Delta Blues (horse)

Delta Blues (デルタブルース, 3 May 2001 – 8 October 2024) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2006 Melbourne Cup.2006 Melbourne Cup result He was the first Japanese horse to win the Cup. In doing so he defeated Pop Rock, another Japanese horse who shared Delta Blues' trainer, Katsuhiko Sumii. Delta Blues was more known as a stayer, where each of his graded stakes wins came in the over 3000 metres distance races.

Racing career Early career until the 2004 Kikuka Sho Delta Blues was virtually unknown until his victory in the 2004 Kikuka Sho.Delta Blues (JPN) - The Japan Association for International Horse Racing profile of Delta Blues Before that race, he only managed to get three wins in ten starts. When the gates open, he made an early sprints and tracked the leaders in a good position throughout the race. At the fourth corner, he proceed to advance and surpassed Cosmo Bulk, and held on to the lead from the late surging Hookipa Wave to win by one-and-a-quarters length. From the field, he also defeated Heart's Cry, Company and Suzuka Mambo. Delta Blues continued his good form by placing third in the Japan Cup in November 2004, three lengths behind the eventual Autumn Triple Crown winner, Zenno Rob Roy. He closed the year with a run in the Arima Kinen, where he finished fifth in a race where Zenno Rob Roy broke the speed record which still stands today. At the end of the year, Delta Blues won the Best Horse by Home-Bred Sire JRA award.

Inconsistent form in 2005 and Stayers Stakes title In this season, Delta Blues placed fifth at the Copa Republica Argentina and eleventh in the Arima Kinen. In between those races, he ran in the Grade Two Stayers Stakes in 3 December. In the race, he lurked around the fourth place for most of times before surged forward on the inside track on the homestretch and caught Er Nova to win the race by a nose margin.

Australian triumph in 2006 At the start of the year, Delta Blues had a rough start. He finished third in the Grade Two Hanshin Daishoten on 19 March where Deep Impact comfortably won four lengths in front of him, and 10th in the Grade One Tenno Sho (Spring) on 30 April. Then, the owner decided to tried him for the overseas campaign in Australia. He started positively in which he finished third in the 2006 Caulfield Cup after racing wide throughout the race. In the 2006 Melbourne Cup, Delta Blues was ridden by Japanese jockey Yasunari Iwata who was the winner of the 2005 19th World Super Jockey Series.Iwata wins World Super Jockey Series Delta Blues won the Melbourne Cup by a nose ahead of Pop Rock, with Maybe Better finishing in third place.2006 Melbourne Cup result Prior to the race, stable spokesman Keita Tanaka characterised Delta Blues as a "lazy horse", and trainer Sumii characterised him as "tough".Sumii goes for Pop Rock over Delta Blues - racingandsports.com.au He finished the season with a sixth-place finish in the Arima Kinen back in Japan.

Winless, hiatus and retirement in 3 years (2007–2009) For the rest for his career, Delta Blues failed to perform well in the subsequent campaign in which his best finishes was only a fourth-place in the 2007 Hanshin Daishoten. There was an attempt for a title defence in Australia alongside Pop Rock but it was never fulfilled due to Equine Influenza outbreak. In October 2008, he was supposed to start at the Kyoto Daishoten after a prolonged rest on the first half of the campaign but a pitted hole was discovered in his right foreleg, forcing him to withdraw. After a 16th-place finished at the 2009 Meguro Kinen, Delta Blues was being retired and assigned as a riding horse at the Northern Horse Park in Tomakomai, Hokkaido.

