Nishino Daisy (, ; foaled 18 April 2016) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He competed from 2018 to 2024, recording six wins from thirty-two starts on both the flat and over jumps. On the flat, he won the Sapporo Nisai Stakes (GIII) and the Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes (GIII) in 2018. After switching to steeplechase racing in 2022, he won the Nakayama Daishogai (J-GI) in 2022 and 2024. His 2022 Nakayama Daishogai victory came in the retirement race of the champion Oju Chosan, and he became the second horse in JRA history to win a J-GI race after winning a flat graded stakes. He was named JRA Award for Best Steeplechase Horse in 2024.

Background Nishino Daisy is a bay stallion bred in Urakawa, Hokkaido, by Tanikawa Farm. He was sired by Harbinger, a British-bred stallion by Dansili, and his dam was Nishino Hinagiku (), a mare by Agnes Tachyon. His third dam is Nishino Flower, winner of the 1992 Oka Shō and Sprinters Stakes, and his female line also carries the blood of Seiun Sky. He is owned by Shigeyuki Nishiyama, whose father Masayuki Nishiyama owned Seiun Sky and Nishino Flower, and was trained by Noboru Takagi at the JRA's Miho Training Center. His name combines the owner's prefix with "daisy" (), meaning "something wonderful" in reference to his dam.

Racing career

2018: two-year-old season Nishino Daisy debuted on 8 July 2018 in a maiden race at Hakodate Racecourse, finishing second. He won his maiden on 21 July at Hakodate. On 1 September, he won the Sapporo Nisai Stakes (GIII) at 6th favourite. On 17 November, he won the Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes (GIII) at Tokyo Racecourse at 8th favourite in a four-horse photo finish. He finished third in the Hopeful Stakes (GI) at Nakayama Racecourse on 28 December.

2019: three-year-old season Nishino Daisy finished fourth in the Yayoi Sho (GII) on 3 March and seventeenth in the Satsuki Shō (GI) on 14 April. On 26 May, he finished fifth in the Tōkyō Yūshun (Japanese Derby) at odds of 107.9 (13th favourite). He finished fifth in the St. Lite Kinen (GII) on 16 September and ninth in the Kikuka Shō (GI) on 20 October, ridden by Christophe Lemaire.

2020: four-year-old season Nishino Daisy finished sixth in the American Jockey Club Cup (GII) on 26 January and sixth in the Kinkō Shō (GII) on 15 March. He struggled thereafter, finishing eighteenth in the Meguro Kinen (GII) on 31 May and thirteenth in the Hakodate Kinen (GIII) on 19 July.

2021: five-year-old season Nishino Daisy failed to place in his starts this year, finishing thirteenth in the Tokyo Shimbun Hai (GIII) on 7 February, twelfth in the Niigata Daishoten (GIII) on 9 May, and eighteenth in the Epsom Cup (GIII) on 13 June. He later finished eleventh in the Shimotsuki Stakes on 21 November and twelfth in the Betelgeuse Stakes on 28 December.

2022: six-year-old season After finishing twelfth in the Shirafuji Stakes in January, Nishino Daisy was switched to steeplechase racing. He finished third in his jump debut on 28 May at Niigata before winning his jump maiden on 19 June at Tokyo. He finished second in the Shuyo Jump Stakes on 19 November. On 24 December, he won the Nakayama Daishogai (J-GI) at 5th favourite, defeating the retiring Oju Chosan and recording his first J-GI victory in only his fourth jump start. In the JRA Award for Best Steeplechase Horse voting, he lost to Oju Chosan by a single vote (137–138).

2023: seven-year-old season Nishino Daisy finished third in the Hanshin Spring Jump (J-GII) on 11 March and ninth in the Nakayama Grand Jump (J-GI) on 15 April. He finished eleventh in the Tokyo High Jump (J-GII) on 15 October. On 23 December, he finished second in the Nakayama Daishogai (J-GI), beaten 1.8 seconds by Meiner Grand.

2024: eight-year-old season Nishino Daisy finished fourth in the Hanshin Spring Jump (J-GII) on 9 March and third in the Nakayama Grand Jump (J-GI) on 13 April. He finished fourth in the Tokyo High Jump (J-GII) on 13 October. On 21 December, he won the Nakayama Daishogai (J-GI) for the second time, defeating Ecoro Duel by 0.8 seconds. He was named JRA Award for Best Steeplechase Horse for 2024. He officially retired on 26 December 2024.

Statistics The following table details all 32 starts of Nishino Daisy's racing career. Record current as of 21 December 2024.

