Shinzan

Details

Name / Japanese	Shinzan / シンザン
Birth Year	1961
Sex	male
Earnings	54,380,000 yen
Races-Wins	19-15
Sire	Hindostan
Dam (Sire)	Hayanobori (Hayatake)
Other site link	JBIS / en.netkeiba

Awards	Keishusha Award for Best Three-Year-Old Colt (1964) Keishusha Award for Best Older Male Horse (1965) Keishusha Award for Horse of the Year (1964, 1965)
Honours	Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame (1984)

Major races

Y D/M	Track	Race	No.	Pl.
1964 19/04	Tokyo T2000	Satsuki Sho	6	1	▲ / G
1964 31/05	Tokyo T2400	Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby)	10	1	▲ / G
1964 15/11	Kyoto T3000	Kikuka Sho	2	1	▲ / G
1965 27/06	Hanshin T2000	Takarazuka Kinen	5	1	▲ / G
1965 23/11	Tokyo T3200	Tenno Sho (Autumn)	9	1	G
1965 26/12	Nakayama T2600	Arima Kinen	4	1	◆ / G

• In the Satsuki Sho, he was the 1st favorite.
  He took the lead at the beginning of the homestretch and went on to win by 3/4 lengths.
  He has won six straight since his debut.
• After the Satsuki Sho and before the Tokyo Yushun, his trainer decided that he wasn’t trained enough and had him run in a race.
  He finished 2nd in the race, which was his first defeat.
• In the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), he was the 1st favorite.
  In the home stretch, he passed Umeno Chikara and won by 1+1/4 lengths.
  He became the double crown winner.
• In the summer of 1964, his trainer did not allow him to graze in Hokkaido to escape the heat.
  The year turned out to be extremely hot, and he fell ill.
  He did not get back in shape in training, so his trainer tried to get him back in shape in races.
  He ran in two races before the Kikuka Sho and came in 2nd.
• In the Kikuka Sho, he was the 2nd favorite and Umeno Chikara was the 1st favorite.
  Halfway through the race, Kane Keyaki was 20 lengths ahead of Shinzan, and one of the race commentators said that Shinzan’s Triple Crown run was over.
  From there, Shinzan made a great spurt and ended up winning by 2+1/2 lengths over the 2nd place finisher, Umeno Chikara.
  He became the first horse to win the Triple Crown in 23 years, since Saint Lite (St. Lite, St Lite).
  ////////
  About Kane Keyaki
  Kane Keyaki was born in the same year as Shinzan and is a double crown filly.
  Since there was no third crown race for fillies at that time, Kane Keyaki ran in the Kikuka Sho, the third crown race for colts.
  As of 2021, this is the only race in Japan’s history where a double crown colt and a double crown filly competed for the third crown.
  Also, as mentioned below, Shinzan later broke the record for the longest life span of a Thoroughbred in Japan, which was held by Kane Keyaki, who was born a little earlier than Shinzan.
  Her record for longevity among Thoroughbred mares was surpassed in 2016 by Urakawa Miyuki, the dam of Nice Nature.
  As of 2021, Kane Keyaki still holds the record for the longest life of a mare who has won a grade race or a major race that later became a grade race.
• In 1965, his connections targeted the Tenno Sho (Spring), but his health was not so good and they avoided that race.
  He finished his spring season by winning the Takarazuka Kinen by 1/2 lengths.
• In the Tenno Sho (Autumn), he won by 2 lengths.
  His trainer announced that he would be retired after the Arima Kinen.
• In the Arima Kinen, he was the 1st favorite.
  On the final corner, Miharukasu’s jockey turned Miharukasu to the outside in an attempt to get Shinzan to run on the inside where track conditions were poor.
  Shinzan’s jockey said, “Shinzan told me to go outside.
  Shinzan did not fall into Miharukasu’s trap and ran on the outermost side, and finished in 1st place.
  He retired as planned, although there were some who wanted him to continue his career and challenge foreign races.

Evaluation of him

• The eight major races in Japanese horse racing at the time were the classic races for colts ( Satsuki Sho, Tokyo Yushun, Kikuka Sho), classic races for fillies ( Oka Sho, Yushun Himba), Tenno Sho Spring, Tenno Sho Autumn, and Arima Kinen.
  Of course, colts were not allowed to run in the classic races for fillies.
  There was also a rule that if a horse won the Tenno Sho in either spring or autumn, it could not run again in the Tenno Sho.
  (Takarazuka Kinen was a major race, but it is not included in the eight major races.)
  Shinzan had won every major race a colt could run.
  His feat was the first ever and he was called the “五冠馬 (Five Crown Horse)“.
• His influence on the Japanese horse racing industry has been significant ever since, and he was also known as the “神馬 (God Horse)“.
  In Japanese horse racing, there was a slogan that was often used before the success of Symboli Rudolf: “シンザンを超えろ (Surpass the Shinzan, Go Beyond the Shinzan).
• His running was described as the “鉈の切れ味 (Sharpness of Machete)“.
• He was said to be a very smart horse.
  His trainer said that Shinzan never does any running that isn’t worth money.
  He didn’t run hard in training, and in races he slowed down as soon as he crossed the finish line.
  He has never won by a large margin and has never broke a record time.
  He must have known what a horse racing was.
• All of his four defeats were in races for training or adjustment purposes, not in major races.
  Also, his four defeats have all been in second place, and he has never finished worse than third.
• An anecdote that shows the strength of his hips is that he stood up on his hind legs alone with a jockey on board and walked 50 meters on his hind legs alone with a jockey on board.
• He had a sore hoof in his hind leg.
  His trainer noticed that his front and hind legs would collide when he ran and invented new shoes for him.
  These shoes are called “シンザン鉄 (Shinzan Iron)”, and are shaped so that the hind shoes cover the hoof like a slipper.
  Shinzan Iron is on display at the Kyoto Racecourse along with a Shinzan statue.
  Google Images Search “Shinzan Iron Kyoto Racecourse”

the Record of Longevity

• Shinzan lived to be 35 years, 3 months and 11 days old.
• Shinzan broke Kane Keyaki’s Japanese record for the longest life of a thoroughbred.
  He also broke the Japanese record for the longest life of a light horse held by Tama Tsubaki.
  However, these records have already been broken by other horses.
• About Tama Tsubaki
  Tama Tsubaki is an Anglo-Arab racehorse born in 1945.
  Although the carrying weight in Anglo-Arab races is often large to begin with, Tama Tsubaki once won a race carrying a weight of 83 kilograms.
  The weight of 83kg is considered to be the victory with heaviest handicap in Japanese history.
  He was the first Anglo-Arab racehorse to win a thoroughbred race after the establishment of the national horse racing organization, the predecessor of the JRA.

As a sire

• When he retired and became a stallion, it was a time when domestic stallions were unpopular.
  He was also not very popular as a stallion, despite his brilliant performance as a race horse.
• However, his horses were successful and did well.
  His horses won what would later become G2 and G31 races, and he was the top domestic stallion from 1972 to 1980.
  He was fifth in the leading sire ranking in 1978.
• His horses were not able to win big races that later became G1.
  However, in 1981, Minagawa Manna finally won the big race, the Kikka Sho.
  After that, Miho Shinzan, born in 1982, won the Satsuki Sho, Kikuka Sho, and Tennou Sho (spring).