Cheval Grand (Japanese: シュヴァルグラン, Hepburn: Shuvaru Guran; foaled March 14, 2012) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2016 Copa Republica Argentina, the 2016 Hanshin Daishoten, and the 2017 Japan Cup. Cheval Grand has earned a total of $10,190,341, averaging $308,798 per start.

Background Cheval Grand was foaled on March 14, 2012, at Northern Farm in Abira, Hokkaido. His dam, , is also the dam of Verxina and Vivlos, also owned by Kazuhiro Sasaki and trained by Yasuo Tomomichi. Both Verxina and Vivlos had successful careers, with his older sister Verxina winning the Victoria Mile and younger sister Vivlos winning the Shuka Sho and Dubai Turf.

Racing career

Cheval Grand's first race was on September 21, 2014, where he finished in 2nd place by a neck behind the favorite. On October 3, 2015, in the Special Weight category, he won his first race at Hanshin Racecourse as the favorite. In his last two races of the 2015 season, he finished third including one GIII race where he was the favorite.

2015 was Cheval Grand's three year old season where he entered six races and came out with three wins. He was registered to enter the Wakakoma Stakes, an OP race, in January of that year but was forced to drop out due to an injury. With the goal of running in the Japanese Derby, he entered the GIII 1800m Mainichi Hai in late March followed by the 2200m GII Kyoto Shimbun Hai, where he came in 5th and 8th respectively. Because of these losses, he was not able to enter the classic races and had to find a new path for his three year old season. He entered 3 more minor races that year over 2000m to 2400m, winning as the favorite in all three.

At the start of his four year old season, he entered graded races again, starting with the Nikkei New Year Cup, where he came in second. He raced again two months later in March, when he entered Hanshin Daishoten as the favorite, where he won his first ever victory in a graded race. He entered the Tenno Sho (spring) as his first GI race, but he came in third behind Kitasan Black. Cheval Grand's next GI race was a month later at the Takarazuka Kinen but lost, coming in ninth place. On November 6, 2016, Cheval Grand won the GII Copa Republica Argentina, starting strong for the autumn of the 2016 season. He stayed in graded races for the remaining two races for the year, but fell short of a GI victory. He came in third at the Japan Cup and sixth at the Arima Kinen.

Cheval Grand's five year old season, in 2017, started with the Hanshin Daishoten. He started strong but was overtaken by Satono Diamond for a second place finish. He once again enter the Tenno Sho (sping) after that but came in second behind Kitasan Black. Again, he entered the Takarazuka Kinen, but mismanaged his stamina and finished in eighth. With a new jockey on his back, Cheval Grand entered the GII Kyoto Daishoten, coming in third place. Cheval Grand earned his first and only GI victory on November 26, 2017, as he won the Japan Cup. His final race of the year was the Arima Kinen, where he finished third, an improvement from his previous sixth place the year prior.

On April 29, 2018, Cheval came in 2nd place at the Spring Tenno Sho behind Rainbow Line.

On March 30, 2019, Cheval came in 2nd place behind Old Persian at the Dubai Sheema Classic. Cheval went on to race in 2 British races, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the International Stakes, that year, neither of which were successful. Cheval Grand retired after returning to Japan and racing in both the Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen, the latter in which he finished in 6th place behind Lys Gracieux but passing Almond Eye.

