Kiseki (Japanese: キセキ, Hepburn: Kiseki; foaled May 13, 2014) is a retired Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2017 Kikuka Sho.
Background Kiseki was sired by Rulership who won the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Cup, a G1 race in Hong Kong, along with many other G2 wins in Japan. Rulership's sire and Kiseki's grandsire, King Kamehameha, won the 2004 NHK Mile Cup and Japanese Derby, and sired successful racehorses such as Duramente, Lord Kanaloa, Lovely Day, Hokko Tarumae and Rey de Oro. Rulership's dam and therefore Kiseki's granddam, Air Groove, won the 1997 Tenno Sho (Autumn) and placed second in the 1997 and 1998 Japan Cup.
Kiseki's dam, Blitz Finale, never raced but was sired by Deep Impact, the leading sire in Japan for ten years from 2012 to 2022. Deep Impact was sired by successful American racehorse and Japanese sire Sunday Silence. Sunday Silence won two of the three races of the American Triple Crown and was the American Horse of the Year in 1989, and the leading sire in Japan from 1995 to 2007.
Racing career 2016: two-year-old season On December 11, Kiseki ran in a debut race at Hanshin Racecourse as the second favourite. Running in third place on the outside during the race, he pulled ahead in the final stretch and won by three and a half lengths. This would be Kiseki's only race as a two-year-old.
2017: three-year-old season
In Kiseki's first race as a three-year-old, the Saintpaulia Sho (an allowance race for horses who had won one race and earned less than 5 million yen during their careers) on January 29, he was the first favourite, but failed to keep up during the final stretch and placed fifth. In the subsequent Sumire Stakes, he was again the first favourite, but couldn't catch the leaders Clincher and Tagano Ashura and placed third. In the Mainichi Hai, he closed in on the leading group during the final stretch, but narrowly fell short, again finishing third.
On July 15, Kiseki returned in a race for 3-year-olds and older with a 5 million yen prize at Chukyo Racecourse, coming from behind to quickly overtake the front runners and winning her second race by 2 lengths; this race was also jockey Yuichi Fukunaga's 2,000th JRA win. In the following Shinanogawa Tokubetsu he conserved his energy at the back, easily surged ahead in the stretch, and won his third race in a row.
For his next race, Kiseki was entered in the Grade 2 Kobe Shimbun Hai on September 24. Because of his improved performance in his last three races, he was backed as the second favourite behind Rey de Oro, who had won the year's Japanese Derby. During the race, he stayed in the mid-pack, then immediately moved forward through a gap in the pack in the straight. With about 200 meters remaining, he closed in on Rey de Oro with the fastest final 3-furlong time of the field, 33.9 seconds, but the gap had already widened, and he fell short by two lengths, finishing second. Despite the loss, he earned automatic entry into the Kikuka-shō.
Kikuka Sho victory and Hong Kong Vase
In the Kikuka Sho held on October 22, neither of the top three finishers in that year's Derby made an appearance, including Rey de Oro, who aimed primarily for the Japan Cup that year, Suave Richard, who was unable to recover in time from a rest period, and Admirable, who had been diagnosed with a leg issue on August 2 and spent the rest of the year resting. Additionally, due to the impact of Typhoon Lan, the race was held in unusually heavy conditions. As a result, although the race favourite received support, the odds for a single win were 4.5 to 1, reflecting a highly competitive field. It had been 22 years since the odds for the favourite to win the race exceeded 4 to 1, last occurring when Mayano Top Gun won in 1995 (the favourite at that time was Dance Partner, with odds of 4.9 to 1).
In the race, Kiseki ran slightly behind the middle of the pack, gradually moved forward near the slope between the third and fourth turns, and unleashed its stored energy on the home stretch. With the last 3 furlongs run in just under seconds, Kiseki overtook the front-running Clincher around 100 meters from the finish and held off challengers like Mikki Swallow and Popocatepetl, winning by a two-length margin.
Kiseki's Kikuka Sho victory marked the first graded race victory for a progeny of Rulership, and for jockey Mirco Demuro, who had previously won the Satsuki Sho and Derby in 2003 with Neo Universe and in 2015 with Duramente, this victory completed a sweep of the Japanese Triple Crown for colts. Additionally, the 10th favourite Clincher finished second, and the 13th favourite Popocatepetl finished third, making the trifecta payout for this race 559,700 yen, breaking the previous record of 523,990 yen in 2008 and setting the highest payout in Kikuka Sho history.
On December 10, Kiseki entered the G1 Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin Racecourse, but on December 12, it was announced that a skin disease was found on his left forelimb, and he was moved to an environment isolated from other horses in the quarantine stable. The skin disease itself was mild and training was carried out as usual. In the race, he was late at the start and chased the rear, and started advancing in front of the other side, but he did not stretch in a straight line and finished in 9th place.
2018: four-year-old season In the first race of the new year, Kiseki ran in the Grade 2 Nikkei Sho as the favorite. The first 1000 meters were run at a slow pace of 1 minute 2.8 seconds, and so he moved up to the front from mid-pack at the second corner, but was unable to sustain his speed in the final stretch and finished 9th.
