Details
| Name / Japanese | Mejiro Asama / メジロアサマ |
| Birth Year | 1966 |
| Sex | horse |
| Earnings | 186,369,200 yen |
| Races-Wins | 48-17 |
| Sire | Partholon |
| Dam (Sire) | Sweet / Sweet Sixteen (First Fiddle) Sweet is the name of a Japanese racehorse Sweet Sixteen is the name as a racehorse in the UK and in the studbook |
| Other site link | JBIS / en.netkeiba |
Major races
| Y D/M |
Track | Race | No. | Pl. |  |
| 1969 12/01 |
Nakayama T1600 |
Keisei Hai | 10 | 4 | |
| 1969 02/03 |
Tokyo D1400 |
Yayoi Sho | 8 | 3 | |
| 1969 30/03 |
Nakayama T1800 |
Spring Stakes | 18 | 15 | |
| 1969 25/05 |
Tokyo T2400 |
Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) | 5 | 16 | G |
| 1969 27/07 |
Hakodate T2000 |
Hakodate Kinen | 4 | 2 | |
| 1970 31/05 |
Tokyo T1600 |
Yasuda Kinen | 8 | 1 | |
| 1970 19/07 |
Sapporo D2000 |
Sapporo Kinen | 7 | 2 | |
| 1970 13/09 |
Hakodate T2000 |
Hakodate Kinen | 13 | 1 | |
| 1970 25/10 |
Tokyo T2000 |
All Comers | 8 | 3 | |
| 1970 08/11 |
Tokyo T2500 |
Meguro Kinen | 9 | 2 | |
| 1970 29/11 |
Tokyo T3200 |
Tenno Sho (Autumn) | 13 | 1 | ▲ / G |
| 1970 20/12 |
Nakayama T2500 |
Arima Kinen | 2 | 5 | G |
| 1971 07/03 |
Nakayama T2500 |
Meguro Kinen | 12 | 2 | |
| 1971 18/04 |
Nakayama T1800 |
Nakayama Kinen | 4 | 8 | |
| 1971 09/05 |
Nakayama T2500 |
Argentina Jockeys Club Cup | 5 | 1 | |
| 1971 30/05 |
Hanshin T2200 |
Takarazuka Kinen | 3 | 2 | G |
| 1971 20/06 |
Tokyo T1600 |
Yasuda Kinen | 6 | 5 | |
| 1971 19/12 |
Nakayama T2500 |
Arima Kinen | / | / | / |
| 1972 12/03 |
Nakayama T1800 |
Nakayama Kinen | 9 | 3 | |
| 1972 30/04 |
Tokyo T2400 |
American Jockeys Club Cup | 1 | 1 | |
| 1972 04/06 |
Hanshin T2200 |
Takarazuka Kinen | 6 | 6 | |
| 1972 25/06 |
Chukyo T2000 |
Takamatsunomiya Hai | 11 | 3 | |
| 1972 17/12 |
Nakayama T2500 |
Arima Kinen | 8 | 2 | G |
- Mejiro Asama had run well in the major races but failed to win, finally winning his first major race in 1970 at the Yasuda Kinen.
- In the Hakodate Kinen (1970), he beat Take Hope, Haiseiko’s rival.
- In the Tenno Sho (Autumn), he was the 5th favorite.
He won by 1/2 lengths over 2nd place finisher, Phiny. - In the Meguro Kinen (1971), he was beaten to 2nd place by Mejiro Musashi, also of the Mejiro Grope.
Since the Mejiro horses finished 1st and 2nd, this Meguro Kinen was also called Mejiro Kinen.
(The origin of Meguro and Mejiro are place names, but their further origin is interesting historically, geographically and religiously, but it is difficult for me to explain it in English.) - In the Takarazuka Kinen (1971), he was beaten to 2nd place by Mejiro Musashi again.
- Before the Arima Kinen (1971), the equine influenza (horse flu) pandemic spread widely, especially in the Kanto area.
