Tosho Boy, Ten Point, Green Grass (TTG)

Details

Tosho Boy

Name / Japanese	Tosho Boy / トウショウボーイ (, トウシヨウボーイ)
Birth Year	1973
Sex	male
Earnings	280,774,800 yen
Races-Wins	15-10
Sire	Tesco Boy
Dam (Sire)	Social Butterfly (Your Host)
Other site link	JBIS / en.netkeiba
Awards	Yushun Award for Best Three-Year-Old Colt (1976) Yushun Award for Horse of the Year (1976)
Honours	Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame (1984)

Ten Point

Name / Japanese	Ten Point / テンポイント
Birth Year	1973
Sex	male
Earnings	328,415,400 yen
Races-Wins	18-11
Sire	Contrite
Dam (Sire)	Wakakumo (Cover Up Nisei)
Other site link	JBIS / en.netkeiba
Awards	Yushun Award for Best Two-Year-Old Colt (1975) Yushun Award for Best Older Male Horse (1977) Yushun Award for Horse of the Year (1977) Yushun Award for Mass Communication Award (1978)
Honours	Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame (1990)

Green Grass

Name / Japanese	Green Grass / グリーングラス
Birth Year	1973
Sex	male
Earnings	328,451,400 yen
Races-Wins	26-8
Sire	Intermezzo
Dam (Sire)	Daring Hime (Nimbus)
Other site link	JBIS / en.netkeiba
Awards	Yushun Award for Best Older Male Horse (1979) Yushun Award for Horse of the Year (1979)

Before the Classic Races

Y D/M	Track	Race	No. / Fa. / Pl.
			T.B.	T.P.	G.G.
1975 07/12	Hanshin T1600	Hanshin Sansai Stakes		6/1/1		▲ / G
1976 31/01	Tokyo T1400	New Comers (the debut race of T.B. and G.G.)	18/1/1		9/3/4	▲ / G
1976 15/02	Tokyo T1800	Tokyo Yonsai Stakes		2/1/1		▲ / G
1976 28/03	Nakayama T1800	Spring Stakes		1/1/1		▲ / G

Tosho Boy

• Tosho Boy had attracted a lot of attention and expectations before his debut.
• He debuted on the same day as Green Grass.
  Tosho Boy won the race.
  And in this race, C.B. Queen was also making her debut.
  (C.B. Queen was later successful, finishing third in the Oaks.
  After becoming a broodmare, she was bred to Tosho Boy and produced the Triple Crown winner Mr.C.B.)
  It was a very fateful Newcomers race.
• He hadn’t run any major races as of before the Classic race, but with three wins in three races, he was expected to be the ace of the Kanto region.
• He would later be called “天馬 (the Flying Horse, Pegasus)”.

Ten Point

• Ten Point had been very active since his debut, and had been selected as the best horse.
  He had also raced at Nakayama Racecourse and Tokyo Racecourse before the Classic race, and was an ace in the Kansai region with five wins from five races.
• His owner had already decided before the Tokyo Yonsai Stakes that he would go overseas when he turned four years old.
• He was good looking and would later be called “流星の貴公子 (the Nobleman of Shooting Stars)”.
  (In Japan, the white pattern on a horse’s face is called “shooting star / meteor”.)

Green Grass

• Green Grass debuted on the same day as Tosho Boy, but he was less obvious and his rise was slower.
• He would later be called “緑の刺客 (the Green Assassin)”.
• As for his episode, his owner applied for him under the name Julius Caesar but was rejected, and the second time he applied under the name Alain Delon but of course was rejected.
  The name “Green Grass” comes from a song by Tom Jones (Wikipedia).
• His owner’s twin brother is also a racehorse owner, and he often gives the name Grass, such as Grass Wonder and Grass Bomber, to his racehorses, which are derived from Green Grass.

