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Oju Chosan Sets New Record in Third Consecutive Nakayama Grand Jump Title

Oju Chosan made winning his third consecutive Nakayama Grand Jump easy despite facing setbacks earlier this year with minor health problems that forced him to pass up an intended prep start before his history-making challenge in extending his J-G1 winning streak to five and tying Australia’s Karasi Nakayama Grand Jump (2005-2007) in consecutive Nakayama Grand Jump wins. His dominating victory this year broke the previous race record set Up to Date in 2015 by 3.6 seconds. The talented and speedy jumper now has notched nine consecutive grade-race wins—another JRA record, steeplechase and flat racing combined and is the richest steeplechase horse with a career earnings of 533,073,000 yen, exceeding the previous record held by Gokai (502,244,000 yen). Both trainer Shoichiro Wada and jockey Shinichi Ishigami claimed their fifth career J-G1 title—all won with Oju Chosan.

Oju Chosan broke smoothly out of gate six and settled nicely along the rails behind Meisho Arawashi who assumed a brief lead over the first obstacle then Up to Date who advanced from the outside to take command approaching the second obstacle (fence no.1). Up to Date continued to lead the way, a few lengths clear of the rest of the field, up to the big brush fence where the gray was joined by Oju Chosan and Meiner Crop as the three horses cleared the fifth obstacle (no.6) side-by-side and changed hands to the left. Oju Chosan cruised without a hurry a few lengths behind Meiner Crop and Up to Date, who disputed the lead in front, but advanced to second again before the big hedge (no.7) with Meiner Crop and Crans Montana close at his heels as the field changed hands again to the right.

Nihonpiro Baron advanced to third as both Meiner Crop and Crans Montana began to fall behind entering the backstretch towards the tenth obstacle (no.8) but still had much ground to make behind Oju Chosan who had closed in on Up to Date with 800 meters to go and then took over that foe as they cleared the second to last fence (no.9). Up to Date showed great effort to chase Oju Chosan, clearing the last fence a couple of lengths from the eventual winner, but was no match to the eventual winner who opened the gap with every stride to a staggering 15-lengths victory. Still, the son of Kurofune, while second best to the unbeatable bay, proved a different class from the rest of the field finishing a good nine lengths in front of the third-place finisher.

Other Horses:
3rd: (3) Nihonpiro Baron―ran in 8th early, improved position to 6th after 5th jump (fence no.6), 5th after 7th jump (fence no.7), 3rd before 10th jump (fence no.8), chased leaders, weakened after final jump (fence no.10)
4th: (5) Le Pere Noel―settled in 7th, made headway after 10th jump (fence no.8), dueled with T M Opera Don for fourth
5th: (10) T M Opera Don―sat towards rear early, steadily improved position, advanced to 4th briefly in stretch, weakened in final strides
6th: (8) Crans Montana―chased top 2 finishers in 3rd early, stayed prominent up to backstretch then faded.
7th: (2) Thinking Dancer―positioned in 5th early, 6th after 7th jump (fence no.7), made headway to 4th around 10th jump (fence no.8), weakened at stretch
8th: (7) Meisho Arawashi―raced in 4th early, dropped back to 6th after 5th jump (fence no.6), 8th after 7th jump (fence no.7)
9th: (1) Sanrei Duke―traveled around 10th, unable to reach contention
10th: (11) Tosen Melissa―trailed in rear early, passed tired rivals, never a threat
11th: (12) Samurai Fountain―almost rear throughout, no factor
12th: (4) Meiner Crop―led briefly around 5th jump (fence no.6), tired after early efforts.

