Details
| Name / Japanese | Oju Chosan / オジュウチョウサン |
| Birth Year | 2011 |
| Sex | male |
| Earnings | yen |
| Races-Win / J.G1-Win / G1-Win | 32-18 / 8-7 / 1-0 |
| Sire | Stay Gold |
| Dam (Sire) | Shadow Silhouette (Symboli Kris S) |
| Other site link | JBIS / Umanity / en.netkeiba |
| Awards | JRA Award for Best Steeplechase Horse (2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022) |
Until 2017: All J.G1 races + grade-races he won
| Y D/M |
Track | Race | No. | Pl. |  |
| 2015 26/12 |
Nakayama J4100 |
Nakayama Daishogai (J.G1) | 1 | 6 | ◆ |
| 2016 16/04 |
Nakayama J4250 |
Nakayama Grand Jump (J.G1) | 7 | 1 | ◆ |
| 2016 25/06 |
Tokyo J3110 |
Tokyo Jump Stakes (J.G3) | 12 | 1 | G |
| 2016 16/10 |
Tokyo J3110 |
Tokyo High Jump (J.G2) | 2 | 1 | G |
| 2016 23/12 |
Nakayama J4100 |
Nakayama Daishogai (J.G1) | 9 | 1 | ◆ |
| 2017 11/03 |
Hanshin J3900 |
Hanshin Spring Jump (J.G2) | 11 | 1 | G |
| 2017 15/04 |
Nakayama J4250 |
Nakayama Grand Jump (J.G1) | 12 | 1 | ◆ |
| 2017 15/10 |
Tokyo J3110 |
Tokyo High Jump (J.G2) | 9 | 1 | G |
| 2017 23/12 |
Nakayama J4100 |
Nakayama Daishogai (J.G1) | 7 | 1 | ◆ |
- He ran two turf races, then switched to steeplechase.
- In the Nakayama Daishogai (2015), he finished 6th.
Up to Date, the steeplechase champion, won. - Up until 2015, he was very bad at starting.
In 2016, his earmuffs were removed at the suggestion of his jockey, Shinichi Ishigami.
It made him more focused and his starting became his signature. - In the Nakayama Grand Jump (2016), he was 2nd favorite.
He won by 3+1/2 lengths.
It was his first J.G1 win.
Up to Date wasn’t in the race. - In the Nakayama Daishogai (2016), he won defeating Up to Date.
He became the new steeplechase champion. - Before the Nakayama Daishogai (2017), Up to Date was on a three game losing streak to Oju Chosan.
In the race, Up to Date’s jockey has put his pride aside and made a bold move.
Up to Date was a front-runner and made a fast-pace.
Oju Chosan followed him in second place.
The gap between the two was hard to close, and the crowd went wild.
The reporter said, “前王者か!? 現王者か!? (Previous Champion!? or Present Champion!?)”
Oju Chosan won the hard-fought battle.
He broke the race record by 1.1 seconds for the first time in 26 years.
In 2018: All races
| Y D/M |
Track | Race | No. | Pl. | / E |
|
| 2018 14/04 |
Nakayama J4250 |
Nakayama Grand Jump (J.G1) | 6 | 1 | ◆ | |
| 2018 07/07 |
Fukushima T2600 |
Kaiseisan Tokubetsu | 6 | 1 | G | |
| 2018 03/11 |
Tokyo T2400 |
Nambu Tokubetsu | 3 | 1 | G | |
| 2018 23/12 |
Nakayama T2500 |
Arima Kinen (G1) | 1 | 9 | ◆ | E |
- In the Nakayama Grand Jump, he won by a wide margin.
He broke the race record by 3.6 seconds.
(The second horse was Up to Date and he also broke the race record that he set up three years ago.)
With this win, he broke T.M. Opera O’s record of eight consecutive wins in the JRA grade races, making it nine in a row.
He also broke the record for prize money in steeplechase races held by Gokai, which had been active around the year 2000.
- Arima Kinen and Takarazuka Kinen are called “Grand Prix races” and the right priority to run in them is given by votes from fans.
(However, a horse with zero prize money in a flat race is not entitled to run.)
He was 77th in the 2017 Arima Kinen fan voting.
And he was 43th in the 2018 Takarazuka Kinen fan voting. - His connections have decided to go for the Arima Kinen due to his owner’s wish.
- In the Kaiseisan Tokubetsu, it was his first flat race in four years and eight months.
His jockey changed to Yutaka Take.
He was 1st favorite.
