was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and stud, sired by Dancing Cap. Oguri Cap was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 1991. A horse from the countryside who found success at the national level, he was known as a member of the "Heisei Big Three", a trio of racehorses who reignited interest in horse racing in Japan alongside Super Creek and Inari One.
Background Oguri Cap was a grey stallion foaled on 27 March 1985. His sire Dancing Cap was an American-bred racehorse who had five wins out of 19 starts in the United Kingdom alongside one second place finish in France. Oguri Cap's grandsire Native Dancer was a highly successful American champion racehorse and sire, and is a National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame inductee. He is considered to be "all but universal in North American pedigrees". Dancing Cap and Oguri Cap's dam White Narubi were descendants of Nasrullah and undefeated Italian racehorse Nearco. Both horses are among the most influential sires of the 20th century.
He was bred by Funao Inaba on the small and family-owned Inaba Farm in Hokkaido, Japan. When he was foaled, he was unable to stand up whereas healthy newborns should be capable of standing on their own within one hour. This was due to his front left leg being considerably bowed outwards. The farm's staff had to hold Oguri Cap up in order for him to be breastfed. However, White Narubi sometimes refused to breastfeed him and did not produce an adequate amount of milk. Oguri Cap ended up developing a massive appetite for what food he could find including weeds. Due to this abnormal diet and lack of milk, he was thin and unappealing as a foal. In the hopes of him growing up healthily, Inaba named the foal "Hatsuratsu" meaning "lively" or "vigorous". He eventually successfully remedied Oguri Cap's bowed leg with hoof trimming. By the end of his second year, Oguri Cap had grown into a healthy, fully capable horse.
Oguri Cap's large appetite remained a trait of his for the rest of his life, and he was lethargic outside of racing. When reflecting about Oguri Cap's career, the veteran racing journalist wrote:
Racing career
In May 1987, Oguri Cap made his debut at Kasamatsu Racecourse in Gifu Prefecture. After winning 9 starts in 11 races, including 7 consecutive victories and 4 stakes wins, he was transferred to the ownership of Chuo Horse Racing in January 1988. He recorded 13 more wins, including 4 Grade I stakes, 4 Grade II stakes, and 4 Grade III stakes. Some of his biggest wins included the 1989 Mile Championship (GI), two-time wins in the Arima Kinen (Grand Prix) (GI), and a win in the 1990 Yasuda Kinen (GI). He also won the New Zealand Trophy (GII), the Takamatsunomiya Hai (GII) and won the Mainichi Ōkan (GII) twice.
Oguri Cap was known for his rivalry with fellow gray-haired horse of the year Tamamo Cross, with whom he competed three times at the 1988 Tenno Sho (Autumn), Japan Cup, and Arima Kinen.