THE 20TH NAKAYAMA GRAND JUMP (J-G1)
4-year-old & up, 4,250 meters (about 2 and 2/3 miles), turf
Saturday, April 14, 2018    Nakayama Racecourse       11th Race        Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 142,660,000 (about US$ 1,296,909 <US$1=¥110>)
4-y-o: 62kg (about 137 lbs), 5-y-o & up: 63kg (about 139 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares
Safety factor: 16 runners

1. 1.Oju Chosan (JPN), bay, horse, 7-year-old
   Stay Gold / Shadow Silhouette (Symboli Kris S)
   

   Owner: Chosan Co., Ltd.	Breeder: Naoyoshi Nagayama
   Trainer: Shoichiro Wada	Jockey: Shinichi Ishigami
   22 Starts, 12 Wins (20 Starts, 12 Wins *steeplechases only)
   Added money: ¥ 66,420,000	Career earnings: ¥ 533,073,000 (¥ 533,073,000 *steeplechases only)
   Principal Race Performances:	’17&’16 Nakayama Grand Jump (J-G1, 4,250m)	1st
   	’17&’16 Nakayama Daishogai (J-G1, 4,100m)	1st
   	’17&’16 Tokyo High-Jump (J-G2, 3,110m)	1st
   	’17 Hanshin Spring Jump (J-G2, 3,900m)	1st
   	’16 Tokyo Jump Stakes (J-G3, 3,110m)	1st

   
   
2. 2.Up to Date (JPN), gray, horse, 8-year-old
   Kurofune / Linear Muse (Tony Bin)
   

   Owner: Hiroe Imanishi	Breeder: North Hills Co,. Ltd.
   Trainer: Shozo Sasaki	Jockey: Mitsuaki Hayashi

   
   
3. 3.Nihonpiro Baron (JPN), chestnut, horse, 8-year-old
   Fusaichi Richard / Nihonpillow Annika (Captain Steve)
   

   Owner: Hyakutaro Kobayashi	Breeder: Hyakutaro Kobayashi
   Trainer: Hidetaka Tadokoro	Jockey: Yuzo Shirahama

* Nakayama Grand Jump (J-G1)

The Nakayama Grand Jump, the biggest steeplechase event in spring, span off from the biannual Nakayama Daishogai (J-G1, 4,100m) steeplechase races in 1999. The history of the Nakayama Daishogai dates back to 1934 when the two races, one each in spring and autumn, were created for the purpose of making them the most prestigious and attractive races in steeplechase racing, just like the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) in flat racing.
In 2000, one year after the Nakayama Grand Jump received its current name, the race also became an international event. In the same year, seven foreign runners from five countries took part. Boca Boca (IRE, by Mandalus) from France finished second to Gokai (JPN, by Judge Angelucci). Between 2000 and 2010 when the Nakayama Grand Jump was an invitational event, St. Steven (NZ, by Hula Town) became the first foreign contingent to claim the title in 2002. He finished third in the following year while Australian contender Karasi (IRE, by Kahyasi) became the only horse to win three consecutive titles in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In 2013, eighth favorite Irish raider Blackstairmountain (IRE, by Imperial Ballet) became the first European contender to claim the title.
The Nakayama Grand Jump features 12 jumps over the figure-of-eight-shaped course, which includes five up-and-downs over the banks and three hurdles set on the outside turf towards the final stretch. The 310-meter uphill stretch before the wire also is quite a test for many of the runners especially after running at a solid pace throughout the race.
Two-time Best Steeplechase Horse Oju Chosan, who captured both J-G1 titles in 2016 and 2017, made his bid to become the second jumper after Karasi to claim his third consecutive Nakayama Grand Jump title while the J-G1 was his first start since his triumph last December in the Nakayama Daishogai as the son of Stay Gold had to pass up his intended prep earlier this year due to health conditions. Meanwhile, 2015 Best Steeplechase Horse Up to Date came off a dominating eight-length victory in the Hanshin Spring Jump (J-G2, 3,900m; Mar.10) in which Le Pere Noel, third in the 2017 Nakayama Daishogai, fourth-place finisher Thinking Dancer, and fifth-place Sanrei Duke came off a third, fifth and sixth, respectively. Other notable contenders included top two finishers of the Pegasus Jump Stakes (3,350m; Mar.24), Meiner Crop and Nihonpiro Baron.