Mejiro Asama was also infected and cancelled his run at Arima Kinen. - In the Arima Kinen (1972), he lost to Ishino Hikaru and finished 2nd.
If he had won, he would have been the first in Japanese history to win more than 200 million yen in prize money.
He retired after this race and became a stallion.
His sire and dam
- His sire, Partholon, was an Irish stallion purchased jointly by the owners of Mejiro and Symboli.
Partholon was not a very successful racehorse, but he was very successful in Japan as a stallion.
He later sired the Derby winner Sakura Shori and the Triple Crown winner Symboli Rudolf. - His dam, Sweet Sixteen, was born in the U.S. and ran as a racehorse in the U.K. and then in Japan.
In Japan, her name is only Sweet without Sixteen, perhaps due to the character limit of the Japanese language.
She was owned by the owner of Symboli Farm and was a broodmare of Symboli Farm.
The racehorses at the Symboli farm are famous for being named “Symboli” for colts and “Sweet” for mares.
In the beginning, only the Sweet (Sixteen) family was named “Sweet”, but it seems that the name “Sweet” was given to other families in addition to the Sweet family, and it became a customary name.
(Note that this theory about the name “Sweet” may be uncertain.)
As a sire
- As a stallion, Mejiro Asama faced a serious problem.
His sperm implantation rate was very low due to the aftereffects of a treatment for equine influenza that he contracted when he was a racehorse.
In his first year as a stallion, none of the broodmares bred to him were conceived.
The syndicate was therefore disbanded, increasing the likelihood that he would not live to be a stallion.
(Mejiro Asama is famous, but there have been some other cases of stallions and mares ruined by equine influenza remedies.) - Mejiro Asama was taken in by Toyokichi Kitano, owner of the Mejiro Group.
Kitano showed what could be called exceptional love for Mejiro Asama.
Kitano continued to treat Mejiro Asama and also purchased good quality broodmares for Mejiro Asama.
(This was exceptional compared to the treatment of Mejiro Musashi and Mejiro Taiyo during the same period.)
Kitano’s goal was to win a Tenno Sho with Mejiro Asama’s colt. - Mejiro Asama ended up with only 19 crops during his lifetime.
In addition to Mejiro Titan, who will be discussed later, his crops include Mejiro Chara, who finished 2nd in the Oka Sho, 4th in the Oaks, and 1st in the Kyoto Daishoten, and Mejiro Espada, who had great ability but was unable to show it due to injury.
Although the quality of the broodmares bred to him was good, his true ability as a stallion was probably high.
In addition to Mejiro Titan, Mejiro Espada is also a stallion, which shows Kitano’s obsession with the continuation of the Mejiro Asama sire line.
Mejiro Laurent, the one-eyed broodmare who fed the milk to Mejiro Dober, who was born unable to drink his own mother’s milk, is also a crop of Mejiro Asama.
Details
| Name / Japanese | Mejiro Titan / メジロティターン |
| Birth Year | 1978 |
| Sex | horse |
| Earnings | 175,508,000 yen |
| Races-Wins | 27-7 |
| Sire | Mejiro Asama |
| Dam (Sire) | Cheryl (Snob) |
| Other site link | JBIS / en.netkeiba |
| Awards | Best Horse By Home-bred Sire (1982) |
- He entered the Tokichi Ogata Stable like his sire, Mejiro Asama.
Major races
| Y D/M |
Track | Race | No. | Pl. | |
| 1981 27/09 |
Nakayama T2200 |
St.Lite Kinen | 13 | 1 | G |
| 1982 16/05 |
Tokyo T2500 |
Nikkei Sho | 9 | 1 | G |
| 1982 06/06 |
Hanshin T2200 |
Takarazuka Kinen | 14 | 9 | G |
| 1982 31/10 |
Tokyo T3200 |
Tenno Sho (Autumn) | 4 | 1 | ▲ / G |
| 1982 26/12 |
Nakayama T2500 |
Arima Kinen | 8 | 8 | G |
| 1983 15/05 |
Tokyo T2500 |
Nikkei Sho | 7 | 3 | |
| 1983 27/11 |
Tokyo T2400 |
Japan Cup | 10 | 12 | G |
| 1983 25/12 |
Nakayama T2500 |
Arima Kinen | 11 | 6 | G |
- In the St.Lite Kinen, he won his first major race.
