Mejiro Ramonu (, Hepburn: Mejiro Ramōnu; April 9, 1983 – September 22, 2005) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who became the first filly to win the Japanese Triple Tiara in 1986.
Background Mejiro Ramonu was foaled in 1983 at the in Date, Hokkaido. Her sire, was a new stallion co-owned by the Mejiro Group and the Symboli Farm. Her dam, Mejiro Hiryu, won six races in her career and is the half sister to , winner of the 1978 Kyoto Shimbun Hai. When she was a foal, she had issues in her hock, and had a quiet personality, leading to the people around her not expecting much. She became the first Mejiro horse to be trained by , after no other trainer would take her and another filly in.
After being raised at the Mejiro Stud, her hock issues gradually resolved as she became a two year old. In July 1985, she was officially given the name Mejiro Ramonu, and was moved to Hakodate Racecourse. The name is based on the Aiguille de l'Amone in the French Alps added to the Mejiro kanmei (eponym). When Okuhira first saw the horse, he didn't see the horse as one that stood out. However, her groom Kozo Kojima saw that she had a large abdomen, suggesting that she possessed a high level of cardiorespiratory function. As she was trained at Hakodate she showed great potential, and was later moved to Miho Training Center in Ibaraki Prefecture that fall.
Racing career
1985: Two-year-old season Mejiro Ramonu ran her first race on October 13, 1985, at a maiden race covering a dirt track of 1400 meters at Tokyo Racecourse with as her jockey, of which she won handily.
She was then entered in to her first graded race, the Keisei Hai Sansai Stakes held on November 3. She was anticipated to race against the then-undefeated , but she was scratched beforehand. On the day of the race she was the most favored to win, surpassing even , who was a colt. However, she became agitated soon after the start after bumping into another horse, and lost momentum, finishing fourth in a five-way race.
After the race, she briefly suffered from colic and periostitis, but soon recovered. She soon returned to racing, with her being entered into an allowance race that she won with a one length lead. Two weeks later, she won her first graded race in the TV Tokyo Sho Sansai Himba Stakes. Her time, 1:34.9, was seldom heard of at the time, as the only other two year olds in Japan in history at the time that managed to run a mile in less than 1:35 were her, Maruzensky, and .
1986: Three-year-old season Mejiro Ramonu started her three-year season with the Queen Cup, where she was the most favored to win. However, she was acting anxious from before the race, and finished fourth. After the race, her jockey, Masatsugu Kashiwazaki, remarked that he didn't really understood why she'd lose. The Mejiro matriarch, Miya Kitano, however, suspected the horse would lose the race based on the way the horse acted.
After this, she was moved to the Kansai region and entered into the Hochi Hai Yonsai Himba Tokubetsu, a trial race to the Oka Sho. , who was a jockey based in Kansai, took over the duty of jockey, as it was planned that a Kansai jockey (i.e. Kawachi) would take the helm if Ramonu were to run in a race held in the Kansai region. During the race she was placed in the back of the pack, but at the third corner she was blocked by another horse that was losing momentum, and was almost at the back of the pack as the horse entered the final stretch. However, the horse managed to catch up at the last second, beating Chuo Sally by a neck.
At the Oka Sho, she was once again the most favored to win, with the parimutuel odds set at 1.6. She showed signs of anxiety at the race, but managed to place herself in the middle of the pack and pushed herself up to take the lead, before winning the first leg of the Triple Tiara with a 1 and 3/4 length lead against second place Mayano Jo O. This marked the first classic race victory for the Mejiro Stud, and the first Oka Sho victory for Kawachi.
After returning to Miho, she was planned to run in the second leg of the Triple Tiara, the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks), but there were concerns as to whether she could win a race at Tokyo due to both of her previous losses being at that racecourse. As such, it was decided that she would first be entered in to the SanSpo Sho Yonsai Hinba Tokubetsu, an Oaks trial race. This race served as the first race where she faced off Dyna Actress (who did not enter the Oka Sho), but ultimately Ramonu passed her on the final stretch and beat her.
At the Yushun Himba, she stumbled at the start and was forced to race from behind. However, she gradually pushed up forward as she ran along the railings, before taking the lead on the final stretch, winning the race with a 2 and a half length lead against . She became the first horse since in 1976 to win two of the Triple Tiara.
After winning the Yushun Himba, she was sent to the Mejiro Farm to recuperate, before restarting training at Hakodate Racecourse in August, with the intent to starting the Autumn season with the Queen Stakes before contesting the final leg of the Triple Tiara, the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Q.E.II Cup) (at the time the Shuka Sho was yet to be formed). However, she was unable to handle the summer heat, and as a result she was sent back to Miho before given bloodletting treatment. She also showed signs of lameness during training, and as a result her restarting of training was pushed back even further. On October, she was sent to Kansai directly from Hakodate, where she would start her autumn season with the Rose Stakes. At the race, she was in the front of the pack, and attempted to take the lead on the stretch, but struggled to do so as she went neck-to-neck with Pot Tesco Lady. After the race, Kawachi suggested that the turf condition was to blame for why she struggled to win.
