| Seiun Sky | |
| Breed: | Thoroughbred[1] |
| Sire: | Sheriff's Star |
| Grandsire: | Posse |
| Dam: | Sister Mill |
| Sex: | Stallion |
| Damsire: | Mill George |
| Foaled: | April 26, 1995 |
| Country: | Japan |
| Breeder: | Nishiyama Stud |
| Owner: | Nishiyama Stud |
| Earnings: | 610,282,000 JPY |
| Updated: | July 14, 2024 |
| Wins: | Satsuki Sho (1998) Kikka Sho (1998) |
| Record: | 13: 7-1-5 |
| Trainer: | Kazutaka Yasuda |
Seiun Sky (; April 26, 1995 - August 16, 2011) was a Japanese thoroughbred racehorse. His major wins include the Satsuki Sho and Kikka Sho of 1998, two of the Triple Crown in Japan.
Seiun Sky ran his first race on January 5 at a debut race for four year olds held at Nakayama Racecourse over a distance of 1600 meters, with Koji Tokuyoshi as his jockey. He was the fifth most favored to win but comfortably scored a victory with a 6 length lead.[2] He also then won the Junior Cup, where he held on to the lead for the entire race, finishing the race with a 5 length lead against the 2nd place.
He was then entered in to the Yayoi Sho, which was the first graded race for the horse. He was the third most favored to win behind King Halo and Special Week, who would be considered rqo of the "big three" of their generation alongside Seiun Sky.[3] Seiun Sky became the front runner in that race and kept the lead for most of the way, but was caught up by Special Week at the final slope, ultimately finishing at second place. Following the horse's defeat, the horse's main jockey was switched from Tokuyoshi to Norihiro Yokoyama.
Seiun Sky was then entered in to the Satsuki Sho, where the horse kept its second place position among the pack until the fourth corner, where he overtook the frontrunner and took the lead, holding on to it until the finishing line, winning the Satsuki Sho with a half-length lead against King Halo.
After the Satsuki Sho, the horse was entered in to the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby). In that race, Seiun Sky followed King Halo, who was the front-runner in that race. However, he only managed to finish at 4th place behind Special Week. After this race, Seiun Sky took a summer break.
After the summer break, with the Kikka Sho in mind, the horse started the autumn off with the Kyoto Daishoten, rather than the Kyoto Shimbun Hai which was a step race for that race. As the Kyoto Daishoten was a graded race that allowed older horses to participate in the race, Seiun Sky was only 4th most favored to win, with the horse facing off older horses such as, Stay Gold, and . In that race, Seiun Sky took the lead and became the front-runner, with the horse having a 20-length lead at one point. The rest of the pack closed in on the horse, however, as the horse had slowed down midway, and was caught up around the final 600m point, but held on to the lead before once again widening the gap on the final stretch, holding on to the lead to the end.[4]
Following the victory, the horse was entered in to the Kikka Sho, where he was the 2nd most favored to win behind Special Week. Seiun Sky took the lead at the start, and while the horse did not run with as large of a lead as he did in the Kyoto Daishoten, he still held a 7 to 8 length lead, before slowing down briefly midway through. The horse then sped up in the latter part of the race and held on to the lead to the end, beating Special Week by 3-and-a-half length gap and becoming the first Kikka Sho race since won in 1959 where the frontrunner won the race.[5] [6]
After clinching two of the Triple Crowns, the horse was entered in to the Arima Kinen to finish the season off, where he finished fourth behind Grass Wonder in spite of being the most favored to win.[7]
Seiun Sky started his 4 year old season off with the Nikkei Sho, where he won the race. After the win, he was entered in to the Tenno Sho (Spring), but finished 3rd behind Special Week.
After a summer break, the horse was entered in to the Sapporo Kinen. In that race, rather than taking the lead as he did in the previous year, the horse was placed in the rear of the pack; before moving up at the 3rd corner and taking the lead on the final stretch, beating by a half-length lead.[8] This wound up being Seiun Sky's final victory in his career, with his next race, the Tenno Sho (Autumn), seeing him finishing 5th, and later developing tendonitis which forced him out of the race for over a year.