Fifteen minutes before his victory, his trainer, Tokichi Ogata, had died.
Tokichi Ogata was the greatest trainer in Japan, with 1,670 victories, the most in JRA history ( and his total number of victories is estimated to be 2,776 if we include his victories at the time of JRA’s predecessor organization).
Mejiro Titan’s victory was recorded as Tokichi Ogata’s last major race victory.
With this victory, he was considered a strong contender for the Kikuka Sho, but after the race it was discovered that he had suffered a cracked fracture, and he was forced to withdraw from the Kikuka Sho.
The trainer managing him was changed to Moritsugu Ogata, the son of Tokichi Ogata. - In the Tenno Sho (Autumn), he was the 4th favorite.
He began a long spurt before the last corner.
He took the lead at the beginning of the long home stretch and ran to the finish line in 1st place.
He won by 1+1/2 lengths over 2nd place finisher, Hikari Duel.
He broke the record time by one second and set a Japanese record.
Toyokichi Kitano, owner of Mejiro Asama, achieved his dream of a Tenno Sho victory by a Mejiro Asama colt.
Mejiro Titan’s jockey is the child of Mejiro Asama’s jockey, and his trainer is also the child of the trainer at the time of Mejiro Asama, as noted earlier. - The Best Horse By Home-bred Sire award began in 1982, and he was selected as the first Best Horse By Home-bred Sire.
- He continued to run in the following year but retired without a single win and became a stallion.
His retirement ceremony was held jointly with Amber Shadai.
(Amber Shadai later sired Mejiro Ryan.)
As a sire
- His owner, Toyokichi Kitano, died in 1984 when he began his career as a stallion.
Kitano left a last will and testament: ” Make sure that Mejiro Titan’s colt wins the Tenno Sho. - Mejiro McQueen was born as Mejiro Titan’s third yearling.
Mejiro McQueen won the Kikka Sho in 1990 and the following year won the Tenno Sho (Spring).
Toyokichi Kitano’s last will became a reality.
The three generations of Mejiro Asama, Mejiro Titan, and Mejiro McQueen winning the Tenno Sho was hailed as a great feat. - At first, Mejiro Titan did not have high breeding numbers, partly due to the impression that Mejiro Asama was difficult to fertilize.
When Mejiro Marsyas and the Mejiro McQueen began to be active, he was in high demand and the number of breeding increased.
However, after that, his crops did not do so well.
Mejiro Horses
Since this is a good opportunity, I will explain a little about the Mejiro Horses.
Mejiro Farm had something of a “Tenno Sho First Policy”.
Therefore, the Mejiro horses had abundant stamina and were strong in long-distance races and steeplechase races.
Even today, I have the impression that horses from the Mejiro bloodline are often strong in tough races.
The number of long-distance and steeplechase races is now reduced, such as Tenno Sho (Autumn) from 3,200 to 2,000 meters, making it harder for stayers to be successful, and the demand for stayer stallions has decreased significantly.
The use of horses for such purposes as chariot racing, dressage, and polo is also in almost no demand in Japan, so Mejiro’s sire line is nearly extinct.
(As of 2022, a stallion named Ginza Green Grass, a colt by Mejiro McQueen, is active in Japan on a very small scale.)
(Also, apparently there is a horse in China named Wu Di, a foal of Mejiro Ardan, who is a successful racehorse and stallion.
Mejiro Ardan is a member of the Northern Taste sire line, which had already ceased to exist in Japan, although it had become a major sire line.)
The following section will focus on the four families.
