Black Hawk (, Hepburn: Burakku Hōku, 14 May 1994 – 22 June 2015) was a British-bred, Japanese-trained, former Thoroughbred racehorse who was active during the late 1900s to early 2000s. As a five year old in 1999, he won his first G1 and G3 race — the Sprinters Stakes and the Swan Stakes, respectively. Later on, he also won the Yasuda Kinen in 2001 before retiring with a total earnings of ¥652,670,000.
Background Black Hawk was bay horse foaled by Silver Lane, a daughter of Silver Hawk, on 14 May 1994. He was sired by Nureyev, who also foaled other racehorses such as Heart Lake, Theatrical, Sonic Lady, and Miesque.
He was bred on the Watership Down Stud, located in Berkshire, England.
Racing career 1997: three-year-old season Black Hawk started his debut on 1997 in a mile race at Nakayama Racecourse in which he ran at the front, took the lead at the second bend and held the lead until the end to win by one-and-a-quarter-length over Great Clear. He was scratched in his third race, got his second win at his fifth race at the Yaezakura Sho and ending his debut season with a second place finish at the Komakusa Sho.
1998: four-year-old season In this season, Black Hawk gained his third career win in his second start of year at the Shunko Sho on February. From that point, he etched a three-winning-streak in a row including his first graded race win at the Lord Derby Challenge Trophy, where he stayed at the middle group before bursted forward for the lead and overtook the front running Keiwan Viking to win by one-and-three-quarters-of-a-length. On the next race, he placed in third at the Keio Hai Spring Cup before finished disappointingly at 11th-place in the Yasuda Kinen afterward. He then took a full year break after those two starts.
1999: five-year-old season This year would become his best season so far as he finished in podiums in all five starts and also won his first G1 race. First, he finished in second place at the Sekiya Kinen in August. Then, he placed third at the Keisei Hai Autumn Handicap before winning the Swan Stakes in October by two lengths over Broad Appeal. He then finished third at the Mile Championship next in which his normal jockey, Norihiro Yokoyama declared that "This horse is a sprinter". Because of this remark, Yokoyama for this point on became his only jockey and entered the Sprinters Stakes in December. Yokoyama rode him on the middle before surged forward at the final straight, passed Agnes World who was jockeyed by Yutaka Take to take the win by a neck at the line.
2000: six-year-old season He started strong in this year in his first start when he settled into a good third position and pulled away early in the straight to claim victory at the Hankyu Hai. This win turned out to be the highest point for the rest of the season as he would finished second in three races (Centaur Stakes, Keio Hai Spring Cup and CBC Sho) and only managed third place in the Sprinters Stakes behind Daitaku Yamato and Agnes World. He also finished unplaced in both mile races he participated in, the Yasuda Kinen and the Mile Championships.
2001: seven-year-old season In the first two starts of the year, Black Hawk ran well and placed in second at the Hankyu Hai and notably, Takamatsunomiya Kinen in which he lost only by half-a-length behind Trot Star. After a third place at the Keio Hai Spring Cup, Black Hawk entered the Yasuda Kinen for the second time. In this occasion, he waited at the back of the field for most of the race per instruction of his owner, Makoto Kaneko himself. Then, Yokoyama urged Black Hawk to make a late surge from the outside in the straight, overtaking every single horse and winning his second G1 race by one length over Breaktime in second place. There was a plan to sent him for Hong Kong expedition but it was halted as Black Hawk developed leg problems that was severe enough and forced him to be retired from racing afterward.