After that, instead of running in the Tenno Sho (Spring), Kiseki entered the Takarazuka Kinen. He was supported as the second favourite behind Satono Diamond, who was the first in fan voting. In the race, he chased from the rear along with the Hong Kong-based racehorse Werther and ran third-fastest in the final stretch, but was unable to find an opening and finished 8th. After the Takarazuka Kinen, following the suspension of trainer Katsuhiko Sumii, Kiseki was transferred to the stable of Kazuya Nakatake.
On October 7, in the Grade 2 Mainichi Ōkan, with Masayoshi Kawada as his new jockey, he ran carrying the only assigned weight of 58kg among the runners, which lowered her odds to 6th favourite. Kiseki chased Aerolithe from second place after she led and held on in the straight, but was later overtaken by Stelvio and finished in 3rd place.
In his next race, Kiseki ran in the Tennō Shō (Autumn) on October 28. Competing again against accomplished horses such as Rey de Oro and Suave Richard, he remained the 6th favourite with odds of 12 to 8. Although he was assigned the 10th post out of 12, he accelerated from the start and took the lead at the second corner, further increasing his pace in the latter half to maintain a two-length advantage over the others as he entered the final stretch. Although he was overtaken by Rey de Oro and Sungrazer just before the finish line, he secured a position of third place.
Japan Cup and Arima Kinen
After the autumn Tenno Sho, Kiseki ran in the G1 Japan Cup on November 25. While the Triple Crown-winning filly Almond Eye received overwhelming support at odds of 1.4, Kiseki was backed as the fourth favourite behind Suave Richard and Satono Diamond. From a good start, he took the lead and set an average pace of 59.9 seconds for the first 1000 meters, then gradually increased the pace, passing 2000 meters in 1 minute 57.2 seconds — the same time as the old course record set by Vodka in 2008. In the final stretch, he held his lead, and tried to pull away from the pursuing horses, but Almond Eye, who had been racing in second place, overtook 150 meters from the finish, and Kiseki came second by 1 and 3/4 lengths. Almond Eye's winning time of 2 minutes 20.6 seconds greatly improved the previous Japanese record of 2 minutes 22.1 seconds and also surpassed the 2 minutes 21.98-second world record for the distance set by Asidero. Almond Eye's speed record for the Japan Cup would not be beaten until Calandagan's victory in 2025.
Kiseki's finishing time also broke the previous record by more than a second, finishing 3 1/2 lengths ahead of third-place Suave Richard. Jockey Yuga Kawada commented, "Under normal circumstances, it’s a race we could easily hold onto the lead. Today, there was a wonderful horse in front of me," and Almond Eye's jockey Christophe Lemaire also said, "Kiseki is a strong horse and doesn’t stop."
For Kiseki's final race of the year, he ran in the Grade 1 Arima Kinen on December 23, gathering the sixth-most votes from fans. With Suave Richard skipping the race, Kiseki became the only horse to participate in all of the autumn three-year-old Classics that year and was supported as the second favourite behind Rey de Oro. In the race, from the 14th outer post, he passed Oju Chosan, who had taken the lead from a good start, and Mickey Rocket, who was vying for the lead, setting off to run in front. Despite the slightly heavy track, he passed the first 1000 meters in 60.8 seconds. Maintaining a 3-length lead, he entered the final straight but was caught by the pursuing horses before the finish line and finished fifth.
2019: five-year-old season With the expiration of trainer Katsuhiko Sumii's suspension, the horse was transferred back from Kazuya Nakadake's stable to Katsuhiko Sumii's stable on January 7. That year, he began racing with the G1 Ōsaka Hai on March 31. Competing in a star-studded field that included eight G1 winners such as Wagnerian and Persian Knight, as well as other strong horses like Sungrazer and Air Windsor, the horse was backed as the second favourite behind Blast Onepiece, who had won the previous year's Arima Kinen. In the race, Kiseki tracked second behind Epoca d'Oro, who set a slow pace, and in the straight, he extended his run through the centre of the track, but was narrowly beaten by a head by Al Ain, who came from the inside, finishing in second place.
After the Osaka Hai, Kiseki ran in the G1 Takarazuka Kinen. Among the 12 horses, including six G1 winners, Kiseki was the favorite, narrowly behind Rey de Oro. In the race, he struggled with positioning immediately after the start but took advantage of the innermost post to seize the lead. However, Lys Gracieux unexpectedly took an aggressive early position, pursuing from the second place, and on the final straight, Kiseki was overtaken by the horse. Although Kiseki held off Suave Richard and others who were chasing, he finished three lengths behind the winner Lys Gracieux, placing second for the second consecutive time following the Osaka Hai. After the race, jockey Yuga Kawada said, "It was able to hold off the rest, but the winner was strong. It ran its own race properly, but I’m sorry it couldn’t meet expectations."
Races in France and Arima Kinen After the Takarazuka Kinen, Kiseki left Japan to participate in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and arrived on August 22 at the Gavarnie Hellon training stable in France for adjustments.
Kiseki then ran in the Prix Foy, a prep race for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. The jockey was Christophe Soumillon, who had won the Arc twice before. In this race, which had a small field of just four horses, Kiseki attempted to take the lead and go on the front, but lacked stamina in the final stretch and finished third. The winner was the local horse Waldgeist, who achieved consecutive victories. After the race, jockey Soumillon cited the slow pace as the reason for the loss and commented on the Arc, saying, "He will face strong competitors in the Arc, but he has experienced the course and I think he will improve further with this step-up."