Asama Yuri Family
| Asama Yuri Family (JBIS) (Wikipedia in Japanese) |
| Asama Yuri was considered to have potential as a racehorse but failed to show her potential. Famous successful horses are the brothers Mejiro Durren and Mejiro McQueen. The Asama Yuri family has also produced other talented horses such as Mejiro Marsyas and Mejiro Thomas. Shonan Kampf , Regent Bluff, and others from the Asama Yuri family, which left Mejiro Farm, were active in racing. After the dissolution of the Mejiro Farm, the Asama Yuri family produced Triomphe and others. |
|
By Asama Yuri Mejiro Iris (Asama Yuri – Hindostan) – JRA 6 wins |
|
Successful Horses from Asama Yuri Family Mejiro Thomas (Mejiro Tsushima – Fidion) – Kyoto Kinen, Kyoto Kim Pai |
Amazon Warrior Family
| Amazon Warrior Family (JBIS) (Wikipedia in Japanese) |
| Amazon Warrior was a broodmare imported from the United States. Eight of her nine foals were mares, which later created a great family line. A prominent horse in the Amazon Warrior line is Mejiro Ramonu, the first Triple Crown filly in Japan. Even more recently, Glory Vase, a descendant of Mejiro Ramonu, has won the Hong Kong Vase twice. Mejiro Eagle was a successful racehorse and also sired Mejiro Palmer as a stallion. Mejiro Ardan, mentioned above, is also a member of the Amazon Warrior family. |
|
By Amazon Warrior Mejiro Kazusa (Amazon Warrior – Partholon) – JRA 3 wins |
|
Successful Horses from Amazon Warrior Family Mejiro Kammuri (Mejiro Crown – Pas de Seul) – Queen Elizabeth II Cup: 2nd, Fuchu Himba Stakes: 2nd |
| Mejiro Bosatsu Family (JBIS) (Wikipedia in Japanese) |
| Mejiro Bosatsu won the Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes against colts and was Best Two-Year-Old Filly. She went on to finish third in the Oka Sho and second in the Oaks. Many successful horses, such as Mejiro Dober, were born from the Mejiro Bosatsu family. Maurice has also been successful not only in Japan but also in Hong Kong as a racehorse, and is now active as a stallion not only in Japan but also in Australia. |
|
By Mejiro Bosatsu Mejiro Gekko (Mejiro Bosatsu – Partholon) – Spring Stakes, Yayoi Sho |
|
Successful Horses from Mejiro Bosastu Family Sound Rihanna (Otemba Komachi – Came Home) – Fantasy Stakes |
Cheryl Family
| Cheryl Family (JBIS) (Wikipedia in Japanese) |
| Cheryl came from a prestigious family that has produced successful horses in France and Ireland. She was the winner of the first Prix de l’Opera as a racehorse owned by Toyokichi Kitano. She was an excellent racehorse from the prestigious broodmare family, and some in the French horse racing community were opposed that she go to Japan. (Perhaps a very few French horse racing connoisseurs may have noted the presence of the name “Cheryl” on the pedigree charts of Orfevre and Gold Ship, who ran in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.) Some people questioned or worried about Toyokichi Kitano’s decision to breed his excellent and expensive Cheryl with Mejiro Asama, which has a low fertilization rate. |
|
By Cheryl Mejiro Longchamp (Cheryl – Hitting Away) – JRA 3 wins |
|
Successful Horses from Cheryl Family Mejiro Ryan (Mejiro Chaser – Amber Shadai) – Takarazuka Kinen |
These four families are the main families of Mejiro and have produced many successful horses.
Other famous families include the Reru du Temps family, which produced the brothers Mejiro Bright and Mejiro Bailey, and Suzuka Presto. (JBIS)
The stallion Mogami, like Partholon, was purchased jointly by the owners of Symboli and Mejiro.
Mejiro Farm also purchased the sisters of Mogami and utilized them as broodmares, but their families were rarely successful, with Mejiro Palmer being the only one who did well.
Mejiro Taiyo, Mejiro Asama, and Mejiro Musashi, three Tenno Sho winners from the early days of Mejiro, were purchased from other farms before Mejiro Farm was opened.
It sad in the end mejiro bloodline failed and Yoshida families win . I hope in another reality universe mejiro family bloodline win