Kyoei March (Japanese: キョウエイマーチ, Hepburn: Kyōei Māchi; April 19, 1994 – May 9, 2007) was a Japanese racehorse and broodmare. She was the 1997 winner of the Oka Sho. Her other victories included the 1997 Hochi Hai Yonsai Himba Tokubetsu and Rose Stakes, the 1999 Hankyu Hai, and the 2000 Kyoto Kimpai.
Background
Kyoei March was foaled on April 19, 1994, at International Ranch in Monbetsu, Hokkaido, as the second foal of Inter Charmant. Shortly after birth, it was discovered that she suffered from perichondritis, a skin condition that affected her legs, but thanks to persistent and dedicated treatment, she managed to make it to her debut. In September 1996, Kyoei March entered the Akihiko Nomura stable in Ritto Training Center.
Racing career
1996: three-year-old season Kyoei March made her debut on November 30 in a maiden race over 1,200 meters on the dirt at Hanshin Racecourse. She won by a landslide, finishing 1.7 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. The horse that finished third in that race was Matikanefukukitaru, who would later win the Kikuka Sho. She finished third in the subsequent Senryo Sho, ending the year with a record of 1 win in 2 starts.
1997: four-year-old season At the start of the new year, Kyoei March won the Kambai Sho and the Elfin Stakes back-to-back and established herself as a contender for the Classics. In March, she competed in the Hochi Hai Yonsai Himba Tokubetsu, a trial race for the Oka Sho. She easily took the lead and, thanks to her superior speed, won by a landslide, setting a race record with a margin of seven lengths, the largest in the race’s history over the second-place finisher, Season Princess. Kyoei March was subsequently named the top contender for the Oka Sho.
In the Oka Sho, she was named the favorite, edging out the 2-year-old champion, Mejiro Dober. In the Oka Sho, she started from the wide No. 18 post, which is considered a disadvantage and faced several concerns, including a heavy track due to persistent rain. However, she smoothly took the lead at the fourth turn and, showing no signs of tiring in the home stretch, pulled away from the field with her superior speed to win convincingly by four lengths over second-place Mejiro Dober, claiming the Oka Sho title. Jockey Mikio Matsunaga claimed his first Oka Sho victory, while trainer Akihiko Nomura secured his first Grade I victory. For the breeder, International Farm, this also marked the first GI victory for a horse bred on their own farm.
In the subsequent Yushun Himba, Kyoei March was the favorite as the Oka Sho winner. Although she took the lead as usual, she lost speed in the home stretch and finished in 11th, as Mejiro Dober claimed the Yushun Himba title. Incidentally, Kyoei March never won another race involving long-distance transport after that; all of her victories during her racing career were at local racetracks in the Kansai region (Kyoto Racecourse and Hanshin Racecourse).
In her first race of the fall, the Rose Stakes—her return from a layoff—she defeated Seeking the Pearl, who was the favorite, but in the Shuka Sho, she finished second again, beaten by Mejiro Dober. From then on, she focused almost exclusively on short-distance races, so although she was considered a rival to Mejiro Dober, this ultimately turned out to be their final showdown.
After the Shuka Sho, Kyoei March, considering her distance suitability, ran in the Mile Championship rather than the Queen Elizabeth II Cup. She won a pace battle against Silence Suzuka and held on at the front despite an astonishingly fast pace of 56.5 seconds for the first 1,000 meters, but was overtaken by Taiki Shuttle just before the finish line, finishing in second place. In the following Sprinters Stakes, she was the second favorite but suffered a crushing defeat, finishing 11th, bringing her season to a close.
1998: five-year-old season As she entered her older horse years, Kyoei March was unable to secure a victory, finishing third in the Yomiuri Milers Cup, 11th in the Silk Road Stakes, and sixth in the Swan Stakes. To foster the development of young jockeys, her regular jockey was changed from Matsunaga to Shinichiro Akiyama. However, even with Akiyama as her regular jockey, she finished 6th in the Mile Championship and 4th in the Hanshin Fillies’ Special, and Kyoei March was unable to secure a victory that year.
1999: six-year-old season Although there were rumors of retirement, Kyoei March decided to continue her racing career and took the February Stakes. In that race, she led from the start and held on until midway through the home stretch, finishing in 5th place. In her next start, the Yomiuri Milers Cup, she held on to finish 2nd, securing a place in the top two for the first time in a long while. Then, in the Hankyu Hai, she claimed her first graded stakes victory since the Rose Stakes in 1997. She finished 4th in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, demonstrating that she could still compete in sprint races. However, in the Yasuda Kinen, she got off to a slow start and finished ninth, after which she was sent to rest.
In the fall, she returned to racing in the Nambu Hai, where she finished second. Although she finished 5th in the Mile Championship and 13th in the Sprinters Stakes, Kyoei March continued to compete in top-tier short-distance races on both turf and dirt, and in both national and regional circuits.
2000: seven-year-old season Kyoei March competed in the Kyoto Kimpai, which had been shortened to 1,600 meters that year. Despite carrying a de facto top handicap of 57 kg, she won convincingly, finishing 5 lengths ahead of the second-place finisher, Admire Kaiser. She and Kiss to Heaven, who won the Nakayama Fillies’ Stakes, are the only Oka Sho winners to have won a graded stakes race at age 6 (formerly 7).
Afterward, Kyoei March was unable to win, finishing 11th in the February Stakes and 3rd in the Kurofune Sho. She retired after finishing 6th in the Yomiuri Milers Cup and became a broodmare. Matsunaga remarked that, out of her 28 career starts, she was only in third place or lower at the final turn on three occasions, leaving a lasting impression of possessing speed and front-running ability unlike anything he had ever experienced before.
