Hishi Miracle (Japanese: ヒシミラクル, Hepburn: Hishi Mirakuru; foaled 31 March 1999) is a retired Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and former sire. He competed from 2001 to 2005, recording six wins in twenty-eight starts, including the Kikuka Sho in 2002, and the Tenno Sho (Spring) and Takarazuka Kinen in 2003. He received the JRA Award for Best Japanese-Bred Horse in 2003.

Background Hishi Miracle is a gray horse bred in Mitsuishi, Hokkaido, by Otsuka Bokujo. He was sired by Soccer Boy, and his dam was Shunsaku Yoshiko, a daughter of Shady Heights. He was purchased for ¥6.5 million by Masaichiro Abe at the 2001 Hidaka Light Horse Agricultural Cooperative Training Sale and sent into training with Masaru Sayama at the JRA's Ritto Training Center.

Racing career

2001: Two-year-old season Hishi Miracle debuted on August 11, 2001, in a maiden race on the turf at Kokura Racecourse, finishing seventh. He ran in three subsequent 1200-meter maiden races, finishing outside the top five. Transitioning to longer distances, he finished fifth over 2000 meters at Kyoto Racecourse in October, second over 1800 meters later that month, and third over 1800 meters in November.

2002: Three-year-old season Hishi Miracle returned in April 2002, finishing fourth and sixth in two maiden races at Kyoto. He recorded his first victory on May 26 in a 2000-meter maiden race at Chukyo Racecourse. He subsequently won the Urafu Tokubetsu at Hanshin Racecourse in June and the Nowaki Tokubetsu at Hanshin in September.

On September 22, he contested the Kobe Shimbun Hai (GII) at Hanshin, finishing sixth. Failing to secure priority entry, his connections paid a supplementary entry fee to enter the Kikuka Sho (GI) at Kyoto on October 20. Starting as the 10th favorite, he advanced on the final turn and won by a nose over Fast Tateyama. He concluded his three-year-old season by finishing eleventh in the Arima Kinen (GI) at Nakayama Racecourse.

2003: Four-year-old season Hishi Miracle began his 2003 campaign by finishing twelfth in the Hanshin Daishoten (GII) and seventh in the Sankei Osaka Hai (GII). On May 4, he entered the Tenno Sho (Spring, GI) at Kyoto. Starting as the 7th favorite, he rallied from the rear to win the 3200-meter race by 0.1 seconds over Sunrise Jaeger.

On June 29, he contested the Takarazuka Kinen (GI) at Hanshin. Ridden by Koichi Tsunoda, he tracked the leaders and won by a neck over Tsurumaru Boy, securing his third GI victory. In the autumn, he finished second in the Kyoto Daishoten (GII) behind Tap Dance City. Following the race, he was diagnosed with suspensory ligament desmitis in his right foreleg and was sidelined for the remainder of the year.

2004: Five-year-old season Returning from a year-long layoff, Hishi Miracle finished sixteenth in the Tenno Sho (Autumn, GI) at Tokyo Racecourse in October. He subsequently finished ninth in the Japan Cup (GI) and fourteenth in the Arima Kinen (GI).

2005: Six-year-old season Hishi Miracle finished third in the Kyoto Kinen (GII) in February. He made his final start in the Tenno Sho (Spring, GI) on May 1, finishing sixteenth. Following the race, a recurrence of his suspensory ligament injury was confirmed. He was officially retired from racing on May 20, 2005.

Statistics The following table details all 28 starts of Hishi Miracle's racing career based on official netkeiba and JBIS records.