The race was a lower class race, but he made the crowd very excited.
He won by 3 lengths.
He earned his prize money in a flat race, which means he could earn the right to run in the Arima Kinen depending on the results of the fan vote. - His connections received an offer to run in the Prix du Cadran in France.
It was a 4000m flat race with a long history, so the offer is a great honor.
However, the offer was rejected because his connections’ goal was the Arima Kinen. - Before the Arima Kinen, he was third in the fan vote.
In the race, he was 5th favorite.
He picked up the pace a little bit in the final stretch, which surprised people watching.
He finished 9th out of 16 in the flat-G1 race.
In 2019: All grade-races
| Y D/M |
Track | Race | No. | Pl. | |
|
| 2019 09/03 |
Hanshin J3900 |
Hanshin Spring Jump (J.G2) | 11 | 1 | G | |
| 2019 13/04 |
Nakayama J4250 |
Nakayama Grand Jump (J.G1) | 5 | 1 | ◆ | |
| 2019 03/11 |
Tokyo T2500 |
Copa Republica Argentina (G2) | 12 | 12 | E | |
| 2019 30/11 |
Nakayama T3600 |
Stayers Stakes (G2) | 1 | 6 | G | |
- In the Nakayama Grand Jump, he was extremely marked.
Miyaji Taiga made the pace in the first half of the race, and in the second half of the race, various horses were trying to beat Oju Chosan.
He fought off each and every horse that tried to beat him.
He won by 2+1/2 lengths.
His jockey, Shinichi Ishigami, said “It was the most difficult race I’ve ever run.”
This win was the fourth in a row, breaking the record of three consecutive Nakayama Grand Jump wins held by Karasi of Australia.
To begin with, he was the first in history to win the same JRA grade races four years in a row.
- He had won the JRA Award for Best Steeplechase Horse three years in a row.
But he didn’t win the award this year because he ran in flat races.
Shingun Michael won it in this year.
A showdown between the old and new champions was expected in 2020.
In 2020: All grade-races
| Y D/M |
Track | Race | No. | Pl. | |
|
| 2020 14/03 |
Hanshin J3900 |
Hanshin Spring Jump (J.G2) | 2 | 1 | G | |
| 2020 18/04 |
Nakayama J4250 |
Nakayama Grand Jump (J.G1) | 6 | 1 | ◆ | |
| 2020 14/11 |
Hanshin J3140 |
Kyoto Jump Stakes (J.G3) | 4 | 3 | ◆ | |
- In the Hanshin Spring Jump, he was the 1st favorite.
Shingun Michael, the new steeplechase champion, was 2nd favorite.
Oju Chosan won by 9 lengths over the second-place finisher, Shingun Michael. - In the Nakayama Grand Jump, the track condition was soft and sloppy.
//
It was a very tough race.
(In my opinion, I think it would have been better to cancel or postpone this race.)
Oju Chosan slipped a lot of times.
Three horses including Shingun Michael stopped racing.
Shingun Michael probably suffered heart failure and fell over a hurdle.
Shingun Michael dislocated a cervical joint and died unable to stand up.
//
He won by 3 lengths over Meisho Dassai.
It was his seventh straight win in J.G1 races.
And it was his fifth consecutive victory in the Nakayama Grand Jump. - In the Kyoto Jump Stakes, he lost to Tagano Espresso and finished 3rd.
With age, Oju Chosan’s speed had declined and his physical condition had become difficult to adjust to.
In comparison, first-place finisher Tagano Espresso was a speedy horse who had previously won a G2 race on the flat.
In addition, this race was a short distance for a steeplechase, which may have been a reason for Oju Chosan’s defeat.
//
His winning streak in steeplechase races had stopped at 13, and it was the first time in four years and eight months that he had lost a steeplechase.
This was the first time since Orfevre in the 2012 Hanshin Daishoten that a 1.1x win ticket was missed. - The 2020 JRA Award for Best Steeplechase Horse went to Meisho Dassai, winner of the Nakayama Daishogai.