Okuhira recalled that, on the day of the Q.E.II Cup, Mejiro Ramonu "was at 70%". She was by far the most favored to win that day, with many anticipating that she would become the first Triple Tiara winner in history. At the race, she was among the 3rd pack in the race, but took the lead as the race entered the downhill on the 3rd corner at around the 800 meter mark. She held on to the lead as she and the other horses entered the final stretch, but she briefly slowed down and was almost overtaken by Super Shot. However, she managed to hold on to the lead by a neck, making her the first winner of the Triple Tiara since its introduction in the JRA races. She also became the biggest earning filly at the time, with her earnings surpassing 300 million yen. She also held the most consecutive graded race win at the time, having won 6 graded races in a row.
After the race, some wanted her to enter the Japan Cup, but as she was already planned to be retired after the Arima Kinen, Miya Kitano formally announced that she would head straight to Arima and retire after that race. She was entered in to the race after earning the third most votes of that race after Miho Shinzan and Sakura Yutaka O, but finished at 9th place behind .
After retirement, she was awarded the Saiyushu Yonsai Himba title the following January. Despite some anticipating that she would be named Horse of the Year, the first for a filly since in 1971, the award ultimately went to Dyna Gulliver, who won the Tokyo Yushun the year before and defeated Ramonu at the Arima. Regarding this, columnist claimed that he asked the JRA if they could get both horses named Horse of the Year, or at least have either one awarded the JRA Special Awards, only for them to reject both suggestions.
A retirement ceremony was held at Tokyo Racecourse on February 8, 1987, where she appeared wearing the race bib from her Q.E.II Cup. That same year, she was inducted in to the JRA Hall of Fame alongside Symboli Rudolf.
Breeding career Following retirement, she became a broodmare at the Mejiro Stud. However, throughout her breeding career, she was never able to produce any crops that matched her, with none of her crops winning any major titles. From her mare line, won the Kawasaki Kinen in 2008, won the Falcon Stakes in 2017, and Glory Vase won the Hong Kong Vase in 2019.
Mejiro Ramonu died at the Mejiro Farm on September 22, 2005, at the age of 22 due to old age. Her grave is erected inside the properties of the Mejiro Stud, currently the .
Offspring The list of offspring is based on information available on JBIS Search and the Kyosoba no Furusato Annaijo. Year of BirthNameSexColorSire1989Mejiro RyumonColtBayMejiro Titan1990Mejiro RiveraMareDark BaySymboli Rudolf1992Mejiro TenoGeldingBayReal Shadai1994Mejiro DesireColtBrownSunday Silence1996Mejiro MonjuMareDark BayLindo Shaver1997Mejiro BrettColtBayTimber Country1998Mejiro FlaxMareBayLammtarra1999Mejiro GreeneColtBayMejiro Ryan2000Mejiro BeckhamColtBrownBrian's Time2002Mejiro Snow ShoeFillyDark BayEl Condor Pasa2003Mejiro RubatoMareBayMejiro Ryan2004Mejiro RastabanColtBayTanino Gimlet
Racing form The following racing form is based on the racing form available on JBIS Search and netkeiba. DateTrackRaceGradeFinishDistance(Condition)TimeWinning (Losing) MarginJockeyWinner(Runner-up)Weight1985 – three-year-old seasonOct 13Tokyo3YO Maiden Race1,400 m (Firm)1:26.121 lengthsFutoshi Kojima(Dyna Bonder)466Nov 3TokyoKeisei Hai Sansai Stakes24th1,400 m (Firm)1:23.9(4 lengths)Futoshi KojimaDaishin Fubuki466Nov 30NakayamaKangiku ShoAllowance1,600 m (Firm)1:35.7 lengthsMasatsugu Kashiwazaki(Fujino Sengoku)456Dec 14NakayamaTV Tokyo Sho Sansai Himba Stakes31,600 m (Firm)1:34.9 lengthsMasatsugu Kashiwazaki(Dyna Fairy)4581986 – four-year-old seasonJan 26TokyoQueen Cup34th1,600 m (Firm)1:36.5(6 lengths)Masatsugu KashiwazakiSuper Shot458Mar 16HanshinYonsai Himba Tokubetsu (West)21,400 m (Good)1:23.9neckHiroshi Kawachi(Chuo Sally)452Apr 6HanshinOka Sho11,600 m (Firm)1:35.8 lengthsHiroshi Kawachi(Mayano Jo O)454Apr 27TokyoYonsai Himba Tokubetsu (East)21,800 m (Good)1.50.8 lengthsHiroshi Kawachi(Dyna Actress)450May 18TokyoYushun Himba12,400 m (Firm)2:29.6 lengthsHiroshi Kawachi(Yu Miroku)456Oct 12KyotoRose Stakes22,000 m (Firm)2:01.3neckHiroshi Kawachi(Pot Tesco Lady)462Nov 2KyotoQueen Elizabeth II Cup12,400 m (Firm)2:29.1 lengthHiroshi Kawachi(Super Shot)464Dec 21NakayamaArima Kinen19th2,500 m (Good)2:34.6(4 lengths)Hiroshi KawachiDyna Gulliver466
Legend:
Notes:
In popular culture An anthropomorphized version of Mejiro Ramonu appears as a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Nao Tōyama. She is depicted as an elegant, dark-haired noblewoman with the most prestigious accomplishments of any racer of the Mejiro family, making her a role model for her juniors, especially Mejiro Ardan, her younger sister. However, she also has an obsessive, single-minded devotion to racing, and often attempts to provoke or otherwise psychologically manipulate her opponents to give herself better competition.
Pedigree
References