Racing form Delta Blues won six races and placed five times more out of 32 starts. This data is available on JBIS, netkeiba and Racing Australia. DateRacecourseRaceGradeDistance(Condition)EntryHNOdds (Favored)FinishTimeMarginsJockeyWinner (Runner-up)2003 – two-year-old seasonNov 29Kyoto2yo Newcomer1,600 m (Soft)14136.9 (3)7th1:40.30.4Koshiro TakeBlack HeliosDec 6Hanshin2yo Maiden2,000 m (Firm)1139.1 (4)2nd2:03.00.1Christophe SoumillonPiena Only One2004 – three-year-old seasonJan 17Kokura3yo Maiden2,000 m (Good)1811.4 (1)2nd2:02.80.2Yutaka TakeMeiner DignoJan 25Kokura3yo Maiden2,000 m (Firm)16112.8 (1)4th2:04.91.4Koshiro TakeMeiner DresdenFeb 8KyotoBaika ShoALW (1W)2,400 m (Firm)1268.6 (2)4th2:29.80.5Yasunari IwataMeiner DresdenApr 17Fukushima3yo Maiden2,000 m (Firm)16112.7 (1)1st2:00.6–0.1Koshiro Take(Grass Hunter)May 1TokyoAoba Sho22,400 m (Firm)1715152.3 (13)13th2:26.82.7Hiroki GotoHigher GameMay 23Tokyo3yo Allowance1W2,400 m (Good)751.4 (1)1st2:29.80.0Katsumi Ando(Meiner Gust)Sep 20HanshinHyogo TokubetsuALW (2W)2,500 m (Firm)817.7 (4)5th2:33.00.8Hiroki GotoBullet LaneOct 2NakayamaKujukuri TokubetsuALW (2W)2,500 m (Firm)921.8 (1)1st2:34.7–0.2Yukio Okabe(Yuwa Kingston)Oct 24KyotoKikuka Sho13,000 m (Firm)181845.1 (8)1st3:05.7–0.2Yasunari Iwata(Hookipa Wave)Nov 28TokyoJapan Cup12,400 m (Firm)16713.4 (7)3rd2:24.80.6Katsumi AndoZenno Rob RoyDec 26NakayamaArima Kinen12,500 m (Firm)15108.9 (4)5th2:30.00.5Davy BonillaZenno Rob Roy2005 – four-year-old seasonNov 6TokyoCopa Republica Argentina22,500 m (Firm)18114.2 (1)5th2:33.10.7Olivier PeslierSakura CenturyDec 3NakayamaStayers Stakes23,600 m (Firm)1161.8 (1)1st3:47.70.0Olivier Peslier(Er Nova)Dec 25NakayamaArima Kinen12,500 m (Firm)161511.5 (3)11th2:33.01.1Olivier PeslierHeart's Cry2006 – five-year-old seasonFeb 18KyotoKyoto Kinen22,200 m (Firm)1036.3 (3)5th2:13.90.4Olivier PeslierSix SenseMar 19HanshinHanshin Daishoten23,000 m (Good)987.4 (2)3rd3:10.11.3Yasunari IwataDeep ImpactApr 30KyotoTenno Sho (Spring)13,200 m (Firm)17924.5 (4)10th3:15.72.3Yasunari IwataDeep ImpactOct 21CaulfieldCaulfield Cup12,400 m (Good)181480/1 (15)3rd2:27.80.1Nash RawillerTawqeetNov 7FlemingtonMelbourne Cup13,200 m (Good)231017/1 (6)1st3:21.50.0Yasunari Iwata(Pop Rock)Dec 24NakayamaArima Kinen12,500 m (Firm)14239.0 (9)6th2:32.70.8Yasunari IwataDeep Impact2007 – six-year-old seasonMar 18HanshinHanshin Daishoten23,000 m (Firm)1118.2 (4)4th3:08.40.1Yasunari IwataEye PopperApr 29KyotoTenno Sho (Spring)13,200 m (Firm)16154.6 (3)12th3:15.21.1Yasunari IwataMeisho SamsonOct 7KyotoKyoto Daishoten22,400 m (Firm)10213.3 (5)5th2:25.10.3Yuga KawadaInti RaimiOct 28TokyoTenno Sho (Autumn)12,000 m (Good)16448.0 (12)12th1:59.71.3Yuga KawadaMeisho SamsonNov 25TokyoJapan Cup12,400 m (Firm)1818147.2 (14)5th2:25.10.4Yuga KawadaAdmire MoonDec 23NakayamaArima Kinen12,500 m (Good)151359.6 (10)12th2:35.72.1Yuga KawadaMatsurida GoghDec 29OhiTokyo DaishotenJPN12,000 m (Muddy)15616.2 (5)12th2:07.34.1Yasunari IwataVermilion2009 – eight-year-old seasonMar 22HanshinHanshin Daishoten23,000 m (Soft)12536.5 (10)6th3:14.41.2Yuga KawadaAsakusa KingsMay 3KyotoTenno Sho (Spring)13,200 m (Firm)181347.6 (13)10th3:16.21.8Yasunari IwataMeiner KitzMay 31TokyoMeguro Kinen22,500 m (Heavy)181053.0 (14)16th2:43.94.9Yasunari IwataMiyabi Ranveli Legend:

All JPN graded race was labeled as "Listed" internationally

Awards Winner of the 2004 Best Horse by Home-Bred Sire JRA award. Winner of the 2006–2007 Australian Champion Stayer

Breeding Delta Blues was sired by Dance in the Dark with the dam Dixie Splash (sire Dixieland Band). The breeder was Northern Farm.

Dance in the Dark won the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger), and was the son of "magnificent US-bred Sunday Silence, the ill-fated sire who has been unmatched in Japanese breeding history".International Flavour In The Caulfield Cup

Retirement and death After his riding career ends, he was sent to the Old Friends Japan, a retirement and retraining facility for racehorses to spend the rest of his life. Delta Blues died due to complications from laminitis there on 8 October 2024. He was 23.

Namesake Australian rail operator CFCL Australia named locomotive CF4401 after the horse.Motive Power Roundup Motive Power issue 79 January 2012 page 20

Delta Blues (horse)

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