After 2021: All races
| Y D/M |
Track | Race | No. | Pl. | |
|
| 2021 17/04 |
Nakayama J4250 |
Nakayama Grand Jump (J.G1) | 4 | 5 | ◆ | |
| 2021 17/10 |
Tokyo J3110 |
Tokyo High Jump (J.G2) | 4 | 3 | G | |
| 2021 25/12 |
Nakayama J4100 |
Nakayama Daishogai (J.G1) | 3 | 1 | ◆ | |
| 2022 12/03 |
Hanshin J3900 |
Hanshin Spring Jump (J.G2) | 5 | 3 | G | |
| 2022 16/04 |
Nakayama J4250 |
Nakayama Grand Jump (J.G1) | 7 | 1 | ◆ | |
| 2022 16/10 |
Tokyo J3110 |
Tokyo High Jump (J.G2) | 8 | 9 | G | |
| 2022 24/12 |
Nakayama J4100 |
Nakayama Daishogai (J.G1) | 1 | 6 | ◆ | |
- In 2021, he finished 5th in the Nakayama Grand Jump, losing to Meisho Dassai, and 3rd in the Tokyo High Jump.
It was thought that Oju Chosan had finally faded and was no longer a horse that could win. - In the Nakayama Daishogai (2021), the champion, Meisho Dassai, was absent due to injury.
Oju Chosan won the race in the last straight.
He won for the first time since last year’s Nakayama Grand Jump.
Although the vote was split between Oju Chosan and Meisho Dassai, Oju Chosan won the JRA Award for Best Steeplechase Horse in 2021. - In the Nakayama Grand Jump, he was the 1st favorite and won by 1+1/4 lengths.
(Meisho Dassai continued to be absent due to injury, and he eventually retired in November 2022 after not being able to race after the Nakayama Grand Jump in 2021.)
With this victory, Oju Chosan tied the record for the most G1 victories by a Japanese horse, held by Almond Eye with nine G1 victories, although there is a difference between flat and steeplechase.
He was the first Japanese-trained horse to win a JRA grade race at the age of 11.
(Karasi, trained in Australia, won the Nakayama Grand Jump at the age of 12.) - In the Tokyo High Jump (2022), he finished 9th.
A short time after the race, it was announced that he would retire from racing after running the Nakayama Daishogai.
- In the Nakayama Daishogai (2022), he was the 1st favorite and finished 6th.
His retirement ceremony was held after the race.
Episodes and The Records he has
- He is a highly popular horse who has surpassed the bounds of steeplechase, which used to be regarded as a minor category.
- He was the first steeplechase horse to be made into stuffed animals and other merchandise by JRA.
(Oju Chosan stuffed animal) - A “ヒーロー列伝 (Heroic Biographies)” was also created for him.
Heroic Biographies are a series of posters created for a famous horses by JRA.
Of course, it was a first ever for a steeplechase horse.
(JRA Poster Heroic Biographies Collection
He is number 82.) - His connections were going to support and continue his active life in 2023.
However, after the Tokyo High Jump (2022), his owner changed his mind and decided to retire him when he witnessed a small child, a fan of Oju Chosan, shedding tears after Oju Chosan was defeated. - His running is characterized by his low jumps.
In other words, he almost never jumps, but only runs through.
The jumps that look so dangerous are probably the secret of his great success.
Google Image Search “Oju Chosan Jump” “Oju Chosan jump gif” - He has also received three votes for Horse of the Year, even though he is a steeplechase horse.
(He prevented the full vote for Kitasan Black to be elected as the Horse of the Year.) - He is the world’s highest earning jumper, according to the Racing Post in the UK.
- He broke most of the records related to steeplechase in Japan.
His Future
- Starting in 2023 he will be a stallion.
It is not often that a steeplechase horse becomes a stallion, so in that sense he will be a bit of a hot commodity next year as well.
(To begin with, many steeplechase horses are castrated, so they often cannot become stallions.)
However, the stud fee is quite high at 1 million yen, so he will not attract many broodmares.
(His high stud fee may be a consideration so as not to diminish his value as a historically great horse.) - He has so many fans.
And what many of them want is for him to be inducted into the JRA Hall of Fame.
However, it is said that he is not selected because of the low value and honor of steeplechase races.
//
In the past, Grand Marchs was the only steeplechase horse to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Grand Marchs has the special value of being the first steeplechase to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but Oju Chosan does not, which makes it difficult.
//
In addition, the limited number of votes by the press, which has been the format for Hall of Fame induction in recent years, makes it very difficult for even great horses to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The fact that Almond Eye was not inducted into the Hall of Fame ballot for 2022 made a big splash not only in Japan but also around the world.
(Since Almond Eye became eligible for the ballot this year, it is said that the reason why Almond Eye was not selected was due to the fact that some press members were unaware that she was eligible for the ballot.)
//
Induction into the Hall of Fame is the highest hurdle in Oju Chosan’s lifetime.