Racing statistics In total, Oguri Cap raced 32 races in his career, with 22 wins and 4 Grade I victories. Date Distance (Condition) Race Class Course Field HN Odds(Favourite) Finish Time Winning(Losing)Margin Jockey Winner(2nd Place) Ref1987 – Two-year-old season 19 May Dirt 800 m (Firm) Two Year Old Debut Kasamatsu 10 5 -- (2nd) 0:50.1 (neck) March Tosho 2 Jun Dirt 800 m (Firm) Two Year Old Kasamatsu 7 1 1.1 (1st) 0:51.1 4 lengths (North Hero) 15 Jun Dirt 800 m (Soft) Two Year Old Kasamatsu 9 8 -- (1st) 0:49.8 6 lengths (Fate Charles) 26 Jul Dirt 800 m (Firm) Two Year Old Kasamatsu 7 7 -- (1st) 0:50.3 (neck) March Tosho 12 Aug Dirt 800 m (Firm) Two Year Old Kasamatsu 8 7 2.4 (1st) 0:49.7 lengths (March Tosho) 30 Aug Dirt 1400 m (Firm) Akikaze Junior Kasamatsu 10 5 -- (1st) 1:30.3 4 lengths (March Tosho) 4 Oct Dirt 1400 m (Firm) Junior Crown Kasamatsu 9 5 1.2 (1st) 1:29.4 nose (March Tosho) 14 Oct Turf 1200 m (Firm) Chukyo Hai Chukyo 12 3 1.5 (1st) 1:10.8 2 lengths (Ardent Love) 4 Nov Dirt 1400 m (Heavy) Chunichi Sports Hai Nagoya 12 4 1.2 (1st) 1:29.8 lengths (Hallow Princess) 7 Dec Dirt 1600 m (Firm) Shiwasu Tokubetsu Kasamatsu 10 9 1.7 (1st) 1:44.4 6 lengths (Young Oja) 29 Dec Dirt 1600 m (Firm) Junior Grand Prix Kasamatsu 10 5 1.1 (1st) 1:45.0 4 lengths (Tokai Shark) 1988 – Three-year-old season 10 Jan Dirt 1600 m (Heavy) Gold Junior Kasamatsu 10 6 1.1 (1st) 1:41.8 lengths (March Tosho) 6 Mar Turf 1600 m (Firm) Pegasus Stakes GIII Hanshin 10 4 3.8 (2nd) 1:35.6 3 lengths (Rugger Black) 27 Mar Turf 2000 m (Soft) Mainichi Hai GIII Hanshin 10 10 2.2 (1st) 2:04.8 neck (Foundry Dictor) 8 May Turf 2000 m (Good) Kyoto Yonsai Tokubetsu GIII Kyoto 15 15 1.3 (1st) 2:03.6 5 lengths (Koei Spurt) 5 Jun Turf 1600 m (Firm) New Zealand Trophy GII Tokyo 13 11 1.2 (1st) 7 lengths (Lindo Hoshi) 10 Jul Turf 2000 m (Firm) Takamatsunomiya Hai GII Chukyo 8 2 1.2 (1st) lengths (Land Hiryu) 9 Oct Turf 1800 m (Good) Mainichi Okan GII Tokyo 11 8 1.7 (1st) 1:49.2 lengths (Sirius Symboli) 30 Oct Turf 2000 m (Firm) Tenno Sho (Autumn) GI Tokyo 13 1 2.1 (1st) 1:59.0 ( lengths) Tamamo Cross 27 Nov Turf 2400 m (Firm) Japan Cup GI Tokyo 14 8 6.9 (3rd) 2:25.8 ( lengths) Pay the Butler 25 Dec Turf 2500 m (Firm) Arima Kinen GI Nakayama 13 10 3.7 (2nd) 2:33.9 length (Tamamo Cross) 1989 – Four-year-old season 17 Sep Turf 2200 m (Firm) Sankei Sho All Comers GIII Nakayama 13 11 1.4 (1st) lengths (All Dash) 8 Oct Turf 1800 m (Good) Mainichi Okan GII Tokyo 8 6 1.4 (1st) 1:46.7 nose (Inari One) 29 Oct Turf 2000 m (Firm) Tenno Sho (Autumn) GI Tokyo 14 4 1.9 (1st) 1:59.1 (neck) Super Creek 19 Nov Turf 1600 m (Firm) Mile Championship GI Kyoto 17 1 1.3 (1st) 1:34.6 nose (Bamboo Memory) 26 Nov Turf 2400 m (Firm) Japan Cup GI Tokyo 15 3 5.3 (2nd) 2:22.2 (neck) Horlicks 24 Dec Turf 2500 m (Firm) Arima Kinen GI Nakayama 16 1 1.8 (1st) 5th 2:32.5 (5 lengths) Inari One 1990 – Five-year-old season 13 May Turf 1600 m (Firm) Yasuda Kinen GI Tokyo 16 9 1.4 (1st) 2 lengths (Yaeno Muteki) 10 Jun Turf 2200 m (Firm) Takarazuka Kinen GI Hanshin 10 6 1.2 (1st) 2:14.6 ( lengths) Osaichi George 28 Oct Turf 2000 m (Firm) Tenno Sho (Autumn) GI Tokyo 18 12 2.0 (1st) 6th 1:58.9 (5 lengths) Yaeno Muteki 25 Nov Turf 2400 m (Firm) Japan Cup GI Tokyo 15 7 7.3 (4th) 11th 2:24.1 ( lengths) Better Loosen Up 23 Dec Turf 2500 m (Firm) Arima Kinen GI Nakayama 16 8 5.5 (4th) 2:34.2 length (Mejiro Ryan)
in the chart and the time written in red indicates the horse finished in record time.