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the Classic Races and Arima Kinen (1976)

Y D/M	Track	Race	No. / Fa. / Pl.
			T.B.	T.P.	G.G.
1976 25/04	Tokyo T2000	Satsuki Sho	5/2/1	12/1/2		▲ / G
1976 30/05	Tokyo T2400	Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby)	8/1/2	5/2/7		▲ / G
1976 14/11	Kyoto T3000	Kikuka Sho	7/1/3	13/3/2	11/12/1	▲ / G
1976 19/12	Nakayama T2500	Arima Kinen	13/1/1	12/3/2		▲ / G

Satsuki Sho

• This year, Satsuki Sho was scheduled to be held at Nakayama Racecourse as usual.
  However, due to the strike caused by Shunto (Wikipedia), the race was held a week later at Tokyo Racecourse.
  This caused Ten Point’s physical condition to be out of adjustment.
  (With the race on April 25 in jeopardy, Ten Point trained hard on the 24th, but it backfired.)
• The showdown between Tosho Boy and Ten Point attracted a lot of attention.
• Tosho Boy broke the record and won by 5 lengths over Ten Point.

Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby)

• The showdown between Tosho Boy and Ten Point again attracted a lot of attention, but Ten Point broke a bone during the race and finished seventh.
• Masahiro Ikegami, the jockey of Tosho Boy, leaked to those around him that Tosho Boy was mentally young and vulnerable when approached by other horses.
  On the homestretch, Climb Kaiser took the lead with a run that exploited the weakness of Tosho Boy and crossed the finish line in first place.
  It is also said that Tosho Boy flinched in the face of the huge crowd.
• Climb Kaiser’s run was not subject to deliberation and was recognized as a legitimate run.
  However, horse racing fans and the media treated him like a villain, claiming that he had run in a cowardly manner to exploit the weakness of Tosho Boy.
  He was even nicknamed the “Crime Kaiser (犯罪皇帝),” a play on his name.

Kikuka Sho

• This was the first race with Tosho Boy, Ten Point, and Green Grass.
  They would later be known as TTG.
• The race was considered to be a showdown between the top three of Tosho Boy, Climb Kaiser, and Ten Point.
• Green Grass was promoted late in the day.
  A week before the Kikuka Sho, there were 35 horses registered against the full gate of 21, and Green Grass was 25th, along with the others.
  He was in a very difficult situation to run, but after other horses withdrew from the race, he was able to run just in time, 21st out of 21 horses in the order of earnings.
  However, his ability was questionable, and he was the 12th favorite.
• On the final homestretch, Ten Point passed Tosho Boy and took the lead.
  However, Green Grass, who had been running on the inside since the start of the race, overtook Ten Point and finished first.
  There were few shouts when Green Grass finished.
• It is said that the worsening condition of the track due to rain the night before the race was hard on the short-distance horse, Tosho Boy, and good for the long-distance horse, Green Grass.

Arima Kinen

• Tosho Boy and Ten Point were in similar positions, but Tosho Boy took the lead on the homestretch and won by 1+1/2 lengths over Ten Point.
• It was the first time in the history of the Arima Kinen that two three-year-old horses finished both 1st and 2nd.

This year, Ten Point failed to win a single major race.
Just my personal opinion, but I think Tosho Boy is the best horse out of the three if he is in perfect physical condition and the distance is under 2500 meters.
The next year, perhaps because of the fatigue from that year, the physical condition of Tosho Boy was not so good.

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Major Races in 1977

Y D/M	Track	Race	No. / Fa. / Pl.
			T.B.	T.P.	G.G.
1977 29/04	Kyoto T3200	Tenno Sho (Spring)		10/1/1	2/2/4	▲ / G
1977 05/06	Hanshin T2200	Takarazuka Kinen	2/2/1	3/1/2	6/3/3	▲ / G
1977 27/11	Tokyo T3200	Tenno Sho (Autumn)	6/1/7		10/3/5	▲ / G
1977 18/12	Nakayama T2500	Arima Kinen	1/2/2	3/1/1	6/4/3	▲ / G

Tenno Sho (Spring)

• Tosho Boy was scheduled to run in the race, but due to the condition of his right shoulder, he was unable to run.
• It was the first time for Ten Point winning the one out of eight big races.
• Green Grass finished 4th.

