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Oju Chosan Sets New Record Landing Fourth Consecutive Nakayama Grand Jump Title

Overwhelming favorite Oju Chosan renewed Karasi’s 2005-2007 record and claimed his fourth back-to-back Nakayama Grand Jump victory. This marks his 11th consecutive graded steeplechase win, and sixth J-G1 triumph which include two Nakayama Daishogai titles. Following his 2018 Nakayama Grand Jump victory, the son of Stay Gold was briefly switched to flat racing where he marked two wins out of three starts and finished ninth in the year-end Arima Kinen. Sent back to challenge the jumps, he kicked off this season in good form immediately claiming the Hanshin Spring Jump win. Oju Chosan has given trainer Shoichiro Wada all of his six J-G1 titles and jockey Shinichi Ishigami, who grabbed an additional one in the Nakayama Daishogai with Nihonpiro Baron last year, now celebrates his seventh.

The eleven-horse field broke evenly before Miyaji Taiga took the lead after the first jump (obstacle no. 5), followed by Meiner Prompt in second and Oju Chosan in third. Challenged by Nihonpiro Baron from the outside coming out of the first dip, Oju Chosan swiftly advanced to threaten the leader before the brush fence (no. 6) but settled in second and eventually behind Nihonpiro Baron in third at the sixth jump (no.5). As the three climbed out of the dip together and cleared the seventh jump (grand hedge no.7) side by side, Miyaji Taiga once again paved the way but was caught in the backstretch and was through while Oju Chosan approached the 11th jump (no.9) next to Thinking Dancer in front of the others. The heavy favorite saved ground rounding the final turn and held off the challenge from the eventual runner-up to secure his fourth title by a good 2-1/2-length margin.

“The pressure from the other runners during the run was enormous—this was definitely the toughest race I’ve ever experienced. Besides one, we cleared all of the jumps well and he stretched to the line beautifully. I had no doubts about his strength and it’s a real joy to win four in a row,” commented Shinichi Ishigami after the ceremony.

Thinking Dancer was settled in around sixth and mid-pack most of the journey, made headway after the 10th jump (no.8) and caught up with the eventual winner at the 11th obstacle (no.9). Although the sixth-pick chestnut was no match against the defending champion despite a good challenge up to the final jump (no.10), Thinking Dancer showed good stayer talent clearing the wire seven lengths ahead of the next finisher.

Fourth favorite Meiner Prompt tracked the leaders in second, then fourth near the pace and dropped back a bit after the seventh jump (no.7). However, after clearing the final jump in fifth, the seven-year-old gelding emerged with another gear and overtook two tiring runners down the stretch for third.

Other Horses:
4th: (6) Rapid Ship—traveled around 8th, gradually advanced after 7th jump (no.7), responded well after final jump (no.10)
5th: (10) Taisei Dream—settled in 5th, made headway to close in on leaders after 10th jump (no.8), weakened after final jump (no.10)
6th: (1) Nihonpiro Baron—raced behind Oju Chosan, advanced to 2nd after 5th jump (no.6), gradually fell back after 7th jump (no.7)
7th: (8) Le Pere Noel—raced around 8th, unable to reach contention
8th: (2) Miyaji Taiga—set pace, faded after 10th jump (no.8)
9th: (11) Yamanin Sylphe—sat 3rd form rear, no factor
FF: (7) Toa Tsukihikari—trailed in rear throughout, unseated rider after final jump (no.10)
FF: (9) Shigeru Boss Zaru—ran 2nd from rear throughout, unseated rider after final jump (no.10)

Nakayama Grand Jump (G1)
4-year-old & up, 4,250 meters (about 2 and 2/3 miles), turf
Saturday, April 13, 2019    Nakayama Racecourse       11th Race        Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 142,660,000 (about US$ 1,240,500 <US$1=¥115>)
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, 8-year-old
   Stay Gold / Shadow Silhouette (Symboli Kris S)
   

   Owner: Chosan Co., Ltd.	Breeder: Naoyoshi Nagayama
   Trainer: Shoichiro Wada	Jockey: Shinichi Ishigami
   27 Starts, 16 Wins (22 Starts, 14 Wins *steeplechases only)
   Added money: ¥66,385,000	Career earnings: ¥ 666,805,000 (¥ 640,885,000 *steeplechases only)

   
   
2. 2.Thinking Dancer (JPN), chestnut, horse, 6-year-old
   Conduit / Spring Board (Assatis)
   

   Owner: Yuji Sato	Breeder: Okada Stud
   Trainer: Yasuo Takeichi	Jockey: Mitsuki Kaneko

   
   
3. 3.Meiner Prompt (JPN), dark bay or brown, gelding, 7-year-old
   Matsurida Gogh / Cosmo Krabbe (Meiner Love)
   

   Owner: Takefumi Okada	Breeder: Cosmo View Farm
   Trainer: Tomoyasu Sakaguchi	Jockey: Kazuma Mori

* Nakayama Grand Jump (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 first 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.
2016-18 Best Steeplechase Horse Oju Chosan switched to flat racing after becoming the second horse in history to capture three consecutive Nakayama Grand Jump titles last year, but started his 2019 season once again in steeplechase racing and immediately claimed the Hanshin Spring Jump (J-G2, 3,900m; Mar.9) where 2018 Nakayama Daishogai runner-up Taisei Dream and fourth-place finisher Thinking Dancer followed in second and third, respectively. Meiner Prompt came off a win in the Pegasus Jump Stakes (3,350m; Mar.23) while Nakayama Daishogai fifth-place Miyaji Taiga was fourth. Last year’s third-place finisher Nihonpiro Baron went on to claim his first J-G1 title in the Nakayama Daishogai last December and this was his first start since then. The field also included Le Pere Noel who has a record of two thirds, a fourth and a fifth in five J-G1 events.
Oju Chosan renewed the race record of 4:43.0 last year.