Racing record The following racing form is based on information available on JBIS search and netkeiba.com. DateTrackRaceGradeType/DistanceFieldFinishTimeJockeyWinner (2nd Place)1996 – three-year-old seasonNov 30Hanshin3YO DebutDirt 1200m131:13.4Mikio Matsunaga(Erimo Shiten O)Dec 22HanshinSenryo Sho1WTurf 1600m161:36.7Yoshizumi HashimotoHokko Beauty1997 – four-year-old seasonJan 12KyotoKambai Sho1WDirt 1400m91:24.9Mikio Matsunaga(Tagano Lapis)Feb 16KyotoElfin StakesOPTurf 1600m151:36.7Mikio Matsunaga(Hokko Beauty)Mar 9HanshinHochi Hai Yonsai Himba TokubetsuG2Turf 1400m161:21.4Mikio Matsunaga(She's Princess)Apr 6HanshinOka ShōG1Turf 1600m181:36.9Mikio Matsunaga(Mejiro Dober)May 25TokyoYushun HimbaG1Turf 2400m1611th2:31.2Mikio MatsunagaMejiro DoberSep 21HanshinRose StakesG2Turf 2000m112:01.6Mikio Matsunaga(Maple Syrup)Oct 19KyotoShūka ShōG1Turf 2000m182:00.5Mikio MatsunagaMejiro DoberNov 16KyotoMile ChampionshipG1Turf 1600m181:33.7Mikio MatsunagaTaiki ShuttleDec 14NakayamaSprinters StakesG1Turf 1200m1611th1:09.7Mikio MatsunagaTaiki Shuttle1998 – five-year-old seasonMar 8HanshinYomiuri Milers CupG2Turf 1600m111:34.0Mikio MatsunagaBig SundayApr 26KyotoSilk Road StakesG3Turf 1200m1211th1:09.5Mikio MatsunagaSeeking the PearlOct 31KyotoSwan StakesG2Turf 1400m146th1:23.0Mikio MatsunagaRoyal SuzukaNov 22KyotoMile ChampionshipG1Turf 1600m136th1:34.3Shinichiro AkiyamaTaiki ShuttleDec 20HanshinSankei Sports Hai Himba StakesG2Turf 1600m134th1:35.2Shinichiro AkiyamaEgao o Misete1999 – six-year-old seasonJan 31TokyoFebruary StakesG1Dirt 1600m165th1:36.8Shinichiro AkiyamaMeisei OperaMar 7HanshinYomiuri Milers CupG2Turf 1600m141:35.7Shinichiro AkiyamaEgao o MiseteApr 10HanshinHankyu HaiG3Turf 1200m161:08.6Shinichiro Akiyama(Broad Appeal)May 23ChukyoTakamatsunomiya KinenG1Turf 1200m164th1:08.2Mikio MatsunagaMasa LuckyJun 13TokyoYasuda KinenG1Turf 1600m149th1:34.7Shinichiro AkiyamaAir JihadOct 11MoriokaMile Championship Nambu HaiJpn1Dirt 1600m121:38.9Shinichiro AkiyamaNihon Pillow JupiterNov 21KyotoMile ChampionshipG1Turf 1600m185th1:33.4Shinichiro AkiyamaAir JihadDec 19NakayamaSprinters StakesG1Turf 1200m1613th1:09.8Shinichiro AkiyamaBlack Hawk2000 – seven-year-old seasonJan 5KyotoKyoto KimpaiG3Turf 1600m161:33.4Shinichiro Akiyama(Admire Kaiser)Feb 20TokyoFebruary StakesG1Dirt 1600m1611th1:36.8Shinichiro AkiyamaWing ArrowMar 21KochiKurofune ShoJpn3Dirt 1400m121:28.8Shinichiro AkiyamaBe My NakayamaApr 15HanshinYomiuri Milers CupG2Turf 1600m186th1:34.8Shinichiro AkiyamaMeiner Max Jpn graded races were labelled as Listed internationally.
Retirement She had been stabled at Northern Farm Hayakita since 2001, but on May 9, 2007, she died from a colic episode during the birth of her final foal, Imperial March. She was 13 years old at the time of her death.
Although her offspring were not unattractive, many inherited the leg problems she herself had suffered from. Her second foal, Vite Vaincre, was forced to undergo surgery before reaching the age of two and ended his career winless after a total of 11 starts in both national and regional races. Her first foal, Vite Marcher, her third foal, Triumph March, and her fourth foal, Imperial March, were unable to make their debuts in two-year-old races due to physical frailty, among other factors, so there were many cases where they could not be raced smoothly. Furthermore, she was not blessed with many fillies; her first foal, Vite Marcher, is the only one carrying on the Kyoei March female line. Vite Marcher would later foal Marche Lorraine, winner of four inter-regional graded stakes races and the winner of the 2021 Breeders' Cup Distaff, as well as Badenweiler, winner of the 2022 Mercury Cup.
Furthermore, Vite Marcher’s second foal, Sambre et Meuse, entered the breeding ranks, and among her offspring, her third foal, Namur, excelled on the filly Triple Crown route with a third-place finish in the Yushun Himba and a second-place finish in the Shūka Shō; as a mature mare, she went on to win the Mile Championship. The Kyoei March female line is expanding through Vite Marcher.
In the JRA Premium Race “Hanshin Spring Premium,” held as the 12th race at Hanshin Racecourse on April 11, 2010, this horse received the most votes, leading to the race being held under the additional name “Kyoei March Memorial.”
Pedigree
References