Retirement After retirement in 1991, Oguri Cap was sent to the Yushun Stallion Station to stand stud. He was not able to produce any racers of his caliber, and in 2007 he was retired from stud duty. After retirement, he lived as a pensioned stallion at the Yushun Stallion Station. On 3 July 2010, he fractured one of the tibias in his legs in an apparent pasture accident, and was subsequently euthanized.
Popularity Oguri Cap had a major impact on the Japanese horse-racing scene, thanks in no small part to his humble beginnings.
Due to starting his career in regional races, his move to the National scene came too late for him to be registered for the 1988 season of the Japanese Classic races, specifically the Satsuki Shō, the Tōkyō Yūshun (Japanese Derby) and the Kikuka Shō, collectively called the "Japanese Triple Crown". However, as Oguri Cap continued to win race after race, there was a popular outcry to allow him to participate in the classics despite missing the deadline. While the Japan Racing Association (JRA) stood firm against allowing Oguri to participate, they did soon after change their rules to be less strict on registration, allowing late entries and even foreign-born horses to run in the classics, though with a hefty fee attached. Two subsequent beneficiaries of this change would be fellow JRA Hall of Fame inductees T. M. Opera O and Kitasan Black.
Oguri Cap was extremely popular with fans, earning the nickname "Idol Horse", thanks to drawing crowds who watched the races for more than just race-betting, and was one of the first racehorses to have plush dolls made in his image, a form of merchandise that is now commonplace.
Awards In 1988, Oguri Cap won the JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Colt and won the JRA Special Award the following year. In 1990, he won both the JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse and Japanese Horse of the Year. He was inducted into the JRA Hall of Fame in 1991.
He was nicknamed "Oguri" and for his performance, he was also nicknamed the "Gray-Haired Monster".
Legacy A life-sized statue of Oguri Cap was erected at the Yushun Memorial Park in Niikappu, Hokkaido one year after the horse's death.
In addition, another Oguri Cap statue was erected at Kasamatsu Racecourse and later refreshed in 2019. Alongside the statue, Oguri Cap's mane is also on display there.
In popular culture
An anthropomorphized version of Oguri Cap appears as a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Tomoyo Takayanagi. She is depicted as an introverted, simple-minded ashen-haired girl with a large appetite, often being seen eating comically large portions of food.
Originally appearing as a minor character in the anime and a playable character in the game itself, Oguri Cap's real-life career would later be dramatized in Umamusume'''s spin-off manga series Umamusume: Cinderella Gray. Produced by Junnosuke Itō, written by Masafumi Sugiura and illustrated by Taiyō Kuzumi, the manga ran in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump from June 2020 to December 2025, with twenty-one volumes having been released.Cinderella Grey received an anime television series adaptation, airing in two split cours. The series, which focused from Oguri Cap's debut at the Kasamatsu racecourse in 1987 up to the 1988 Arima Kinen, aired its first cour from April to June 2025, with the second cour airing from October to December of the same year.
In the manga and anime series Nichijou'', the character Mai Minakami owns a dog named Oguri Cap.
Pedigree Through Never Say Die, Oguri Cap was a descendant of War Admiral and Man o' War and through Nasrullah, he was a descendant of Nearco.
See also List of racehorses
References