Racing form Black Hawk won nine races and placed 14 times out of 28 starts. This data is available based on JBIS and netkeiba. DateTrackRaceGradeDistance(Condition)EntryHNOdds(Favored)FinishTimeMarginsJockeyWinner(Runner-up)1997 – three-year-old seasonJan 6Nakayama3YO debut1,600 m (Soft)1641.7（1）1:39.8−0.2Yukio Okabe(Great Clear)Feb 1TokyoSaintpaulia ShoALW (1W)1,800 m (Firm)1473.9（1）1:49.10.6Yukio OkabeInter PunchFeb 16TokyoHaruna ShoALW (1W)1,400 m (Soft)1311–Scratched––Yukio OkabeMeisho DengekiApr 19NiigataWarabi ShoALW (1W)1,600 m (Good)1593.1（1）1:35.70.0Hisaaki KobayashiYuki FujiMay 4TokyoYaezakura ShoALW (1W)1,600 m (Firm)652.0（1）1:36.8–0.2Norihiro Yokoyama(Doo-Wop)Jun 1TokyoKomakusa ShoALW (2W)2,000 m (Firm)1552.5（1）2:01.60.0Norihiro YokoyamaToa Stealth1998 – four-year-old seasonFeb 1KyotoUjigawa TokubetsuALW (2W)1,400 m (Firm)16117.6（3）1:22.50.5Koichi TsunodaRey SeattleFeb 21TokyoShunko ShoALW (2W)1,600 m (Good)16152.6（1）1:34.80.0Norihiro Yokoyama(Green Blitz)Mar 15NakayamaBloodstone StakesALW (3W)1,600 m (Firm)1413.5（2）1:35.3–0.5Norihiro Yokoyama(Nippo Atlas)Apr 11NakayamaLord Derby Challenge Trophy31,600 m (Good)1123.8（2）1:34.3–0.3Yukio Okabe(Keiwan Viking)May 16TokyoKeio Hai Spring Cup21,400 m (Firm)16138.6（4）1:20.70.6Hiroki GotoTaiki ShuttleJun 14TokyoYasuda Kinen11,600 m (Heavy)171311.5（2）1:39.52.0Hiroki GotoTaiki Shuttle1999 – five-year-old seasonAug 8NiigataSekiya Kinen31,600 m (Firm)18145.8（3）1:32.00.4Masayoshi EbinaReward NinfaSep 12NakayamaKeisei Hai Autumn Handicap31,600 m (Firm)1531.8（1）1:32.90.1Yoshitomi ShibataSunrise AtlasOct 30KyotoSwan Stakes21,400 m (Firm)1281.6（1）1:20.2–0.3Masayoshi Ebina(Broad Appeal)Nov 21KyotoMile Championship11,600 m (Firm)18153.8（2）1:33.20.4Yutaka TakeAir JihadDec 19NakayamaSprinters Stakes11,200 m (Firm)16103.8（2）1:08.20.0Norihiro Yokoyama(Agnes World)2000 – six-year-old seasonFeb 27HanshinHankyu Hai31,200 m (Firm)1231.6（1）1:08.7–0.2Norihiro Yokoyama(Divine Light)Mar 26ChukyoTakamatsunomiya Kinen11,200 m (Firm)17162.2（1）1:08.70.1Norihiro YokoyamaKing HaloMay 14TokyoKeio Hai Spring Cup21,400 m (Firm)18134.4（2）1:21.30.3Norihiro YokoyamaStingerJun 4TokyoYasuda Kinen11,600 m (Firm)1884.9（2）1:34.60.7Norihiro YokoyamaFairy King PrawnSep 10HanshinCentaur Stakes31,200 m (Firm)16142.4（1）1:07.60.0Norihiro YokoyamaBehind The MaskOct 1Nakayama Sprinters Stakes11,200 m (Good)1624.2（2）1:08.80.2Norihiro YokoyamaDaitaku YamatoNov 19Kyoto Mile Championship11,600 m (Firm)18184.9（2）1:33.20.6Norihiro YokoyamaAgnes DigitalDec 16Chukyo CBC Sho21,200 m (Firm)1684.5（2）1:08.10.2Norihiro YokoyamaTrot Star2001 – seven-year-old seasonFeb 25HanshinHankyu Hai31,200 m (Firm)1432.3（1）1:08.80.1Norihiro YokoyamaDaitaku YamatoMar 25ChukyoTakamatsunomiya Kinen11,200 m (Firm)18134.0（3）1:08.50.1Norihiro YokoyamaTrot StarMay 13TokyoKeio Hai Spring Cup21,400 m (Firm)18122.5（1）1:20.20.1Norihiro YokoyamaStingerJun 3TokyoYasuda Kinen11,600 m (Firm)181720.1（9）1:33.0–0.2Norihiro Yokoyama(Breaktime) Legend:
Stud career and death Black Hawk became a stud at Shadai Stallion Station in 2002, moving to Breeders' Stallion Station in 2007 and transferred again to Honda Tsuchihisa farm located in Kumamoto from 2011. He was also occasionally became a shuttle stud in Australia. In his career as a stud between 2002 until 2015, he bred with 842 mares, produced 495 foals, registered 470 foals, earned 2,869,842,500 ¥ in progeny winnings with AEI of 0.55.
Notable progeny c = colt, f = filly
+Grade winners Foaled Name Sex Major Wins2004CouverturefKeeneland Cup2005CelebritafKyoto Himba Stakes
On 22 July 2015, Black Hawk died due to heart attack at Honda Tsuchihisa Farm. He was 21 years old.
Pedigree
References