Narita Taishin

Narita Taishin (Japanese: ナリタタイシン; Hepburn: Narita Taishin; 10 June 1990 – 13 April 2020) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was best known for winning the Satsuki Shō in 1993. Narita Taishin was part of the "BNW" trio along with Biwa Hayahide and Winning Ticket that were rivals challenging for the Japanese Triple Crown.

Racing career Two-year-old season Narita Taishin made his racing debut at Sapporo Racecourse in July 1992. He managed only a fifth place finish, and afterwards was rested for several months to ease fatigue in his legs. He returned to racing in October at Fukushima Racecourse, where he won his first race.#関西競馬四季報93年秋 p. 771 He continued with more ungraded races, including finishing second at both the Fukushima Sansai Stakes at Fukushima Racecourse and the Senryo Stakes at Hanshin Racecourse. At the end of the year, he was entered in to the Radio Tampa Hai Sansai Stakes, his first graded stakes event. Narita Taishin won the race, marking his first major victory.

Three-year-old season Narita Taishin's 1993 season began at the Grade II Shinzan Kinen in January, where he finished second to Amber Lion. In March, Narita Taishin was entered in to the Yayoi Sho in preparation for entering the Triple Crown races. Beginning at this race, Yutaka Take was hired as Narita Taishin's jockey. Narita Taishin finished second again, this time losing to Winning Ticket, who would become one of his chief rivals during the Triple Crown.

Narita Taishin's next race was the Satsuki Sho, the first leg of the Triple Crown. He entered this race as the third favorite, behind Winning Ticket and Biwa Hayahide, who had just come off winning the Wakaba Stakes. In the race, Narita Taishin stayed near the back for most of the race, but in the final straight charged through the field and narrowly took victory over Biwa Hayahide, with the official margin being a neck.『優駿』1993年6月号、日本中央競馬会、132頁 At the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Tokyo Yushun, he once again entered as the third favorite behind Winning Ticket and Biwa Hayahide. Here, he was unable to complete his charge through the field and finished third behind Winning Ticket and Biwa Hayahide.

After the Tōkyō Yūshun, Narita Taishin's schedule was reduced to prepare for the Kikuka Sho in November. In July, Narita Taishin was entered in to the Grade II Takamatsunomiya Hai, but came second behind Longchamp Boy. In autumn, health issues began to plague Narita Taishin. The horse suffered a pulmonary hemorrhage during training, which cancelled plans to race him in the Kyoto Shimbun Hai against Winning Ticket as a preparation race. Narita Taishin was still entered in to the Kikuka Sho, but with the effects of the injury still lingering, he was not competitive in the race and finished 17th – second to last in the 18 horses field. His rivals Biwa Hayahide and Winning Ticket finished first and third, respectively.

Four and five-year-old seasons Narita Taishin's four-year-old season began with a victory at the Meguro Kinen in February. With this success, he was entered in to the Tenno Sho in April. He finished second, lengths behind Biwa Hayahide. The promising start to Narita Taishin's 1994 season ended with more injuries. Shortly after the Tenno Sho, it was discovered that Narita Taishin had a minor fracture in his right-hind leg, which forced him out of competition for several months. He was scheduled to return at the Kyōto Daishōten in October, but intestinal issues forced him out again. Just before the autumn Tenno Sho, he developed tendinitis, another injury that would take months to recover from.

Narita Taishin finally returned to racing at the 1995 Takarazuka Kinen, over 13 months since his last race appearance. With no racing in so long, Narita Taishin's racing condition was poor, and he finished 16th in the 17-horse field. Preparations were made to run him in further races, but during training for the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, tendinitis occurred again, and Narita Taishin was retired from racing.

Racing record Narita Taishin ran in 15 races taking four victories, including a Grade I victory in the Satsuki Sho.

Date Race Grade Distance (condition) Track Field Finish Time Winning (Losing) Margin Winner(2nd Place) Jockey1992 – Two-year-old season 11 Jul 1992 Two Year Old Newcomers 1000m (Firm) Sapporo 9 6th1:00.3( lengths) Meiner Rockabilly 10 Oct 1992 Two Year Old Maiden 1700m (Good) Fukushima 5 1st1:44.7 lengths (A.P. Iron) 25 Oct 1992 Kinmokusei Tokubetsu OP 1700m (Firm) Fukushima 9 6th1:46.3( lengths) Mayano Galaxy 21 Nov 1992 Fukushima Sansai Stakes OP 1200m (Firm) Fukushima 10 2nd1:10.7(1 length) Saint Glory 19 Dec 1992 Senryo Sho OP 1600m (Firm) Hanshin 11 2nd1:38.2( length) Grand Shingeki 26 Dec 1992 Radio Tampa Hai Sansai Stakes GIII 2000m (Firm) Hanshin 12 1st2:05.8 length (Marukatsu Oja) 1993 – Three-year-old season 17 Jan 1993 Shinzan Kinen GIII 1600m (Firm) Kyoto 13 2nd1:36.0( length) Amber Lion 7 Mar 1993 Yayoi Sho GII 2000m (Firm) Nakayama 11 2nd2:00.4(2 lengths) Winning Ticket 18 Apr 1993 Satsuki Sho GI 2000m (Firm) Nakayama 18 1stneck (Biwa Hayahide) 30 May 1993 Tokyo Yushun GI 2400m (Firm) Tokyo 18 3rd2:25.8( lengths) Winning Ticket 11 Jul 1993 Takamatsunomiya Hai GII 2000m (Firm) Kyoto 14 2nd1:59.2( lengths) Longchamp Boy 7 Nov 1993 Kikuka Sho GI 3000m (Firm) Kyoto 18 17th3:14.1(56 lengths) Biwa Hayahide 1994 – Four-year-old season 20 Feb 1994 Meguro Kinen GII 2500m (Firm) Tokyo 13 1st2:34.0head (Dancing Surpass) 24 Apr 1994 Tenno Sho (Spring) GI 3200m (Good) Hanshin 11 2nd3:22.8( lengths) Biwa Hayahide 1995 – Five-year-old season 4 Jun 1995 Takarazuka Kinen GI 2200m (Good) Kyoto 17 16th2:12.1( lengths) Dantsu Seattle Legend: * indicated that it was a record finish time.

Retirement Narita Taishin was retired to stud in 1995 after his failed racing comeback. He did not produce any graded stakes winners, but did have some offspring that won allowance races. His most successful offspring by career earnings were Thurston Girl and Garnet City. However, his performance as a sire did not meet expectations, and he was retired from stud in 2003. He lived the rest of his life at the JRA's Hidaka Training and Research Center in Hidaka, Hokkaido. He died 13 April 2020 at age 29 due to complications from age.

In popular culture An anthropomorphized version of Narita Taishin appears in the Japanese multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Keiko Watanabe. She is depicted as having a cold, prickly, and asocial personality, however this comes from being looked down upon and teased for her small stature which many consider unfit for races, causing her to put her all into her racing out of spite. Despite this cold exterior, Taishin is deeply insecure about her small size, and strives in desperation to exceed her physical limitations, even if it comes at the risk of serious injury. Similar to her real-life counterpart, her 1993 Triple Crown rivals, Biwa Hayahide and Winning Ticket, are her best friends and teammates in the anime series, making up the "BNW" trio.

Pedigree

Narita Taishin

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