Date Distance (Condition) Race Class Course Odds(Favourite) Field Finish Time Winning(Losing)Margin Winner(2nd Place) Jockey Ref2001 – two-year-old season Turf 1200 m (Firm) 2-Y-O Newcomer Maiden Kokura 58.4 (9th) 13 7th 1:13.0 1.1 River Treasure Koichi Tsunoda Turf 1200 m (Firm) 2-Y-O Newcomer Maiden Kokura 54.3 (10th) 18 11th 1:12.3 2.0 Meiner Prairie Koichi Tsunoda Turf 1200 m (Good) 2-Y-O Maiden Maiden Hanshin 81.2 (9th) 12 8th 1:11.2 1.6 Yamanin Ideal Koichi Tsunoda Turf 1200 m (Firm) 2-Y-O Maiden Maiden Hanshin 86.3 (10th) 13 9th 1:12.1 1.3 Setono Akebono Koichi Tsunoda Turf 2000 m (Firm) 2-Y-O Maiden Maiden Kyoto 11.4 (6th) 8 5th 2:03.3 1.6 Chitose Success Koichi Tsunoda Turf 1800 m (Firm) 2-Y-O Maiden Maiden Kyoto 45.0 (10th) 15 1:48.8 0.5 Fujiyama Wild Koichi Tsunoda Turf 1800 m (Good) 2-Y-O Maiden Maiden Kyoto 5.2 (2nd) 16 1:49.7 0.3 Namura Thanks Koichi Tsunoda2002 – three-year-old season Turf 1800 m (Firm) 3-Y-O Maiden Maiden Kyoto 18.2 (7th) 18 4th 1:48.5 0.8 Hoshino Sasayaki Yasuhiko Yasuda Turf 1800 m (Firm) 3-Y-O Maiden Maiden Kyoto 5.1 (2nd) 18 6th 1:48.5 0.6 Saffron Blizzard Yasuhiko Yasuda Turf 2000 m (Firm) 3-Y-O Maiden Maiden Chukyo 11.7 (5th) 18 2:00.5 –0.5 (Meisho Nobinobi) Koichi Tsunoda Turf 2000 m (Firm) Buppuso Tokubetsu Allowance Chukyo 3.8 (1st) 15 2:01.7 0.0 Act Naturally Koichi Tsunoda Turf 2200 m (Firm) Urafu Tokubetsu Allowance Hanshin 6.7 (3rd) 18 2:12.6 –0.8 (Prosome) Koichi Tsunoda Turf 2200 m (Firm) Sado Tokubetsu Allowance Niigata 2.2 (1st) 9 2:13.2 0.4 Precious Song Koichi Tsunoda Turf 2000 m (Firm) Toyako Tokubetsu Allowance Hakodate 4.3 (2nd) 16 2:04.5 0.2 Presio Hirofumi Shii Turf 2000 m (Firm) Nowaki Tokubetsu Allowance Hanshin 2.0 (1st) 8 2:02.0 –0.1 (El Way Star) Koichi Tsunoda Turf 2000 m (Firm) Kobe Shimbun Hai GII Hanshin 16.1 (7th) 16 6th 2:00.4 1.3 Symboli Kris S Koichi Tsunoda Turf 3000 m (Firm) Kikuka-shō GI Kyoto 36.6 (10th) 18 3:05.9 –0.0 (Fast Tateyama) Koichi Tsunoda Turf 2500 m (Good) Arima Kinen GI Nakayama 18.5 (5th) 14 11th 2:34.2 1.6 Symboli Kris S Koichi Tsunoda2003 – four-year-old season Turf 3000 m (Firm) Hanshin Daishōten GII Hanshin 16.1 (5th) 15 12th 3:07.0 1.1 Daitaku Bertram Koichi Tsunoda Turf 2000 m (Firm) Sankei Ōsaka Hai GII Hanshin 28.8 (8th) 15 7th 1:59.6 0.5 Tagano My Bach Koichi Tsunoda Turf 3200 m (Firm) Tenno Sho (Spring) GI Kyoto 16.1 (7th) 18 3:17.0 –0.1 (Sunrise Jaeger) Koichi Tsunoda Turf 2200 m (Firm) Takarazuka Kinen GI Hanshin 16.3 (6th) 17 2:12.0 –0.0 (Tsurumaru Boy) Koichi Tsunoda Turf 2400 m (Firm) Kyōto Daishōten GII Kyoto 2.5 (2nd) 9 2:26.8 0.2 Tap Dance City Koichi Tsunoda2004 – five-year-old season Turf 2000 m (Good) Tenno Sho (Autumn) GI Tokyo 19.8 (10th) 17 16th 2:02.7 3.8 Zenno Rob Roy Koichi Tsunoda Turf 2400 m (Firm) Japan Cup GI Tokyo 25.0 (11th) 16 9th 2:25.6 1.4 Zenno Rob Roy Koichi Tsunoda Turf 2500 m (Firm) Arima Kinen GI Nakayama 13.1 (6th) 15 14th 2:31.3 1.8 Zenno Rob Roy Koichi Tsunoda2005 – six-year-old season Turf 2200 m (Soft) Kyōto Kinen GII Kyoto 14.8 (5th) 12 2:16.1 0.4 Narita Century Koichi Tsunoda Turf 3200 m (Firm) Tenno Sho (Spring) GI Kyoto 6.0 (3rd) 18 16th 3:18.3 1.8 Suzuka Mambo Koichi Tsunoda

Stud career Following his retirement, Hishi Miracle stood at Rex Stud in Shizunai, Hokkaido. He sired 30 registered foals over five seasons before retiring from stud duties in 2010. His most notable progeny was Hishi Diana, who won multiple regional stakes races in the NAR. He currently resides at Nakamura Masaaki Bokujo in Urakawa, Hokkaido, where he works as a teaser.

c = colt, f = filly

Foaled Name Sex Colour Sire Major wins 2008 Hishi Diana f Gray Wavering Monarch Hanafubuki Sho, Hien Sho

In popular culture An anthropomorphized version of Hishi Miracle appears as a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Sakura Kasuga. She is depicted as a lazy girl who dislikes training and takes every opportunity she can to slack off and eat, with a notable strong dislike for pool training and swimming overall. She actively skips classes to avoid swimming, but is often forcibly dragged to them by her peers, reflecting her real-world counterpart's poor swimming skills.

Pedigree

Hishi Miracle is inbred 5 × 5 to Nasrullah.

See also Thoroughbred racing in Japan Kikuka Sho Takarazuka Kinen

References