Racing form Cheval Grand won seven races out of 33 starts with another 14 podium finishes. This data available on JBIS, netkeiba, British Horesracing Authority and racingpost. Date Race Grade Distance Surface Track Entry Finish Time Margin Jockey Winner (Runner-up)2014 – two-year-old season Sep 21 2YO Debut 2000m Turf Hanshin 142nd 2:04.0 0.0 Yuichi Fukunaga Dragon Verse Oct 12 2YO Maiden 2000m Turf Kyoto 121st 2:00.8 –0.2 Yuichi Fukunaga (Albert Dock) Nov 29 Kyoto Nisai Stakes 3 2000m Turf Kyoto 83rd 2:04.9 0.1 Hiroyuki Uchida Bell Lap Dec 27 Erica Sho ALW (1W) 2000m Turf Hanshin 123rd 2:02.7 0.3 Hiroyuki Uchida Beruf2015 – three-year-old season Jan 24 Wakagoma Stakes OP 2000m Turf Kyoto 7 Scratched – – Hiroyuki Uchida Adam's Bridge Mar 28 Mainichi Hai 3 1800m Turf Hanshin 15 5th 1:47.5 0.3 Hiroyuki Uchida Musee Allen May 9 Kyoto Shimbun Hai 2 2200m Turf Kyoto 16 8th 2:11.9 0.6 Hiroyuki Uchida Satono Rasen Aug 30 3YO+ Allowance 1W 2000m Turf Sapporo 162nd 2:00.1 0.4 Yuichi Fukunaga Albert Oct 3 3YO+ Allowance 1W 2400m Turf Hanshin 171st 2:28.3 –0.3 Yuichi Fukunaga (Mikki Pouch) Oct 31 3YO+ Allowance 2W 2400m Turf Kyoto 81st 2:24.8 –0.3 Yuichi Fukunaga (A Shin Allonsy) Dec 13 Orion Stakes ALW (3W) 2400m Turf Hanshin 91st 2:28.1 –0.5 Christophe Lemaire (Shiho)2016 – four-year-old season Jan 17 Nikkei Shinshun Hai 2 2400m Turf Kyoto 122nd 2:26.2 0.3 Christophe Lemaire Reve Mistral Mar 20 Hanshin Daishoten 2 3000m Turf Hanshin 111st 3:05.8 –0.4 Yuichi Fukunaga (Tanta Alegria) May 1 Tenno Sho (Spring) 1 3200m Turf Kyoto 183rd 3:15.5 0.2 Yuichi Fukunaga Kitasan Black Jun 26 Takarazuka Kinen 1 2200m Turf Hanshin 17 9th 2:14.2 1.4 Yuichi Fukunaga Marialite Nov 6 Copa Republica Argentina 2 2500m Turf Tokyo 151st 2:33.4 –0.1 Yuichi Fukunaga (Albert) Nov 27 Japan Cup 1 2400m Turf Tokyo 173rd 2:26.3 0.5 Yuichi Fukunaga Kitasan Black Dec 25 Arima Kinen 1 2500m Turf Nakayama 16 6th 2:33.1 0.5 Yuichi Fukunaga Satono Diamond2017 – five-year-old season Mar 19 Hanshin Daishoten 2 3000m Turf Hanshin 102nd 3:02.8 0.2 Yuichi Fukunaga Satono Diamond Apr 30 Tenno Sho (Spring) 1 3200m Turf Kyoto 172nd 3:12.7 0.2 Yuichi Fukunaga Kitasan Black Jun 25 Takarazuka Kinen 1 2200m Turf Hanshin 11 8th 2:12.6 1.2 Yuichi Fukunaga Satono Crown Oct 9 Kyoto Daishoten 2 2400m Turf Kyoto 153rd 2:23.1 0.1 Mirco Demuro Smart Layer Nov 26 Japan Cup 1 2400m Turf Tokyo 171st 2:23.7 –0.2 Hugh Bowman (Rey de Oro) Dec 24 Arima Kinen 1 2500m Turf Nakayama 163rd 2:33.8 0.2 Hugh Bowman Kitasan Black2018 – six-year-old season Apr 1 Osaka Hai 1 2000m Turf Hanshin 16 13th 1:59.7 1.5 Kosei Miura Suave Richard Apr 29 Tenno Sho (Spring) 1 3200m Turf Kyoto 172nd 3:16.2 0.0 Hugh Bowman Rainbow Line Oct 8 Kyoto Daishoten 2 2400m Turf Kyoto 11 4th 2:26.0 0.6 Yuichi Fukunaga Satono Diamond Nov 25 Japan Cup 1 2400m Turf Tokyo 14 4th 2:21.5 0.9 Cristian Demuro Almond Eye Dec 23 Arima Kinen 1 2500m Turf Nakayama 163rd 2:32.4 0.2 Hugh Bowman Blast Onepiece2019 – seven-year-old season Mar 30 Dubai Sheema Classic 1 2410m Turf Meydan 82nd 2:27.5 0.3 Hugh Bowman Old Persian Jul 27 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes 1 12f Turf Ascot 11 6th 2:34.8 2.4 Oisin Murphy Enable Aug 21 Juddmonte International 1 10.3f Turf York 9 8th 2:08.7 0.9 Oisin Murphy Japan Nov 24 Japan Cup 1 2400m Turf Tokyo 15 9th 2:27.1 1.2 Christophe Soumillon Suave Richard Dec 22 Arima Kinen 1 2500m Turf Nakayama 16 6th 2:31.9 1.4 Yuichi Fukunaga Lys Gracieux

Retirement After retiring from racing, Cheval Grand was a stud at the Breeders Stallion Station. After not producing any notable offspring, he retired from his stud career in late 2025 and was moved to Northern Horse Park. On April 30, 2026, Cheval Grand debuted as a jumping horse in the "Thoroughbred Horse Show 2026 - The Second Career" at Laque Dragon Horse Park, Otsu, Shiga.

In popular culture An anthropomorphized version of Cheval Grand appears as a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Yūko Natsuyoshi. She is depicted as the introverted middle child between Verxina and Vivlos with a deep-seated inferiority complex. She possesses a quiet determination to prove her abilities in order to resolve her feelings of inadequacy in comparison to her more talented sisters. Like her real-life counterpart, she has a rivalry with Kitasan Black that is depicted in the third season of the anime series.

Pedigree

Cheval Grand was inbred 3 × 4 to Halo, meaning that this stallion appeared in both the third and fourth generations of his pedigree.

References

External links Statistical data (in Japanese) Pedigree chart