Takarazuka Kinen

• Tosho Boy was not in good shape, and Ten Point was the 1st favorite.
  It was expected that Ten Point would finally beat Tosho Boy and win the race at Hanshin Racecourse in the Kansai region.
• Tosho Boy, Ten Point, and Green Grass all broke into the homestretch together.
  Tosho Boy won by 3/4 lengths.
• The time of 57.6 seconds for the last 1000 meters of this race was faster than the Japanese record for a 1000 meter race on the turf at that time.
• Ten Point’s jockey later said, “I was too concerned about the horses behind me, that was my mistake.”
• After the Takarazuka Kinen, Ten Point’s connections received an invitation to Washington, D.C. International.
  However, they turned down the invitation and trained Ten Point very hard in order to beat Tosho Boy.

Tenno Sho (Autumn)

• At the time, the Tenno Sho (Autumn) was a 3200 meter race.
  In addition, the Tenno Sho at the time had a “勝ち抜け (the winner-gets-out)” rule.
  The winner-gets-out rule meant that once a horse won the Tenno Sho in either the spring or autumn, it could never run in the Tenno Sho again.
  Therefore, Ten Point was not able to run.
• Tosho Boy and Green Grass fought hard in the middle of the race.
  As a result, both horses were defeated by the fight.

Arima Kinen (1977) / the Legendary Arima Kinen

• It was considered to be a showdown of the top three.
  The first two were Tosho Boy and Ten Point, and the last one was not Green Grass.
  The last one was Maruzensky, a monster a year younger than them. 
  The other top horses were afraid of them and avoided running.
  However, on December 15, Maruzensky was forced to withdraw from the race due to bowed tendon and was retired.
  In the end, there were eight horses in the race.
• The race became a legendary race, often referred to as the greatest race in the history of Japanese horse racing.
• Right from the start of the race, Ten Point kept up the pressure on the leading horse, Tosho Boy, and it became like a match race.
  They entered the final homestretch with the inside and outside swapping places.
  Ten Point finally passed Tosho Boy and crossed the finish line in 1st place.
  Green Grass tried to take the benefit of the fight between the two horses, but was unable to catch them and finished third.
• The match race between Tosho Boy and Ten Point, which lasted from the start of the race to the finish line, was regarded by many as a truly legendary race.

This year, Ten Point became only the second horse in history to be elected as Horse of the Year with a full vote since Meiji Hikari in 1956.
After the Arima Kinen, Tosho Boy was retired and became a stallion.

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At the beginning of 1978, Ten Point’s connections announced that they would be touring overseas and that they would be going to the UK in February.
After this announcement, his connections received requests from many Japanese fans who wanted to see Ten Point in a Japanese race for the last time.
His trainer insisted that Ten Point run in the Nihon Keizai Shinshun Cup.
His owner was concerned that Ten Point would be heavily handicapped and secretly did not want to run him.
His owner, however, left the decision to the trainer.
His trainer had also decided not to run him if his handicap was over 67kg, but since his handicap was 66.5kg, he decided to let him run.

Y D/M	Track	Race	No. / Fa. / Pl.
			T.B.	T.P.	G.G.
1978 22/01	Kyoto T2400	Nihon Keizai Shinshun Hai		1/1/-		▲ / G