After a prolonged break to recover, Seiun Sky entered the Tenno Sho (Spring) of that year, but finished the race at last place with more than a 15 second gap between the winner, T M Opera O.[9]
Following the race, there were plans to enter him in to the Takarazuka Kinen, but those plans were scrapped due to health issues, and after the horse hurt its radius in the summer it was decided that the horse would be retired.[10] [11]
After retiring, Seiun Sky was put to stud at the before being moved to the Nishiyama Stud a few years later. To date his best progeny was Mayol, who came in third in the Fuyo Stakes.[12]
On August 16, 2011, Seiun Sky passed away. While the JRA officially announced that the horse died from a heart attack,[13] the horse's owner wrote on his blog that he died from hitting his head in his stable when he stood up.[14] A gravestone was erected within the Nishiyama Stud property several months later.[15]
The following racing form is based on information available on netkeiba.com.[16]
| Date | Track | Race | Grade | Distance (Condition) | Entry | HN | Odds (Favored) | Finish | Time | Margins | Jockey | Winner (Runner-up) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 - three-year-old season | |||||||||||||
| Jan 5 | Nakayama | 4YO Debut | 1600m（Good） | 16 | 8 | 12.0（5） | 1:36.7 | -1.0 | Koji Tokuyoshi | (Meine Carol) | |||
| Jan 25 | Nakayama | Junior Cup | OP | 2000m（Firm） | 11 | 2 | 6.8（3） | 2:03.5 | -0.8 | Koji Tokuyoshi | (Mega Hit) | ||
| Mar 8 | Nakayama | Yayoi Sho | GII | 2000m（Firm） | 13 | 7 | 4.4（3） | 2:01.9 | 0.1 | Koji Tokuyoshi | Special Week | ||
| Apr 19 | Nakayama | Satsuki Sho | GI | 2000m（Firm） | 18 | 2 | 5.4（2） | 2:01.3 | -0.1 | Norihiro Yokoyama | (King Halo) | ||
| Jun 7 | Tokyo | Tokyo Yushun | GI | 2400m（Good） | 18 | 6 | 4.9（3） | 4th | 2:26.8 | 1.0 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Special Week | |
| Oct 11 | Kyoto | Kyoto Daishoten | GII | 2400m（Good） | 7 | 1 | 6.0（4） | 2:25.6 | -0.1 | Norihiro Yokoyama | (Mejiro Bright) | ||
| Nov 8 | Kyoto | Kikka Sho | GI | 3000m（Firm） | 17 | 2 | 4.3（2） | -0.6 | Norihiro Yokoyama | (Special Week) | |||
| Dec 27 | Nakayama | Arima Kinen | GI | 2500m（Firm） | 16 | 6 | 2.7（1） | 4th | 2:32.7 | 0.6 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Grass Wonder | |
| 1999 - four-year-old season | |||||||||||||
| Mar 28 | Nakayama | Nikkei Sho | GII | 2500m（Good） | 13 | 5 | 1.3（1） | 2:35.3 | -0.9 | Norihiro Yokoyama | (Seiun Area) | ||
| May 2 | Kyoto | Tenno Sho (Spring) | GI | 3200m（Firm） | 12 | 6 | 2.8（2） | 3:15.8 | 0.5 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Special Week | ||
| Aug 22 | Sapporo | Sapporo Kinen | GII | 2000m（Firm） | 10 | 3 | 1.4（1） | 2:00.1 | -0.1 | Norihiro Yokoyama | (Phalaenopsis) | ||
| Oct 31 | Tokyo | Tenno Sho (Autumn) | GI | 2000m（Firm） | 17 | 4 | 3.8（1） | 5th | 1:58.3 | 0.3 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Special Week | |
| 2001 - six-year-old season | |||||||||||||
| Apr 29 | Kyoto | Tenno Sho (Spring) | GI | 3200m（Firm） | 12 | 12 | 22.2（6） | 12th | 3:32.0 | 15.8 | Norihiro Yokoyama | T M Opera O | |
Legend: