and passed Seiyu.
However, in the end Haku Chikara was beaten to 2nd place by Kitano O, while Seiyu finished 4th. - In the Meguro Kinen (autumn), he won by 1/2 lengths.
This race was the last showdown between Haku Chikara and Kitano O.
Haku Chikara faced Kitano O a total of 10 times and finished ahead four times.
Kitano O died in active racing because he was later rejected to become a stallion due to his uncertain pedigree. - In the Tenno Sho (autumn), he won by 1 length.
The win ticket’s favorability rate for him was 85.9%, which is still an all-time record as of 2022. - In the Arima Kinen, he was the 1st favorite and won by 3 lengths.
In the U.S.A.
- After the Arima Kinen, plans were made for him to go to the United States, and with the help of the JRA and the Hollywood Turf Club, the trip became a reality.
This was the first full-fledged racehorse trip since the 1909 Japan-Russia horse races held in Vladivostok, Russia.
Takayoshi Yasuda accompanied him as jockey and stablesman, and the plane’s captain was authorized to shoot Haku Chikara in case of emergency. - Haku Chikara came in last in his first and second races after arriving in the U.S., perhaps because of the unfamiliar environment.
His team abandoned their target to run in the Hollywood Gold Cup. - In the Sunset Handicap, he finished 4th, a nose behind 3rd place.
(He was 10 lengths behind the winner, Gallant Man.
He was handicapped 10 kg lighter than Gallant Man.
Gallant Man was American first-class horss at the time he won the Belmont Stakes.)
The next day, the local newspaper gave more space to Haku Chikara than to Gallant Man, praising his good work.
Although his stay in the U.S. was originally scheduled to end after the Sunset Handicap, an American trainer who had been managing him suggested that he be transferred to the Del Mar racetrack, saying that if he stayed in the U.S. for a while now, he would be able to adapt to the horse racing in the U.S. - He ran two races at Del Mar, finishing 6th in both.
He then went to Santa Anita.
The jockey, Takayoshi Yasuda, did not go to Santa Anita, and returned to Japan. - In the Tournament of Roses, it was his first race at Santa Anita, his first race ridden by an American jockey, and his first turf race in the U.S.
(The jockey was Eddie Arcaro, who was later inducted into the American Racing Hall of Fame.)
He finished 2nd. - He continued to run well in turf races at Santa Anita.
- In the Washington Birthday Handicap, he was the 15th favorite.
Round Table, the highest earner in the world at the time, was the horse featured.
(As for handicaps, only Round Table was quite heavy at 134 pounds, while the other horses were between 104 and 115 pounds.
Haku Chikara was 109 pounds.)
Round Table injured his right front leg during the race and finished 16th.
Haku Chikara took the lead after about 800 meters of the first half of the race and continued on to the finish line in 1st place.
It was the first time in history that a Japanese horse won a race in the United States.
The next Japanese-bred horse to win an U.S. grade race (or race predecessor to grade race) after him was Sunday Break in 2002, and the next Japanese-trained horse to do so was Cesario in 2005.
The prize money for this race alone was more than all the money he earned in Japan. - He never won in the U.S. after that.
His record in the U.S. was one win in 17 races.
As a sire
- He became a stallion after returning to Japan, but at the time there was not much demand for Japanese-born stallions.
He was often bred to Arab horses, and the horses that were born were not very successful. - He was donated to India in 1968.
He worked as a stallion in India and sired 28 foals in 10 years.
Three of these horses won Indian classic races, and others also performed well.
Hall of Fame
- He was selected for the Hall of Fame for his victory in the United States.
He was a leading pioneer in the internationalization of horse racing in Japan.
He is also referred to on the JRA website as the “Chestnut Internationalist. - The jockey, Takayoshi Yasuda, after returning from his tour in the U.S., promoted the American style of jockeying in Japan.
In particular, the monkey crouch (monkey seat), which is commonplace today, was already known in Japan in the early 1900s, but no one practiced it.
Yasuda thought it was a good idea to practice monkey crouch, and he gradually mastered it, even though he was 38 years old at the time and his body was deteriorating and stiffening.
His new form helped Yasuda become the leading jockey for three consecutive years after his return to Japan.
Other jockeys imitated Yasuda’s style, and the monkey crouch style became popular in Japan thanks to Yasuda.
Yasuda was selected to the Hall of Fame in 2004 as a jockey.