• Ten Point took the lead early in the race.
  On the last corner he stalled due to an injury and had to stop running.
• Ten Point had a severe fracture, and the veterinarians recommended euthanasia.
  His owner put the decision to euthanize him on hold for a day, during which time the racing community received several thousand calls asking them not to kill Ten Point.
• In the end, his owner and trainer wanted to somehow make him a stallion without euthanizing him, so they decided to operate on him, knowing that there was little hope of success.
• The operation on him was performed on January 23.
  At one time, it was reported that the surgery was a success and that he would recover, but then his condition got worse and worse, and on March 5, he died of laminitis.
• His funeral was held at the Ritto Training Center on March 7.
  On March 10, his frozen body was sent to Yoshida Farm, his birthplace, where his body was buried and his funeral was held again.
  In the middle of the funeral, his dam, Wakakumo, and his younger brother (the future Kings Point, who would later be very successful as a steeplechase horse) also showed up.
• His death raised various issues in the Japanese horse racing industry, including the pros and cons of euthanasia.
  One of the most significant changes due to his death is that handicaps over 63kg are almost never imposed in handicap races.
  (It is not directly said that Ten Point’s death was the cause.)
• The French news agency AFP also broadcasted the story of Ten Point’s life from his fracture to his death to the world as an animal love story.

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Major Races in 1978 – 1979

Y D/M	Track	Race	No. / Fa. / Pl.
			T.B.	T.P.	G.G.
1978 29/04	Kyoto T3200	Tenno Sho (Spring)			3/1/1	▲ / G
1978 04/06	Hanshin T2200	Takarazuka Kinen			3/1/2	▲ / G
1978 17/12	Nakayama T2500	Arima Kinen			1/3/6	▲ / G
1979 03/06	Hanshin T2200	Takarazuka Kinen			6/7/3	▲ / G
1979 16/12	Nakayama T2500	Arima Kinen			3/2/1	▲ / G

With Tosho Boy retired and Ten Point dead, the time for Green Grass had come.
However, his feet had not been in good shape since 1977, when he was four years old.
His connections didn’t let him run many races and focused on the Tenno Sho.

• In the Tenno Sho (Spring), the 2nd favorite, Press Toko, had to stop running midway through the race due to a shift in the saddle.
  Green Grass took the lead in the final homestretch and won by a length.
  It was his first victory in eight major races since Kikuka Sho.

Green Grass continued to battle with his leg condition.
He was sometimes ridiculed for spending half the year at the spa.

• In the Takarazuka Kinen (1978), he was beaten by Erimo George by 4 lengths.
• In the Arima Kinen (1979), it was the retirement race for Green Grass.
  He ran to use the inside rail, which is his specialty, and also moved early to win the race.
  He won by a nose over the 2nd place finisher, Mejiro Phantom.

It was unfortunate that Green Grass was born in the same year as Tosho Boy and Ten Point, but in a way he was a lucky horse.
Thanks to Tosho Boy and Ten Point, Green Grass became a great horse that will be talked about for generations to come.

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As a sire

Tosho Boy

• He was highly regarded by the Hidaka Horse Breeders Association and sought after as a stallion at a high price.
  However, he was not well regarded by the actual producers, and no good broodmares were given to him in his first and second years.
• His reputation changed when his crops started running well in races.
  And after Mr.C.B. became very successful, he made a name for himself as a first-class stallion.
• His foals were sold at a high price as they were less prone to failure and more reliable.
  On the other hand, his breeding fees remained low and he was called the “お助けボーイ (Helper Boy)” along with his sire, Tesco Boy.
  He has become more precious than God to the small and medium-sized producers of Hidaka.
• He was active as a stallion, ranking 2nd in the leading sire rankings in 1990 and 1991, behind only Northern Taste.
  However, in 1992 he developed laminitis and was euthanized.
  The cause of death was the same for both Tosho Boy and Ten Point.
• Six of his crops have won at least one G1 race.
  Mr.C.B.
  Ara Hotoku
  Passing Shot
  Sakura Hokuto O
  Daiichi Ruby
  Sister Tosho
  
• During the lifetime of Tosho Boy, there have been six horses that were sold at auction for more than 100 million yen, five of which were Tosho Boy crops.

Green Grass

• Green Grass’ crops were not as successful as Tosho Boy’s.
  They were often weak in body, similar to Green Grass.
• Reward Wing is the only G1 winner of his crop.
• Another famous his crop is Tosho Falco.