Details
Name / Japanese | Special Week / スペシャルウィーク |
Birth Year | 1995 |
Sex | horse |
Earnings | 1,092,623,000 yen |
Races-Win / G1-Win | 17-10 / 8-4 |
Sire | Sunday Silence |
Dam (Sire) | Campaign Girl (Maruzensky) |
Other site link | JBIS / Umanity / netkeiba |
Awards | JRA Special Award (1999) |
- Special Week’s dam, Campaign Girl, had been suffering from colic for 5 months before his birth.
She died five days after giving birth to him.
- He was one of the four leading horses of the same age.
(Special Week, Seiun Sky, Grass Wonder and El Condor Pasa)
Because Glass Wonder and El Condor Pasa were foreign-born horses, they were not allowed to run in the Classic races and the Tenno Sho under the rules of the time.
All grade-races in 1998 (age 3)
Y D/M | Track | Race | No. | Pl. | ![]() |
remarks |
1998 08/02 |
Kyoto T1800 |
Kisaragi Sho (G3) | 1 | 1 | G | |
1998 04/03 | Nakayama T2000 | Hochi Hai Yayoi Sho (G2) | 13 | 1 | G | 2nd: Seiun Sky |
1998 19/04 | Nakayama T2000 | Satsuki Sho (G1) | 18 | 3 | ◆ | 1st: Seiun Sky |
1998 07/06 | Tokyo T2400 | Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) (G1) | 5 | 1 | ◆ | 4th: Seiun Sky |
1998 18/10 |
Kyoto T2200 |
Kyoto Shimbun Hai (G2) | 10 | 1 | G | |
1998 08/11 | Kyoto T3000 | Kikuka Sho (G1) | 17 | 2 | ◆ | 1st: Seiun Sky |
1998 29/11 | Tokyo T2400 | Japan Cup (G1) | 9 | 3 | ◆ | 1st: El Condor Pasa |
- Special Week, Seiun Sky and King Halo were considered the leading contenders for the classic races.
Special Week was the 1st favorite in all three classic races, due in part to the popularity of his jockey, Yutaka Take. - In the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), the second classic race, he won by 5 lengths.
It was his first G1 win.
He was the first horse to make Yutaka Take a Derby jockey. - Seiun Sky became a Double Crown horse by winning the Satsuki Sho and the Kikuka Sho.
Seiun Sky broke the turf-3000m world record in the Kikuka Sho. - The Japan Cup was the first and last race that he would run with El Condor Pasa.
Special Week was defeated by El Condor Pasa and finished 3rd. - After winning the NHK Mile Cup and Japan Cup, El Condor Pasa won the JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Colt.
El Condor Pasa was highly praised for defeating older horses and foreign horses in the Japan Cup.
All grade-races in 1999 (age 4)
Y D/M | Track | Race | No. | Pl. | ![]() |
remarks |
1999 24/01 |
Nakayama T2200 |
American Jockeys Club Cup (G2) | 4 | 1 | G | |
1999 21/03 |
Hanshin T3000 |
Hanshin Daishoten (G2) | 5 | 1 | G | |
1999 02/05 | Kyoto T3200 | Tenno Sho (spring) (G1) | 3 | 1 | ◆ | 3rd: Seiun Sky |
1999 11/07 | Hanshin T2200 | Takarazuka Kinen (G1) | 9 | 2 | ◆ | 1st: Grass Wonder |
1999 10/10 |
Kyoto T2400 |
Kyoto Daishoten (G2) | 7 | 7 | G | |
1999 31/10 | Tokyo T2000 | Tenno Sho (autumn) (G1) | 9 | 1 | ◆ | 5th: Seiun Sky |
1999 28/11 | Tokyo T2400 | Japan Cup (G1) | 13 | 1 | ◆ | |
1999 26/12 | Nakayama T2500 | Arima Kinen (G1) | 3 | 2 | ◆ | 1st: Grass Wonder |
- In the Tenno Sho(spring), he was the 1st favorite.
He won by 1/2 lengths. - In the Takarazuka Kinen, he was the 1st favorite.
It was the first race in which he faced Grass Wonder.
Grass Wonder won the showdown. - In the Tenno Sho (autumn), he broke the record time.
- In the Arima Kinen, he and Grass Wonder finished side by side.
His jockey, Yutaka Take, was confident of victory and made a winning run.
However, as a result of the photo judgement, he lost to Grass Wonder by 4cm. - He had a stable results in 1999, but lost twice to Grass Wonder.
After all, he never defeated El Condor Pasa and Grass Wonder. - In this Year, Special Week and Grass Wonder were selected JRA Special Award.
However, the JRA Award for Horse of the Year and the JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse were El Condol Pasa.
El Condol Pasa was in France that year and didn’t run in the Japanese race.
(2nd: the Prix d’Ispahan, 1st: the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, 1st: the Prix Foy, 2nd: the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe)
Special Week’s trainer, Toshiaki Shirai, said
“I can convince if Grass Wonder, not Special Week, is the Japanese Horse of the Year, but I can not convince if El Condol Pasa.”
“Because of he is not running in Japan, shouldn’t El Condor Passer be given the JRA Special Award?”
“In short, it’s like declaring that “”Horse racing in other countries is better than horse racing in Japan”” .The Selection Process of JRA Award for Horse of the Year (1999)
As a sire
- He is a sire of Cesario, Buena Vista, Gold Blitz, Roman Legend and Toho Jackal.
- Cesario is dam of three G1 horses (Epiphaneia, Leontes and Saturnalia).
Tags: Derby Horse, Turf