Date Distance (Condition) Race Class Course Odds(Favourite) Field Finish Time Jockey Winning(Losing)Margin Winner(2nd Place) Ref2018 – two-year-old season (flat) Turf 1800 m (Yielding) 2-Y-O Newcomer Maiden Hakodate 5.3 (2nd) 7 1:53.6 Masaki Katsuura 0.2 Love Me Fine Turf 1800 m (Good) 2-Y-O Maiden Maiden Hakodate 1.5 (1st) 12 1:49.7 Masaki Katsuura –0.2 (Tuareg) Turf 1800 m (Good) Sapporo Nisai Stakes GIII Sapporo 28.2 (6th) 14 1:50.1 Masaki Katsuura –0.0 (Naimama) Turf 1800 m (Good) Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes GIII Tokyo 38.4 (8th) 16 1:46.6 Masaki Katsuura –0.0 (Agaras) Turf 2000 m (Good) Hopeful Stakes GI Nakayama 6.6 (3rd) 13 2:01.9 Masaki Katsuura 0.3 Saturnalia2019 – three-year-old season (flat) Turf 2000 m (Heavy) Yayoi Sho GII Nakayama 2.7 (1st) 10 4th 2:03.7 Masaki Katsuura 0.4 Meisho Tengen Turf 2000 m (Good) Satsuki Shō GI Nakayama 30.2 (6th) 18 17th 2:00.1 Masaki Katsuura 2.0 Saturnalia Turf 2400 m (Good) Tōkyō Yūshun GI Tokyo 107.9 (13th) 18 5th 2:23.1 Masaki Katsuura 0.5 Roger Barows Turf 2200 m (Heavy) St. Lite Kinen GII Nakayama 5.8 (2nd) 18 5th 2:12.1 Masaki Katsuura 0.6 Lion Lion Turf 3000 m (Good) Kikuka Shō GI Kyoto 6.0 (2nd) 18 9th 3:06.7 Christophe Lemaire 0.7 World Premiere2020 – four-year-old season (flat) Turf 2200 m (Yielding) American Jockey Club Cup GII Nakayama 8.2 (6th) 12 6th 2:16.1 Hironobu Tanabe 1.1 Blast Onepiece Turf 2000 m (Good) Kinkō Shō GII Chukyo 20.6 (4th) 12 6th 2:02.3 Hironobu Tanabe 0.7 Saturnalia Turf 2500 m (Good) Meguro Kinen GII Tokyo 19.2 (9th) 18 18th 2:31.9 Hironobu Tanabe 2.3 King of Koji Turf 2000 m (Good) Hakodate Kinen GIII Hakodate 10.3 (6th) 16 13th 2:01.4 Masaki Katsuura 1.7 Admire Justa2021 – five-year-old season (flat) Turf 1600 m (Good) Tokyo Shimbun Hai GIII Tokyo 68.7 (13th) 16 13th 1:33.5 Masaki Katsuura 1.1 Karate Turf 2000 m (Good) Niigata Daishoten GIII Niigata 64.4 (12th) 14 12th 2:01.4 Masaki Katsuura 2.1 Sanrei Pocket Turf 1800 m (Good) Epsom Cup GIII Tokyo 92.9 (16th) 18 18th 1:47.0 Teruo Eda 1.9 Zadar Dirt 1400 m (Good) Shimotsuki Stakes Open Tokyo 66.3 (14th) 16 11th 1:24.7 Hiroyuki Uchida 1.0 Helios Dirt 1800 m (Good) Betelgeuse Stakes Listed Hanshin 87.1 (16th) 16 12th 1:53.5 Fuma Matsuwaka 1.8 Iolite2022 – six-year-old season (flat / jump) Turf 2000 m (Good) Shirafuji Stakes Listed Tokyo 236.3 (13th) 14 12th 1:58.6 Genki Maruyama 1.2 Jack d'Or Jump 2890 m (Yielding) Jump 4-Y-O+ Maiden Maiden Niigata 7.4 (5th) 14 3:12.0 Yusuke Igarashi 0.5 Be My Ocean Jump 3000 m (Good) Jump 3-Y-O+ Maiden Maiden Tokyo 1.7 (1st) 11 3:23.1 Yusuke Igarashi –0.5 (Fervore) Jump 3110 m (Good) Shuyo Jump Stakes Open Tokyo 2.6 (1st) 14 3:27.4 Yusuke Igarashi 0.1 Kouyu Nureyev Jump 4100 m (Good) Nakayama Daishogai J-GI Nakayama 15.4 (5th) 11 4:45.9 Yusuke Igarashi –0.5 (Xenoverse)2023 – seven-year-old season (jump) Jump 3900 m (Good) Hanshin Spring Jump J-GII Hanshin 2.2 (1st) 12 4:23.0 Shinichi Ishigami 1.4 Gemini King Jump 4250 m (Heavy) Nakayama Grand Jump J-GI Nakayama 1.8 (1st) 10 9th 5:00.2 Shinichi Ishigami 6.1 Irogotoshi Jump 3110 m (Heavy) Tokyo High Jump J-GII Tokyo 5.6 (3rd) 12 11th 3:37.0 Yusuke Igarashi 5.0 Meiner Grand Jump 4100 m (Good) Nakayama Daishogai J-GI Nakayama 6.6 (3rd) 12 4:39.6 Yusuke Igarashi 1.8 Meiner Grand2024 – eight-year-old season (jump) Jump 3900 m (Good) Hanshin Spring Jump J-GII Hanshin 10.3 (3rd) 10 4th 4:26.4 Yusuke Igarashi 2.5 Meiner Grand Jump 4250 m (Good) Nakayama Grand Jump J-GI Nakayama 14.2 (3rd) 12 4:48.1 Yusuke Igarashi 0.6 Irogotoshi Jump 3110 m (Good) Tokyo High Jump J-GII Tokyo 6.5 (2nd) 9 4th 3:26.0 Yusuke Igarashi 0.8 June Velocity Jump 4100 m (Good) Nakayama Daishogai J-GI Nakayama 6.0 (4th) 9 4:40.4 Yusuke Igarashi –0.8 (Ecoro Duel)

Stud career Nishino Daisy entered stud at Hakuba Farm in Niikappu, Hokkaido, in 2025.

Pedigree

Nishino Daisy is inbred 4 × 5 to Danzig and 5 × 5 to Northern Dancer (sire side). His third dam Nishino Flower won the 1992 Oka Shō and Sprinters Stakes. His female line belongs to the Somethingroyal family, which also produced Secretariat and Lord Kanaloa.

References